14 CONSULTANCY Photography: Aad Hoogendoorn

JUDITH LUMBELA... is a consultant at TOPdesk. She supports TOPdesk

implementations and gives training.

What is an audit?There are several standards for development and management

processes, including ITIL, ISO and Cobit. Sometimes organizations

want to adhere to certain standards voluntarily, but customers may

also demand specific certifications, such as ISAE 3402 and SAS 60.

Standards may even be required by legislation, as is the case with SOx

and Basel II.

Formally testing processes based on standards such as these is

called an audit. TOPdesk Consultancy sees many customers who are

faced with an audit. This article outlines the tool requirements for

worthwhile audits, and how to perform such an audit with TOPdesk.

Requirement 1: registrationYou cannot test or assess something unless it is recorded first. This

is why proper registration (of calls, changes etc.) is an essential audit

requirement. Consistent and unequivocal registration makes it much

easier to perform tests.

TOPdesk is the perfect tool for registering calls, actions, activities

and authorizations. Information is organized in a practical manner,

streamlining work processes and increasing the traceability of your data.

Our software helps you implement unequivocal task categorization and

grants insight into who is responsible for a certain call or activity.

Requirement 2: authorization and role managementAnother requirement for a worthwhile audit is properly setting up

roles and authorizations in your tool. You can reduce the chance of

errors by only authorizing operators to use the components they

need. The authorization granted must correspond with the operators´

everyday tasks and responsibilities.

TOPdesk enables you to define several permission groups, to which

you can link operators. This makes it easy to register per module

who can adjust what, who has read, edit, create, archive and delete

authorization, and who can grant authorization.

Requirement 3: standardizing processes and authorizationsManaging authorizations within your registration tool is not enough.

It is also important to consider who is able to grant authorization

within change processes. Standardizing your change process steps

increases the efficiency and transparency of your work processes,

which in turn makes it easier to perform audits.

TOPdesk’s Change Management module lets you create templates

to define standardized process workflows, including authorization

moments. You can assign each activity to an operator or operator group.

TOPdesk’s standard features simplify your process management. This helps you monitor and control the quality of your information systems.

CONSULTANCY 15Text: Judith Lumbela

TOPDESK AS A USEFUL AUDIT TOOL

TIP: When setting up your tool, take into account the data you wish to use for benchmarking. You can do this by making certain fields mandatory and agreeing upon a specific processing method with your employees.

TIP: Many customers only authorize the system administrator to delete registrations. This helps you maintain a manageable audit trail.

TIP: In TOPdesk, people who are not operators can also be registered as responsible for certain authorizations. Examples include managers, team leaders or process managers. These persons can grant authorization via the Self Service Desk.

Using TOPdesk for auditsThe persons who carry final responsibility for processes such as

change management and incident management are usually not the

same people who perform the associated daily tasks. However, it is

important that the managers have insight into the situation and can

check the performed tasks. TOPdesk is ideal for such audits.

TOPdesk lets you keep track of the audit trail for a specific registration

(call, activity, reservation etc.). This includes the activity being assigned

to another operator, or the priority changing.

If the desired process is already clear, you can also automatically

generate logs of deviations from the process. For instance, if the

process manager who must authorize a test activity is on sick leave,

they can email a colleague from home. The colleague then grants

authorization in TOPdesk. This deviation from the standard process

flow (including the linked email from the process manager) is saved

in TOPdesk.

If you wish to monitor a large number of registrations for anything

unusual, you can use TOPdesk to filter for anomalies. To do this, simply

create an overview of relevant criteria. Regularly checking these

overviews ensures that you can make any required adjustments in a

timely manner. For instance, you can select registrations that were not

processed on time, or have been assigned to another operator more

than a certain number of times. TOPdesk’s reports can also provide

valuable information. For instance, you can create reports on who has

recently granted authorization in a few easy steps.

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TIP: Use TOPdesk’s automatic emails to ensure that deviations from standard procedures are always reported. This eliminates the need for later audits and enables you to make timely adjustments, which can be an important part of meeting certification criteria.

Want to know more about TOPdesk audits?You can use these tips to set up TOPdesk to better facilitate audits

and make your processes easier to test. However, you can also ask a

consultant to find set-up solutions for your specific situation.

How can I make Change activities dependent on each other

The question mark icon, featured on every process page,

gives you access to the new Help & Support website.

Here you can fi nd the answer to all of your questions in

the form of FAQs, manuals, Tips & Tricks and ‘Getting

started’ instructions.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T