topdesk magazine 2008 issue 2

7/29/2019 TOPdesk Magazine 2008 Issue 2

1/20

July 2008, Issue 2, Volume 10

The Greening of the IT sector / Processes, applications and people /

Green IT for everyone / Module in the spotlight: Visitor registration / Trends

Green IT for everyone


2/202

Green wave

Many organizations try to gain commercial advantages bysurng the green wave. Any company that is even remotely

associated with sustainable or eco-efcient policies, may

appear to be a frontrunner of the green generation. But

behind the facade of plants, owers and blue skies, lies a less

appealing reality. Reducing CO2 emissions, improving recycling

procedures and promoting sustainable production methods

are not always a top priority.

Yet there is hope. Due to much media attention for this topic

and growing concern about the intentions of many organi-

zations, things are actually changing. Green policy can bring

prot to an organization: it saves money and provides the

company with a positive image (which in the end is also a

nancial matter). For an innovative sector such as IT, this is an

opportunity for many organizations to set the trend.

In this issue of TOPdesk Magazine, we investigate the ways in

which the IT sector can reduce its carbon footprint. Find out

how your organization can instantly start saving energy and

money with our useful tips in Trends. Here at TOPdesk, we too

try to comply with these guidelines on a daily basis.

In addition, TOPdesk announces the coming release of TOPdesk

4, for Enterprise and Professional! Read about all this and

more in this green edition of TOPdesk Magazine.

Amanda Dirkse, editor-in-chief

TOPdesk Magazine, a service managementplatform, discusses subjects that are topicalin the world of professional service desksin IT, facilities and other service providingorganizations. TOPdesk Magazine is intendedfor managers, service desks employees, facilitiesorganizations and electronic city councils

- anyone who is involved with supportingcustomers on a daily basis. This concerns boththe processes and the technology behind theseservices.

Want to comment? Go to

www.topdeskmagazine.com

COLOPHON

TOPdesk Magazine is a TOPdesk publication

tel: +31 15 270 09 00

email: [email protected].

Editorial board Gerben Bloemendal, Amanda Dirkse

EditorsCarrie Brandt, Johanna Kirn, Henrieke

Korten, Niek Steenhuis

Translators Carrie Brandt, Clare Donald, Fred Epe,

Niek Steenhuis

Lay-outCathy van den Berg, Joost Knuit

Website Erik Pols, Glen Young

This magazine is printed on FSC-certied paper,

using an eco press with cadmium-free ink for all co-

lours and distilled water instead of alcohol.


3/20

10

4 News

6 The Greening of the IT sector9 In the spotlight: Visitor registration

10 Green IT for everyone

13 Client in focus: Meander Medisch Centrum

14 Trends:Seven tips for reducing the carbon

footprintofyourofce

16 Processes, applications and people:

A look at what is cooking in the kitchen

19 TOPdesk Magazine Online

20 Tips + Tricks

16Contents July 08

6

14


4/204 NEWS

TOPdesk consultants co-authorinternational itSMF book

At the Best Practices in IT Management conference on 22

April, the book IT Service Management, Global Best Practices

was launched. This book contains articles on the current

status and future developments of IT Service Management

and is written by leading experts from many countries, fro

the UK and the USA to Spain and the Netherlands.

TOPdesk consultants Ivo Kristelijn and Sander Jerphanion

contributed an article to this book and held a presentationat the itSMF conference, on behalf of TOPdesk. The subject

of both the article and their presentation was: How can the

concepts of the learning organization help to improve the

quality of service delivery?

The starting point of their arguement is that the quality

of service delivery is determined by three main factors:

processes, technology and people. Kristelijn and Jerphanion

observethatITILandtoolssuchasTOPdeskcovertherst

two elements. However, in their experience as consultants

theyhaveobservedthatinsufcientattentionispaidtoth

people in this process. The article shows how the conceptsof the learning organization can offer solutions to this

matter.

IT Service Management, Global Best Practices is now

available.

Reaching out to our Dutch customers

Over the past few months, TOPdesk Netherlands has

organized various customer events. In March, for instance,

the TOPdesk Clinic was launched. Held periodically

throughout the year, the clinics offer an alternative to

clients who do not require an entire day of consultancy, but

do have questions about TOPdesk or service management

ingeneral.ThesessionstakeplaceattheTOPdeskofce

in Delft, the Netherlands, during which clients are given

the opportunity to pose questions, free of obligation, to an

experienced TOPdesk consultant.

TOPdesk Netherlands also organized TOPdesk on Tour

2008 (27 May 19 June). This mobile convention travels to

various cities in the Netherlands and it provides a platform

for TOPdesk clients to exchange experiences and tips on

TOPdesk, service management and beyond. There are

presentations about IT trends, as well as opportunities for

clients to brush up on their technical knowledge of TOPdesk.

TOPdesk Clinics and TOPdesk on Tour are currently only

organized for clients in the Netherlands. However, as

TOPdesks international customer base continues to grow,

youmayonedaybeabletondtheTOPdeskClinicortheTOPdesk on Tour at a location closer to you. Until then, do

nothesitatetogetincontactwithyourlocalofcesothat

wecantailorasolutiontotyourneeds.

