Eight Essential KPI's for Desktop Support v2metricnet-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Eight... · But what about Cost per Ticket, the other foundation metric in the

Eight Essential KPI’s for Managing Desktop Support How Does YOUR Desktop Support Stack Up?

By Jeff Rumburg and Eric Zbikowski

Managing Partners at:

Introduction When it comes to end-user support, most people automatically think of the Level 1 Help Desk. The Help Desk has been extensively studied and researched, and the Best Practices for Level 1 Support are well documented and well understood. The same, however, cannot be said of Level 2, or Desktop Support. This critical support function has historically received far less attention than the help desk, and for most IT organizations it represents a fertile opportunity for performance enhancement. This is particularly true when it comes to Key Performance Indicators for Desktop Support.

In this article, MetricNet (www.metricnet.com), a leading source of online benchmarks and a pioneer in Desktop Support benchmarking, identifies and defines the eight most important performance metrics for Desktop Support. They will share the results from more than 100 Desktop Support benchmarks, and discuss the importance of taking an integrated approach to managing End-User Support.

The Mighty Power of Metrics Many of us have heard the sage advice “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” This is particularly true for Desktop Support, where effective performance measurement is not just a necessity, but a prerequisite for effective management. Despite the widespread belief in this statement, few Desktop Support organizations use KPI’s to their full potential. In fact MetricNet’s research, gathered from literally hundreds of Desktop Support benchmarks, suggests that the vast majority of Desktop Support organizations track very few (if any) performance metrics. And the KPI’s they do follow are used to merely track and trend their Desktop Support performance – but nothing more! Unfortunately, in this mode, Desktop Support misses the real value of performance measurement by failing to exploit the diagnostic capabilities of KPI’s.

The true potential of Desktop Support KPI’s can only be realized when they are used holistically, not just to measure performance, but also to:

Track and trend performance over time

Benchmark performance vs. industry peers

Identify strengths and weaknesses in Desktop Support

Diagnose and understand the underlying drivers of performance gaps

Eight Essential KPI’s for Managing Desktop Support

© MetricNet, LLC, All rights reserved www.metricnet.com Page 2

Prescribe actions to improve performance

Establish performance goals for both individuals and the Desktop Support organization

In short, performance measurement and management is a critical discipline that must be mastered for any Desktop Support Organization that aspires to world-class performance.

The Eight Essential Metrics for Desktop Support The average Desktop Support organization tracks fewer than 5 KPI’s. However, there are literally hundreds of KPI’s that have been defined for Desktop Support. A list of the most common Desktop Support KPI’s is shown in Figure 1 below. The vast majority of these metrics, however, are only marginally relevant – at best!

Figure 1: The Most Common Desktop Support KPI’s

When it comes to KPI’s for Desktop Support, less is more! The eight that really matter are as follows:

Cost per Ticket

Customer Satisfaction

Technician Utilization

First Contact Resolution Rate (incidents)



Mean Time to Resolve

% Resolved Level 1 Capable

Technician Satisfaction

Balanced Scorecard

These eight metrics represent the 80/20 rule when it comes to Desktop Support performance: 80% of the value you receive from performance measurement and management in Desktop Support can be derived from these eight simple metrics!

Tickets, Incidents, and Service Requests Before we go any further, it is worth defining a few terms. Specifically, we need to define the terms Ticket, Incident, and Service Request as they relate to Desktop Support.

An Incident is typically unplanned work that requires the assistance of an on-site technician to resolve. Common examples include a desktop hardware break/fix, a printer or server failure, connectivity problems, or any other issue that cannot be resolved remotely by the Level 1 Service Desk. By contrast, most Service Requests represent planned work. Among the most common Service Requests are Move’s/Add’s/Change’s, hardware refresh/replacement, and device upgrades. Tickets represent the sum of all Incidents and Service Requests. Figure 2 below illustrates these definitions.

Figure 2: Tickets, Incidents and Service Requests



The Eight Desktop KPI’s Defined How do we know that the eight KPI’s listed above are the most important? Is it a hunch? Suspicion? An academic exercise? No, it’s none of the above. We know that these are the eight metrics that matter most because the empirical evidence from hundreds of Desktop Support benchmarks supports this conclusion. But let us explain why these metrics are so critically important.

One goal of every business is to achieve the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost. It stands to reason, therefore, that cost and quality should be measured on an ongoing basis. In fact, I would argue that cost and quality are the only two things that really matter. In Desktop Support, the most effective cost metric is Cost per Ticket, and the best indicator of quality is Customer Satisfaction. With this premise in mind, it’s relatively easy to come up with the next four metrics on our list: Technician Utilization, First Contact Resolution (FCR) for incidents, Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR), and Technician Satisfaction.

Earlier in this article, we talked about the importance of using metrics as a diagnostic tool to improve performance. So we have to ask ourselves, if customer satisfaction is one of the “foundation metrics” in the Desktop Support, how can we affect it? How can we improve it? Put another way, if customer satisfaction is suffering, what is the diagnosis?

