Assessment Questions - Service Desk
Minimum score to achieve this level: 'Y' for all mandatory (blue colouring, bold font') questions + 1 other answer 'Y'

    Level 1 - Pre-requisites

  1. Does a Service Desk exist which manages, co-ordinates and resolves incidents reported by customers?
  2. Is the Service Desk the recognized point of contact for all customer/user queries?
  3. Are requests for new services or changes and deletions of those services initiated through the Service Desk?
  4. Does the Service Desk provide information to customers regarding planned changes?

    Level 1.5 - Management Intent

  5. Is the business need for a Service Desk clearly identified and understood?
  6. Is there sufficient management commitment, budget provision and resource available for the effective operation of the Service Desk?
  7. Is the Service Desk perceived as a strategic function by Senior Managers?
  8. Has the purpose and benefits of the Service Desk been disseminated within the organization?
  9. Has an education and/or training program been conducted for customers and users in the use of the Service Desk and its benefits?

    Level 2 - Process Capability

  10. Have the functions of the Service Desk been agreed upon?
  11. Do Service Desk operators have a procedure or strategy for obtaining the required information from customers while call handling?
  12. Does the Service Desk provide the customer/user with information on service availability, an incident number or reference for use in follow-up communications, and progress updates on any request being managed by the service team?
  13. Does the Service Desk make an initial assessment of all requests received, attempting to resolve appropriate requests or referring them to someone who can, based on agreed service levels?
  14. Does the Service Desk support self-help tools to assist users in finding important service information on their own?
  15. Does the Service Desk communicate planned and short-term changes of service levels to customers?
  16. Does the Service Desk provide information on resolution to the customer on the closure of incidents?
  17. Does the Service Desk provide management information and make recommendations for service improvement?
  18. Has a study of the workload mix been conducted to determine the required staff levels, skill type and the associated costs of the Service Desk?
  19. Are customer satisfaction surveys carried out by the Service Desk?
  20. Is the Service Desk notified of new services or changes to existing services?
  21. Does the Service Desk have access to an online Service Catalogue which describes available services and how they are accessed?

    Level 2.5 - Internal Integration

  22. Does the Service Desk provide a single point of contact for all customer queries?
  23. Does the Service Desk have access to a library of all product, hardware and software documentation and reference material used by customer / users?
  24. Are major incidents/problems/changes from the previous week reviewed with customers?
  25. Does a customer list exist and is it used to monitor customer satisfaction levels?
  26. Are second-line support staff involved in the Service Desk, either on a full time or a rotational basis?

    Level 3 - Products

  27. Is a single source of customer / user and supplier details maintained?
  28. Are standard pro-forma's available for capturing customer / user details and identification?
  29. Are the services offered by the Service Desk clearly defined for customers and other parties?
  30. Are reports regularly produced for all the teams contributing to the service provision process, concerning types of customer contacts?
  31. Is a workload analysis produced to help determine staffing levels?
  32. Are weekly management reviews held to highlight service availability, customer satisfaction and major incident areas?
  33. Does management review Service Desk's recommendations for service improvements?

    Level 3.5 - Quality Control

  34. Are the standards and other quality criteria applicable for the registration of incidents and for call handling made clear to Service Desk operators?
  35. Are Service Level Agreements available and understood by Service Desk operators?
  36. Are the personnel responsible for Service Desk activities suitably trained?
  37. Does the organization set and review either targets or objectives for the Service Desk?
  38. Are there suitable tools in use to support the Service Desk function?

    Level 4 - Management Information

    Is senior management provided with information concerning....
  39. customer satisfaction with services?
  40. operational performance of the Service Desk?
  41. customer awareness/ training needs?
  42. trend analysis in incident occurrence and resolution?

    Level 4.5 - External Integration

  43. Are regular meetings held with interested parties in which Service Desk matters are discussed?
  44. Does the Service Desk control the Incident Management function and have the interfaces between the Service Desk and Incident management been defined and communicated?
  45. Does the Service Desk receive information from Change Management regarding impending changes to services?
  46. Does the Service Desk exchange information with Service Level Management concerning breaches in service level agreements and the service and support commitments they contain?

    Level 5 - Customer Interface

  47. Are checks done with the customer to ensure that the activities performed by the Service Desk adequately support their business needs?
  48. Are checks done with the customer to ascertain that they are happy with the services provided?
  49. Are trends in customer satisfaction actively monitored?
  50. Is customer survey information fed into the service improvement agenda?
  51. Is the customer's value perception of the services provided to them monitored?
Microsoft questions
COBIT CMM - Service Desk 		[To top of Page]


Visit my web site