Release TOPdesk 4.1

In the coming weeks, the newest version of TOPdesk will

be released. This release, version 4.1, will include both

TOPdesk Enterprise and the new Professional version.

TOPdesk Professional 4 had been announced some time

ago, and will be available alongside the familiar TOPdesk

Professional 3 for Windows.

TOPdesk Professional is an interesting option for customers

who are now using TOPdesk lite, or only the Incident

andCongurationmanagementmodulesofTOPdesk

Professional 3. Just as Enterprise, Professional 4 will be fully

web-based and supported by an MS-SQL or Oracle database.

For customers that use more processes in TOPdesk 3 than

justIncidentandCongurationmanagement,anupgrade

to TOPdesk Enterprise 4 is a logical step.

TOPdesk 4 will be gradually extended with the remaining

processes. In addition, we will continue to develop and

support TOPdesk 3.

News tip!

If you wish to be kept up to date on developments within

TOPdesk, you can always visit our Extranet. It is also

possible to subscribe to the news on the Extranet by mean

of an RSS-feed. The URL for this is:

extranet.topdesk.com/rssnews.jsp.

News


5/20NEWS

Respond to a news item?

[email protected]

TOPdesk UK further improvingservices

TOPdesk UK is always looking to further improve its

services. One part of this improvement process concerns

boosting TOPdesks Consultancy department. During thepast few months, new consultants have been hired and

trainedfortheUKofcetobettersupportitscustomers.

To guarantee consistency in the quality of services

worldwide, an international Consultancy meeting was

recently organized. Consultants from TOPdesk branches

in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium met

to exchange ideas about implementing and supporting

TOPdesk. This enabled the Consultancy departments to

learn from each other and extend the range of courses and

services that each branch offers to its clients.

In addition, the UK Help desk is currently being restructurein order to further optimize its service delivery. Customers

in the UK who have questions about the software or the

implementation or use of TOPdesk, can direct them to

the Help desk. Questions can be sent by email and will

be resolved as quickly as possible; however, a phone call

is recommended for urgent issues. The UK Help desk can

be reached on +44 (0)20 8846 8516 and is available from

Monday to Thursday from 8;30 AM to 5:30 PM GMT and on

Fridays from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM GMT.

A warm reception at the Customersymposium in Frankfurt

MorethanftycustomersofTOPdeskGermanyattended

therstGermansymposium.DirectorWolterSmitand

consultant Steffen Gro held a presentation in which theytook the participants on a journey through the past and into

the future of TOPdesk. A lot of time was spent discussing the

numerous possibilities of MANGO, a framework developed

by TOPdesk. Furthermore, the improvements of ITIL version 3

were selected as a central theme.

Visitors were extremely positive about the workshop during

the second part of the show. Together with consultants

and developers from TOPdesk in Germany and the

Netherlands, participants sat around the table and discussed

possible applications of TOPdesk. They were also given the

opportunity to see how TOPdesk is utilized outside their own

organization and, along with TOPdesk consultants, were ableto exchange and collect tips and suggestions regarding the

application of the software.

At the end of the afternoon, the results of the TOPdesk quiz

were announced, which was held during the lunch break.

The three winners each won an iPod.


6/206 THEME

TEXT: GERBEN BLOEMENDAL

go to corporate waste collectors,who will in turn pass on the costs

of collecting and recycling to the

manufacturer. We coordinate the

collection of discarded equipment

via the corporate waste collector.

Consumers can bring their

discarded equipment to stores

and municipal collection points.

In 2007, we collected 20.5 million

kilograms in total of electronic

waste up from 18 million in

2006.

What else does ICT~Milieu do for its

members?

Vlak: We promote environmental

consciousness in our member

organizations. Furthermore, we

handlenancialandadministrative

matters and the yearly monitoring

Following the issuing of a plethora of regulations, the Dutch IT sector has been

forced to face up to its environmental responsibilities. The aim of ICT~Milieu

is not only to assist its members in this cause, but also to anticipate the

upcoming regulations regarding energy saving and CO2

reduction. Jan Vlak

from ICT~Milieu explains how an innately innovative sector can apply its

ingenuity to the environmental arena.

the nationwide collection servicein the Netherlands. He explains:

Since 2005, manufacturers and

importers of electronic goods are

requiredtoorganizeandnance

the collection and recycling

of these goods. This has been

established by the Resolution on

Electronic Goods, which regulates

the processing of discarded

electronic goods, as well as the use

of certain chemicals in equipment.

We take care of the entirerecyclingprocessforourafliated

companies.

Does that mean that consumers

can approach manufacturers when

they want to get rid of their old

equipment?

Vlak: Thats right. Businesses can

A sector with a turnover of 30billion euros, 250,000 employees,

20 million kilos of waste and

7 percent of the total energy

consumption of the Netherlands:

that is the Dutch IT sector. The

ICT~Milieu Foundation assists

IT manufacturers and importers

in collecting their waste. The IT

collection system is a logistical

system for collecting, sorting and

processing used IT equipment.

