Answers to Review Questions
Chapter 1
1. How dependent companies and people are on technology and the complexity of that technology.
2. A single point of contact within a company for managing customer incidents and service requests.
3. To enable people and businesses to continuously use the information technology they acquired or
developed.
4. (1) Developers missed deadlines because they were being diverted to technical support calls,
leaving little time for their primary job of programming. (2) Information was not being captured, so
developers had to discover the same solution again and again. (3) Recurring problems were neither
identified nor resolved. (4) Technology users, who expected quick and accurate solutions to their
problems and requests, were extremely dissatisfied when their demands were not met.
5. Vendors began offering discounts to customers who “screened” calls internally before calling the
vendor.
6. A customer can be either internal or external to a company.
7. Customer support involves helping the customer understand and benefit from a product's
capabilities by answering questions, solving problems, and providing training, not just installing
and fixing the technology.
8. (1) The rapid commercialization of the Internet. (2) Increasingly more affordable and portable
computing technology.
9. The introduction of "bring your own device" policies that are designed to address the security,
liability, and technical support challenges associated with consumerization.
1
,10. company size, company goals, and customer expectations
11. Formal support enables a company to maximize its technical resources and ensure that the people
providing support services have the required skills.
12. peer-to-peer support
13. Because of its constant interaction with the company’s customers and employees.
14. A world class company is considered excellent by its customers when compared to other
companies, regardless of what industry they are in. A best-in-class company is the finest in its
relative industry peer group.
15. World class help desks resolve a high percentage of problems and try to avoid dispatching or
sending problems to other support groups. Also, their practices are proactive, rather than reactive,
in nature.
16. Help desks traditionally handled only computer failures—a practice often referred to as “break/fix”—
the service desk handles a much broader set of responsibilities that included serving as the single point
of contact for managing customer incidents and service requests and communicating with customers.
17. Service desks are able to be more proactive and can reduce the time required to satisfy a customer’s
request.
18. (a) People – the staff and structure put in place to support a company’s customers by performing
processes; (b) Processes – determine the procedures people follow relative to their specific area of
the business; (c) Technology – the tools and systems people use to do their work; (d) Information –
data that are organized in a meaningful way. People need information to do their work and
management needs information to control, measure and continually improve processes
19. Gartner, Inc. defines IT governance as "the processes that ensure the effective and efficient use of
IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goals."
2
, 20. (1) Business skills – the skills people need to work successfully in the business world; (2) Soft
skills – the qualities people need to deliver great service; (3) Self-management skills – the skills
people need to complete their work effectively, feel job satisfaction, and avoid frustration or
burnout.
21. Successful service desks hire and train people who have good soft skills, who sincerely enjoy
working with customers, and who like helping others solve problems.
22. process
23. Companies must perform the correct processes and they must perform them well. Also, processes
must be continuously fine-tuned and occasionally redesigned.
24. To capture, store and deliver the information needed to satisfy the needs of both the customers and
the company.
25. (1) To track outstanding incidents and service requests. (2) To measure individual performance, the
overall performance of the service desk, and customer satisfaction with the department or
company. (3) To spot trends. (4) To discover the cause of incidents.
26. Interpret data and share and add value to information.
27. Customer service
28. Every service encounter they experience.
29. False. This misinterpretation of customer service would be far too costly and would quickly
overwhelm an organization’s resources. A service desk must manage customer expectations to
achieve customer satisfaction.
30. Left unmanaged, customer expectations quickly exceed the resources and capabilities of even the
most successful service desk.
3
Chapter 1
1. How dependent companies and people are on technology and the complexity of that technology.
2. A single point of contact within a company for managing customer incidents and service requests.
3. To enable people and businesses to continuously use the information technology they acquired or
developed.
4. (1) Developers missed deadlines because they were being diverted to technical support calls,
leaving little time for their primary job of programming. (2) Information was not being captured, so
developers had to discover the same solution again and again. (3) Recurring problems were neither
identified nor resolved. (4) Technology users, who expected quick and accurate solutions to their
problems and requests, were extremely dissatisfied when their demands were not met.
5. Vendors began offering discounts to customers who “screened” calls internally before calling the
vendor.
6. A customer can be either internal or external to a company.
7. Customer support involves helping the customer understand and benefit from a product's
capabilities by answering questions, solving problems, and providing training, not just installing
and fixing the technology.
8. (1) The rapid commercialization of the Internet. (2) Increasingly more affordable and portable
computing technology.
9. The introduction of "bring your own device" policies that are designed to address the security,
liability, and technical support challenges associated with consumerization.
1
,10. company size, company goals, and customer expectations
11. Formal support enables a company to maximize its technical resources and ensure that the people
providing support services have the required skills.
12. peer-to-peer support
13. Because of its constant interaction with the company’s customers and employees.
14. A world class company is considered excellent by its customers when compared to other
companies, regardless of what industry they are in. A best-in-class company is the finest in its
relative industry peer group.
15. World class help desks resolve a high percentage of problems and try to avoid dispatching or
sending problems to other support groups. Also, their practices are proactive, rather than reactive,
in nature.
16. Help desks traditionally handled only computer failures—a practice often referred to as “break/fix”—
the service desk handles a much broader set of responsibilities that included serving as the single point
of contact for managing customer incidents and service requests and communicating with customers.
17. Service desks are able to be more proactive and can reduce the time required to satisfy a customer’s
request.
18. (a) People – the staff and structure put in place to support a company’s customers by performing
processes; (b) Processes – determine the procedures people follow relative to their specific area of
the business; (c) Technology – the tools and systems people use to do their work; (d) Information –
data that are organized in a meaningful way. People need information to do their work and
management needs information to control, measure and continually improve processes
19. Gartner, Inc. defines IT governance as "the processes that ensure the effective and efficient use of
IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goals."
2
, 20. (1) Business skills – the skills people need to work successfully in the business world; (2) Soft
skills – the qualities people need to deliver great service; (3) Self-management skills – the skills
people need to complete their work effectively, feel job satisfaction, and avoid frustration or
burnout.
21. Successful service desks hire and train people who have good soft skills, who sincerely enjoy
working with customers, and who like helping others solve problems.
22. process
23. Companies must perform the correct processes and they must perform them well. Also, processes
must be continuously fine-tuned and occasionally redesigned.
24. To capture, store and deliver the information needed to satisfy the needs of both the customers and
the company.
25. (1) To track outstanding incidents and service requests. (2) To measure individual performance, the
overall performance of the service desk, and customer satisfaction with the department or
company. (3) To spot trends. (4) To discover the cause of incidents.
26. Interpret data and share and add value to information.
27. Customer service
28. Every service encounter they experience.
29. False. This misinterpretation of customer service would be far too costly and would quickly
overwhelm an organization’s resources. A service desk must manage customer expectations to
achieve customer satisfaction.
30. Left unmanaged, customer expectations quickly exceed the resources and capabilities of even the
most successful service desk.
3