ICT~Milieu is a subsidiary ofICT~Ofce,atradeassociation

of over 500 IT, Telecom, Internet

andOfcecompaniesinthe

Netherlands.

Nationwide collectionJan Vlak is the General Director

of ICT~Milieu and coordinates

The Greening of the IT Sector

Incorporating environmental valuesinto an already innovative sector


7/20THEME

Green accountabilityHow do you stimulate attention

for environmental accountability?

Vlak: We want to exceed the

set standards. The IT sector has

always been an innovative one.

For that reason, we present the

casetoourafliatesasamatter

of business. ICT~Milieu shows that

recycling is not only feasible, it is

considered the norm. In addition,

new materials are created in the

process, including metals, raw

materials and fuels. And all thisis available at a very attractive

price. Such factors serve as a very

effective form of encouragement

for the sector. To us, corporate

social responsibility (CSR) means

that we need to investigate

how we can generate new

business, while at the same time

continuing our strive for social and

environmental resolve.

InnovationsDoes that mean that your

knowledge and expertise go beyond

just recycling matters?

Vlak: Yes. An example of an

opportunity that is yet to be seized

lies within the municipalities.

Our IT knowledge could prove

to be helpful in developing their

environmental policy. Energy can

be saved by employing innovativetechniques. This includes energy

saving measures for data centres,

as well as IT applications that

contribute to energy savings in

other sectors. We view IT as a sort

of enabling technology.

On 28 May, we will sign a

and reporting for the Ministry of

Housing, Spatial Planning and the

Environment in the Netherlands.

Recycling and ReusingWhathappens to the waste that is

collected?

Vlak: The used IT equipment

is recycled. After processing, 97

percent ends up being reused.

In so doing, ICT~Milieu more

thansatisesthe75percent

requirement by law. The

equipment is milled into so-callede-scrap. This e-scrap is sent to the

renery,wherepreciousmetalsare

extracted. And because oil prices

are so high, it is also worthwhile

to remove the synthetic materials.

These can be added to new

synthetics in the form of granules.

We need to investigate how we can generate new business,

while at the same time continuing our strive for

social and environmental accountability.


8/208 THEME

covenant with Dutch State

Secretary Heemskerk that

entails what we, as the IT

sector, can achieve in the

future. In collaboration with the

government, we will decide on a

plan that details where we want to

be in 2020/2030. The purpose is to

transform the IT sector into a green

sector. Our members will need to

contribute ideas for this purpose.

To give further recognition towhat we do, we have created an

ICT~Milieu Award. Some excellent

ideas have been submitted to us

for this competition.

ProtIn which areas can prot be gained

in the coming years?

Vlak: Well, for example, in the

manner in which we handle

the cooling of data centres and

product design. In other countrieswe see that much thought goes

into choosing the location of data

centres. For example, by placing

these next to a river, water power

can be employed. There is also

a lot already happening in the

eldofproductdesign.Notonly

is hardware being designed to

bemoreenergyefcient,but

attention is also being paid to

making materials more recyclable.

A computer manufactured ten

years ago, for example, contained

35 different types of synthetic

material; today, that number is

six. On a granule level, the sorting

couldbeevenmoreefcient.

Taking initiativeWho must take the initiativein environmental affairs: the

government or the business world?

Vlak: A bit of both. We have

recently chosen, in collaboration

with the government, to create a

covenant in which these sorts of

issues are decided upon. Almost all

environmental regulations come

from the European government,

which form the basis of our own

decisions and resolutions. For

our part, we contribute our ownadvice and viewpoints, and those

of our members, to the Ministries

of Economic Affairs and of

Housing, Spatial Planning and the

Environment in particular.

What sort of advice do you give to

the ministries?

Vlak: For example, we have

conducted research about used

IT hardware that disappears

from rubbish bins and ends up

as unintended e-waste in Africa.

Based on this data, the Ministry is

able to reconsider its policy.

So the trick then is to integrate

environmental objectives with

innovation policies?

Vlak: The IT sector is an innovativeone. To maintain this reputation,

we need to be ambitious in the

environmental arena and surpass

the regulations issued by the

government.


9/20MODULE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

TEXT: AMANDA DIRKSE

Visitor registration

Eachday,visitorswalkinandoutofyourofce.Thereceptioncannotalwayskeeppacewithallthesecomingsandgoings,whichmakesitdifculttocomplywith

safety requirements and maintain a clear record of visitors to your organization.

With these concerns in mind, TOPdesk has developed a new module: Visitor

registration.

The Visitor Registration module is

a user-friendly module in which

all necessary information about

your visitors, such as arrival and

departure times, can be easily

registered. The module enables you

to regulate reception procedures,

improve services and ensure

the safety of your property and

employees.

User-friendlinessTOPdesk has devoted much

attention to simplifying the

process of registering visitors.

Registration is quickly achieved

because TOPdesk uses existing

data from other programmes, such

as staff databases. Visitors can be

easily linked to a host or hostess

in these staff databases, while a

group of visitors can be registered

at once. There is also a searchfunction which provides quick

access to important information.

Finally, the lists of persons are

adjustable and can be printed or

exported on demand.

Safety & CommunicationBy registering your visitors, you

will always know exactly how

many people are currently on your

premises. In case of emergency,

an overview of current occupancycan quickly be printed. This

simpliesthedutiesofemergency

personnel. Alerts can also be

set up to automatically notify

the service desk each time

a visitor enters or leaves the

building.

TOPdesk can be used to keep

hosts up to date with relevant

information regarding visitor

regulations and appointments.

For example, you can include

arrival times of visitors, parking

allocations and route descriptions

in your emails. You will always be

able to keep your employees and

their visitors well-informed.


10/2010 THEME

Current situation

Green IT has been all over themedia for two years now. At the

Cebit 2008 exhibition in Hannover,

Germany, Green IT was the central

theme. Companies are currently

interested in green IT mainly

because of cost savings; toxic

substances are only given minor

attention. Companies with an

estimated that two percent of all

global CO2 emissions are caused bythe IT sector. Two-thirds of these

emissions arise from the actual

use of IT, while 25 percent of them

are the result of data centres. The

remaining emissions are generated

during the actual production of

hardware and the processing of IT

waste materials.

active green IT policy focus on

server and data centre cooling.

Green IT revolves around two

things: reducing CO2 emissions in

IT (consider emissions produced

from manufacturing and power

consumption) and decreasing

the amount of toxic substances

in hardware components. It is

Green IT has become a trend. Preceded by households and individuals, it is now up to the

world of IT to become environmentally conscious. Every year, the IT sector is responsible

for twenty million kilograms of waste material and produces as much CO2 as the aviationindustry. However, a lot of good can be achieved with cooling systems, virtualization and

recycling. The question is whether IT managers are actually willing to reduce the size of

their organizations ecological footprint? Is green IT just hype or are green ideals beginning

toinuenceourdecisions?

TEXT:JOHANNA KIRN & HENRIEKE KORTEN

Green IT for everyone


11/20THEME1

Prots for companies thatchoose green ITIBM estimated a 40 percent

decrease of power consumption

in data centres that utilize greenmeasures. Replacing 50 old

computerswithmoreefcientPCs,

printers and screens in a company

with 200 work stations amounts

to around 6000 euros in savings.

By building a large data centre

in the vicinity of a cost-effective,

durable power plant, such as

a hydroelectric power station,

companies can save money on

IT. After all, transferring data is

moreefcientthantransferring

electricity. However, this saving

measure is only of interest to big IT

service providers.

Green measures not only affect

the electricity bill, but also the

image of the company. Indeed, IT

companies can use green IT as a

marketing tool. A good example

of this is Strato, a large European

hosting provider that has recently

gained more publicity by winning

the Berliner Umweltpreis (BerlinAward for Environmentalism).

However, growing attention for

green IT can also have a negative

impact on some companies. Every

year, Greenpeace publishes its

Guide to Greener Electronics,

which contains a list of IT

companies, ranked according to

their eco-friendly policies. And

every year, Apple - typically a

company with an innovative image

- ranks low on that list. In 2006,Greenpeace kicked-off their Green

my Apple, to the core campaign

to encourage Apple to use fewer

toxins in their product line. This

appears to have had an effect

on the company as Apple has

promised to make amends and has

been communicating more openly

about its environmental policy ever

since.

Quick wins

What is the best way for acompanytomakeagreenprot?

Popular methods, which have been

used many times already, include

thin clients, virtualization and

improved cooling systems.

Thin clients

Thin clients are advanced

terminals that do not have any

processing power; their sole

purpose is to transfer data from

one server to another. By using

thin clients instead of desktops, a

company with 175 work stations

can save 660 euros per work

station in energy consumption

and administrative costs over a

periodofveyears(Frauenhofer

Institut UMSICHT). Furthermore,

CO2 emissions are reduced by 54

percent per work station, because

thin clients require less power

during the production,

assembly and distribution

phases.

Virtualization

The already

popularised

use of server

visualizationis another way

to reduce the

electricity bill. In

this process, the hard

drive is partitioned.

Because every virtual

hard drive has its own

operating system and since no

additional peripherals are required,

power consumption is reduced.

Cooling systems

Free cooling means that a supercooling device is installed on the

roofoftheofcebuilding,which

uses external air to control the

temperature of the computer room.

With a capacity of 600 kW on the

roof,itcansufcientlycooldown

a computer room of 2000 m2 if

outdoor temperatures remain at or

below9C.Above9C,acompressor

is activated to provide additional

cooling power. Because the heat

exchange is always pre-cooled, less

electricity is needed.

Another cooling method is cold

corridor, in which servers are

lined-up and cold air is drawn from

a cold corridor. The heat exchange

takes place via a warm corridor

directly above the cold corridor.

The two air currents are closed

off from one another using wind

shields, preventing the warm and

cold air streams

from cominginto contact.

This method

reduces power

consumption

by 20%.


12/2012 THEME

Why no green IT (yet)?There are certainly enough energy-

saving measures for IT available,

and it seems so easy to put these

measures into practise: whynotbuyamorepower-efcient

PC if the old one needs to be

replaced anyway? Still, only a few

companies have become involved

with green IT. There must be a

good explanation.

Hesitant IT managers

German IT magazine

Computerwoche has surveyed

264 IT managers about energy

conservation. More than 50

percent have noticed an increase

in their energy costs. Despite this,

only 7 percent consider these rising

costs to play an important role in

their investments. 35 percent of

these IT managers are aware that

there are ways to cut down costs

but have not taken the next step.

It appears that there is too little

energy invested in green IT.

Forrester Research, an American

research company, is anotherbearer of bad news: many

American IT companies are still on

the fence when it comes to green

IT investments. Researchers have

also detected a noticeable rise in

power consumption caused by IT

departments: from 1 percent of all

company energy costs to 7 percent.

Only one-third of all interviewees

considered conservation of energy

a part of their future plans. Such

companies are reluctant to investiftheycannotmakeaprot

immediately, and would rather

stick to their old ways.

Dirty green

Some green solutions are subject

to criticism. Transporting recycled

computers is anything but clean

and reusing them is power-

consuming all the same. In many

cases, processing unserviceable

hardware is environmentally

harmful. In particular,environmental pollution is a

problem in China and other Asian

countries, where western countries

often dump their used hardware.

Greening your ofceGreen IT is not as widespread as

it could be. There are plenty of

reasons for this, from lack of drive

or interest to anxiety to invest

more. And many green solutions

leave a lot to be desired. But

does green IT really deserve all

this attention? Since many green

measures go hand in hand with

cost savings, IT managers will

eventually reconsider and make

more of an effort to cut back on

power consumption. Not every IT

department will run on durable

energy, but a super cooling device

here and there should be possible.

Go Green with TOPdesk

TOPdesk can help your company

to go green. In Object cards,

theAttentioneldcanbeusedto indicate toxic substances in

objects (which is the case with

most hardware items). You can

then create an event for archiving

toxic objects, followed by an email

stating that the object needs to be

delivered to the recycling company

Both the telephone number and

the address of the nearest recycling

company can be included in the

message.

The Operations management

module allows you to create

checklists. A checklist for air

conditioner maintenance can

makeasignicantcontributionto

the inside temperature, ensuring

that a relatively even temperature

is maintained throughout the

building. Energy is wasted when

the building becomes too warm or

too cold. The same goes for cooling

system maintenance in server

rooms. Regular inspections of thessystems can lead to considerably

lower power consumption. Such

measures will help you to reduce

the amount of energy being used

and save you money.

UsethememoeldontheSupplie

cards to make notes on the eco-

friendliness of your supplier. Try to

ndoutwhatstepsyoursuppliers

are taking to reduce the size of

their ecological footprint. Forexample, what are their production

methods? How do they process

waste materials? Do they supply

non-polluting cleaning agents?

Do they offer any catering options

with organic food? These green

considerations can be kept in mind

when choosing a supplier.


13/20CLIENT IN FOCUS1

TEXT: HENRIEKE KORTEN

Client in focus

Meander Medisch Centrum, a hospital with four different sites across the Netherlands,employs 1000 nursing staff, 200 medical specialists and 2000 other employees. Folkert

Deelstra and Bert Verlinden work in the IT department at one of these locations and use

TOPdesk on a daily basis.

What are your roles?Deelstra: I am the TOPdesk system

administrator and keep myself

occupied with the use and setup

of the application. Verlinden: As

service manager, I am responsible

for coordinating the IT department.

Which TOPdesk version andmodules do you use?Our department has been using

TOPdesk since 1999, and now

we use it in collaboration with

the Purchasing team and the

Clinical Chemistry Laboratory. We

support four locations with the

modules Incident management,Problem management, Change

management and Contract

management & SLM. We began

using Professional, and have

continued to grow with TOPdesk.

After having attended Roel Spilkers

presentation at the symposium in

2005, we decided to upgrade to

Enterprise. We also try to update to

the newest version every time there

is a release.

How many callers do yousupport and how large is theservice desk?We have two thousand callers,

distributed across four locations.

Thirty-vepeopleworkinour

department, eight of whom work at

the service desk.

With which aims in minddid you decide to start usingTOPdesk?The system that we used to use

was expensive, impractical and

unappealing. Moreover, we had

to change from terminals to

PCs, which involved us having to

implement an entire new system.

Two people from a business

partner of TOPdesk happened to

be installing Windows NT at the

time, and referred us to TOPdesk.

Both the implementation and the

updates went very smoothly. Every

employee who was going to be

working with TOPdesk was giventraining, so everyone could begin

using it immediately.

What is an example of afrequently occurring call?The incidents that we get range

from slow computer and request

for new account to orders for

new PCs. The Clinical Chemistry

Laboratory uses Incident

management to log calls about

their analysis methods, while thePurchasing department creates

activities for orders in Change

management.

What do you like best aboutTOPdesk?The best thing about TOPdesk

is that nothing complaints,

requests can ever get lost, which

is something that used to happen

quite often. Particularly when you

want to report something as having

been stolen, it is useful to know

the serial number and from where

the object was stolen. TOPdesk also

helps prevent the time-consuming

process of calling around for

information. We are now always up

to date on the status of a project

or call.

On the TOPdesk Community, we

noticed that another TOPdesk client

was using an evaluation tab. We

thought that this would be a goodway to improve our service, and

have since incorporated this system

and adjusted it to suit our needs.

We now have insight into the

satisfaction of our callers.


14/2014 TRENDS

Here are a few practical tips

to help you reduce the carbon

footprint of your ofce, one step

at a time.

Purchase renewable

energy if possible. Using

solar, wind or other sources ofrenewable energy is perhaps one

of the most important things

you can do to reduce the carbon

footprintofyourofce.

Buyenergyefcient

equipment when

replacing irreparable or obsolete

items. And make sure that the new

version is durable and long-lasting

to prevent more unnecessary

waste from being created in thenear future. Whether it is a table,

a computer, or a new company

car,ensurethatenergyefciency

and durability play a role in the

decision making process.

When travelling is

necessary, promote green

commuting: car sharing, public

transport, cycling, walking.

Turn off computers

and other electronic

equipment at night and during

the weekend. Use energy-saving

settings when in use.

Go digital whenever

possible: store copies of

important documents in network

databases rather than on paper.

Support software programmes

such as TOPdesk reduce the need

forpaperbymakingpaperling

obsolete - take advantage of such

paperless solutions.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.We have all heard

this mantra before, but a quick

glancearoundmostofceswill

demonstrate that the potential for

this mantra to effect change has

not been fully maximized. Make a

point of really incorporating it into

your work habits. (Do you really

We hear it often enough: the climate is changing and we need to do something

about it. These days, the barrage of warnings can sometimes seem frustrating

because it is often not clear what role we should be playing in this process. One

thing is sure: the IT sector has a clear responsibility to do something. So what

exactlycanwedotohelpalleviatethisprobleminourofces?

Seven tips for reducing the carbon footprintof your ofce

TEXT: CARRIE BRANDT

Trends

need to print that email? If so, can

you turn that print-out into scrap

paper when you are done using it?

And after you have used it as scrap

paper, make sure it ends up in the

recycling bin).

Be creative andinnovative. Recently,

a town in Switzerland began

redirecting waste heat from

a server farm to heat a local

swimming pool. Each organization

has different purposes, limits and

requirements, so obviously such a

project is not feasible for everyone,

but a little creativity can go a

long way. Something as small as

designing a few stickers that can

be placed on computers remindingusers to switch them off when not

in use can make a big difference

overall.

Keep in mind that the advantages

of going green are threefold: in

addition to doing your part to

combat climate change, you will


15/20TRENDS 1

also be reducing costs as well as

improving your corporate imagein the face of a growing populace

of environmentally conscious

consumers. Furthermore, the

initially higher costs associated

with some green initiatives

(for example, hybrid cars, green

design buildings, and energy-

saving light bulbs) are often offset

by subsequent reductions in

energy expenditures and/or bygovernment rebates.

Want to calculate your carbon

footprint? Visit the TOPdesk

magazine website at www.

topdeskmagazine.com and click on

thelink.Youwillalsondmoretips

onhowtogreenyourofce.

Sources:

http://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/event_detail.aspx?eid=2696e0e0-28fe-

4121-bd36-3670c02eda49

http://www.bellmicro.eu/goingreen/

pass_buck.aspx

http://www.engadge.com/2008/

04/03/heat-from-data-center-used-to-

warm-swiss-swimming-pool/


16/2016 TOPDESK

TEXT:JOCHEM BROEKHUIZEN,ARJEN DIRKS & JORDI RECASENS

Simon Walters has been running a

restaurant in London for years now.

He has employed a chef and two

waiters. He has recently noticed a

signicant decrease in turnover and

intends to nd out what is causing

it. After several conversations with

customers he nds out the answer

to his question: a couple of new

restaurants recently opened in thevicinity, which are not much more

expensive, but offer tastier and more

diverse meal options. Moreover, they

offer better service.

Simon thinks that it is time for a

change and comes up with a plan

to put his own business in a better

position. He spent 40,000 pounds

on a new kitchen to win back his

customer base.

Anyone who reads this is well aware

that Simons solution is not going to

solve all his problems. A new kitchen

will not add more diversity to his

dishes or make them any tastier, nor

will the service improve. Preparing

food, on the other hand, will be made

easier.

Applications do not solveall problemsSimilar situations often occur in the

IT market. Service management

applications such as TOPdesk are

utilizedassolutionsforinefcient

IT departments. Expectations are

that, by implementing TOPdesk,

the department will operate more

efciently,themotivationofstaffwill increase and satisfaction of

customers will increase. In other

words, applications are the answer to

everything!

Simons new kitchen will undoubt-

edly tickle the fancy of his chef.

However,tondarealisticsolution

to his problem, he needs to come up

with a strategy to improve his entire

business plan. He should aim towards

satisfying his clientele, ensuring thatthey leave with a smile on their faces

as well as training and motivating his

personnel. Processes, applications and

personnel need to be harmonised in

order for IT departments to operate

properly. You might think this is a

matter of course... Well, think again.

ProcessesProcess-oriented work with frame-

works such as ITIL, ASL and BiSL

receive a lot of attention in the IT

world. They provide the foundation

on which organizations can build

theirownspecicimplementation.

Well-arranged processes result

in clear working methods. The

processesleadtodenedworkinginstructions, which mean that

employeescantakeontheirspecic

roles and know their position in the

service management chain.

Setting up these procedures and

working instructions is quite a

challenge for many organizations.

However, implementing the

framework too literally should also

be avoided. Doing so usually results

in unnecessary steps being taken andan overly complex implementation

process.Thenalresultsofsuch

conguredprocessesnolongert

into the organizational structure

and become unusable. In some

cases, an external consultant is hired

to provide the procedures. Both

methods result in a collection of

Processes, applications

and peopleA look at what is cooking in the kitchen


17/20TOPDESK1

working instructions) have to be

readjusted.

Usable applicationTOPdesk is a well renowned tool

used to support IT departments,

service and help desks. Because of

its versatility, TOPdesk can meet the

demands of many different kinds

of customers. In order to be able tomake the right decisions regarding

congurationandneededmodules,

an organization needs to know

what exactly they are going to use

TOPdesk for.

During the implementation of

TOPdesk, two elements are of the

utmost importance. First of all,

it is important to keep a usable,

operational situation in mind. If

using TOPdesk results in overlycomplex work procedures, it is not

going to be of much added value. If,

however,thecongurationaddsto

the created procedures, TOPdesk will

make your work easier.

Secondly, there is the provision of

tactical information. In order to

retrieve the required information

from TOPdesk using reports,

correct registration of data in the

application is important. In some

cases, extensive registration is at the

expense of usability. That is why the

challengeofconguringTOPdesk

lies in uniting these two - sometimes

conicting-needs.Registrationis

often done for the purpose of reportswhen, in many cases, it is unclear as

to what the registered information

will be used for. One example is

creating an overview of how much

time is spent on different kinds of

incidents in TOPdesk by registering

this information. If, in reality,

only a few reports are generated,

registering this information means

unnecessary work.

Motivated peopleWhat would services be withoutpeople? People are even more

crucial for a service than processes

and applications. Perhaps it is a

little clich, but everyone knows

what would happen if the entire IT

department was to be unmanned for

a few days.

unreadable and incomprehensible

documents, which are eventually left

to collect dust, leaving the creators

as the only people that are actually

informed about these procedures.

When implementing processes,

it is important to create a

foundation. One way to do this is

to encourage your colleagues toattend introduction courses like

ITIL Awareness, and involve them in

the development of the processes.

After all, they know the hiatuses

in the process. Working with them

to improve the process can help to

increase motivation.

Also, work does not stop after the

implementation. This is where the

proccess coordinators work begins:

they maintain and promote theorganizational processes. Also,

they are the ones to make sure

that employees receive training

on a regular basis and that new

employees get to know these

procedures. Furthermore, working

conditions may change, in which

case procedures (and above all,


18/2018 TOPDESK

For any service, it is important that

employees are well-trained and that

they know enough about their tasks.

Becausetheymakeasignicant

contribution to their companytargets, it is also important that

employees know and understand the

organization and the role their tasks

play.

Once employees truly realise this

and become aware of their role, and

if they are rightfully appreciated,

their attitude will change for the

better. They will be able to take on

more responsibility and continue

to develop, allowing them to

enjoy their work more and evolve

into motivated, dependable and

proactive employees. Appreciation,

responsibility, openness and

communication are keywords in this

matter.

Fitting solutionSimons new kitchen is not going

to solve his problems. He is going

to have to choose an integrated

solution, in which not only is

his new kitchen (Application)evaluated, but one in which

his employees (People) and his

work methods (Process) are also

reviewed. It is important that

thechosensolutionalsotsthe

organization.

Serving your customers is a process

that starts by drawing attention

to the restaurant (marketing),

ensuring a friendly reception,

creating a pleasant ambiance,takingordersefciently,serving

dinner, bringing the bill and ending

with helping customers into their

coats. As a part of this process, all

employees must be aware of their

respective roles and communicate

with each other. If there is room for

taking more responsibility and if it

is appreciated, your personnel will

improve much faster and develop

the right feel for the business.

People will be able to enjoy their

work to a much greater extent.

Last but not least, the kitchen has

totthetypeofrestaurantthat

Simon is aiming for. His kitchen

requires a different interior than

that of a fast-food diner, but also

needs to be different than that of

an exclusive restaurant.

Small steps of improvementJust like Simons kitchen, the

implementation of a service

management application can lead

to an improved functioning of the

IT department. However, to boost

the department to a substantially

higher level of functioning and

service, an integrated approach to

process, application and people will

have a much bigger impact. This will

lead to a department that, even in

its learning stage, consistently aims

for perfect results, and that is able to

enjoy its work even more and serve

TOPdesk Consultancy has had the chance to take a look at what is cooking

in the kitchen of more than 2500 customers. The consultants have

encountered many situations in which the aspects of people, process and

application were not optimized as a whole. Fueled by this knowledge,

TOPdesk Consultancy helps organizations to improve their service

management processes on a daily basis.

TOPdesk Consultancy offers several services to support and improve the

different aspects of service management. Organizations are able to take

both small and large steps to improve their services. Besides implementingthe TOPdesk application, the consultants also help organizations by offering

TOPdesk training sessions such as customer-oriented work, ITIL Awareness

training sessions and coaching courses.

If you are interested in the services that TOPdesk Consultancy has to offer,

please contact us on +44 20 8846 8516 or visit our website at

www.topdesk.com.

satisedcustomers.

Implementing such integrated

solutions takes time and often

requires taking one small step ata time towards improvement. It

means that both those in charge

and their employees have to adjust

their mindset. After all, it is the

organization as a whole that makes

the change.


19/20TOPDESK1

Over the past few years, we have spent a lot of effort on the content of our magazine,

and we thought it would be a shame to keep all that content to ourselves. That is why

TOPdesk Magazine is now also available online, for everyone who wishes to stay up to

dateonthelatestdevelopmentsintheeldofservicemanagement.

Of course the printed

edition will continue

to appear. Request a

free subscription here.

The main categories

provide you with di-

rect access to the arti-

cles of your interest.

TOPdesk Magazine online offers the same articles

as in the printed version, optimized for the web, as

well as additional content. Displaying the most po-

pular pages, editors choices and links, we try to offer

broad insight into the trends and issues of profes-

sional service desks.

You have the option

to comment on each

article. Let us know

what you think!

Online articles allow

for more interaction,

by means of polls,

for instance.

TOPdesk Magazine Online

offers a wide range of ar-ticles, interviews, case stu-

dies and trend features.

Stay up to date by means of RSS

oremailnotication.

Search through all articles

from past years.

TEXT: NIEK STEENHUIS

www.topdeskmagazine.com:platform for service management


20/20

tips +tricksShortcut to frequently used cardsApplies in: TOPdesk Enterprise

In Internet Explorer it is possible to create a shortcut

to a frequently used card in TOPdesk. You can, for

instance, create a shortcut to a new First line incident

card or a report that is used often, so they are always

available at the click of a button.

Imagine that you wish to create a shortcut to a First

line incident card. From the overview page of Incident

management in TOPdesk, right click on First line

incident in the New block in the top right corner of

the screen. Select Copy Link Location. Paste this URL

in the navigation toolbar of Internet Explorer. The URL

will then look more or less like this:

http://[yourserver]/tas/secure/

incident?action=new&status=1

Click on the TOPdesk icon to the left of the URL in

the navigation bar and drag it to the Links bar of the

browser. (This bar may not yet be visible; this can be

activated via View > Toolbars > Links.)

When you click on this shortcut, TOPdesk will

immediately open a new First line incident card. This

card will be displayed full-screen, without the TOPdesk

frameset that is used for navigation. If you do wish to

include the frameset in the browser, you can paste a

piece of text in the URL, after http://[yourserver]:

/tas/secure/index.jsp?jspurl=

This can be done by right clicking on the shortcut in

the Links bar and selecting Properties. On the Web

Document tab you will see the URL that can be edited.

After you have pasted the piece of code above in thatURL, the entire URL will look like this:

http://[yourserver]/tas/secure/index.jsp?jspurl=/tas/

secure/incident&action=new&status=1

When you then click on the shortcut, TOPdesk will

open the First line incident card in the familiar TOPdesk

environment. This trick is of course also applicable

toothercardsinTOPdesk,andcanbeconguredina

similar way as described above.

Copyright 2008 TOPdesk UK Limited. Although this magazine has been produced with the utmost care and attention, the writers cannot be heldresponsibleinanywayforanydamagesthatmayoccurduetoerrorsand/ordecienciesinthispublication.

TOPdesk UK limitedt +44 (0)20 8846 8516e [email protected] www.topdesk.co.uk

TOPdesk Netherlandst +31 (0)15 270 09 00e [email protected] www.topdesk.nl

TOPdesk Deutschland GmbHt +49 (0)631 624 00 0e [email protected] www.topdesk.de

TOPdesk Belgiumt +32 (0)3 292 32 90e [email protected] www.topdesk.be

topdesk magazine 2008 issue 2

Documents