Well, it turns out that customer satisfaction is affected by a whole range of other performance variables, including Average Response Time, and Average Work Time per Ticket, to name just a few. But the three biggest drivers of customer satisfaction – by far – are First Contact Resolution (FCR), Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR), and Technician Satisfaction. The strong correlation between these three metrics and Customer Satisfaction is illustrated in the benchmarking data below, in Figures 3, 4, and 5. In each of these charts the blue diamonds represent benchmarking data points, while the red line represents the linear regression through the data points.

Nine times out of ten when customer satisfaction needs to improve, this can be achieved by increasing FCR and Technician Satisfaction, and decreasing the MTTR. This is why world-class Desktop Support organizations pay so much attention to these metrics. They engage in a variety of tactics to continuously improve these metrics, including technician training, effective workforce management/scheduling, and technician incentives tied to improvements in FCR and MTTR.



Figure 3: Incident FCR vs. Customer Satisfaction

Figure 4: Incident MTTR vs. Customer Satisfaction

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Figure 5: Technician Satisfaction vs. Customer Satisfaction

But what about Cost per Ticket, the other foundation metric in the Desktop Support? It is common knowledge that labor, i.e. personnel, is the single biggest expense in Desktop Support. In fact, for the average Desktop Support organization, 74% of all costs are labor related: salaries, benefits, incentive pay, and contractors. By definition, then, labor costs are the greatest lever we have to manage the Cost per Ticket.

The best measure of labor efficiency is Technician Utilization. Because labor costs represent the overwhelming majority of Desktop Support operating expense, if Technician Utilization is high, the Cost per Ticket will inevitably be low. Conversely, when Technician Utilization is low, labor costs, and hence Cost per Ticket, will be high. This is illustrated in Figure 6 below.

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Figure 6: Technician Utilization vs. Cost per Ticket

The formula for determining Technician Utilization is somewhat complicated. It factors in the length of the work day, break times, vacation and sick time, training time, and a number of other factors. But there is an easy way to approximate Technician Utilization without going to all this trouble. Figure 7 below illustrates this working definition for Technician Utilization.

Figure 7: Technician Utilization Defined



Let’s say, for example that the technicians in a particular Desktop Support group handle an average of 60 incidents and 24 service requests per month. Let’s also assume that the average incident requires 32 minutes of work time, and that the average service request requires 59 minutes of work time. Finally, let’s assume that there is an average of 41 minutes of travel time associated with each ticket. Most technicians work an average of 21 days per month, and their work day is 7.5 hours after subtracting lunch and break times. The simplified utilization formula above would work out to the following (Figure 8):

Figure 8: Technician Utilization Example

Once again, this is not a perfect measure of Technician Utilization, but it is quick and easy, and gets you within 5% of the true Technician Utilization metric.

The next KPI on the list of “must have’s” is % Resolved Level 1 Capable. This metric is a proxy for Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and is a critical measure of overall End-User Support effectiveness. Without this metric, it is very possible for both the Desktop and Level 1 Service Desk to achieve a low Cost per Ticket, and hence appear to be very efficient, but in fact be driving a very high TCO. Specifically, if Desktop Support is achieving a low Cost per Ticket by handling a significant number of contacts that could/should be resolved at Level 1, this will dramatically increase end-user support TCO.

The average for this metric worldwide is more than 20%. That is, more than 20% of all tickets resolved at Desktop Support could have been resolved at Level 1! This is a stunning observation, and represents an opportunity to dramatically reduce the cost of Level 2 Desktop Support, and the total cost of end-user support (TCO) for most organizations.



Figures 9, 10, and 11 below illustrate this concept.

Figure 9: Cost per Ticket vs. Resolution Level

Figure 10: Desktop Support TCO



Figure 11: Desktop Support TCO Example

The next metric, Technician Satisfaction, is strongly correlated with many other metrics in Desktop Support. High levels of Technician Satisfaction lead to lower turnover, lower absenteeism, lower work times, and higher First Contact Resolution Rates. These, in turn, result in lower Cost per Ticket, and higher Customer Satisfaction (Figure 12 below).



Figure 12: Technician Satisfaction vs. Customer Satisfaction

Progressive Desktop Support organizations therefore measure Technician Satisfaction at least twice per year, and take steps to ensure that they are maintaining high levels of Technician Satisfaction. Specifically, World-Class Desktop Support organizations provide training, career pathing, and coaching for their agents at well above industry average levels. This, in turn, leads to high levels of Technician Satisfaction and morale. Figure 13 illustrates the impact of Technician Training on Technician Satisfaction.

Figure 13: Technician Training Hours vs. Technician Satisfaction



The cause-and-effect relationships of the Desktop Support KPI’s we have discussed so far are illustrated in Figure 14 below. The KPI’s in red are the ones on our short list of “must have” Key Performance Indicators for Desktop Support.

Figure 14: Cause-and-Effect of Desktop Support KPI’s

Understanding the interrelationships of the key Desktop Support KPI’s is important, for it provides a roadmap for managing and affecting change in the organization. If your Cost per Ticket is too high, for example, the first place to turn for a remedy is Technician Utilization. Likewise, to improve Customer Satisfaction, the metrics that will affect the desired change include FCR, Technician Satisfaction, and MTTR.

We have now discussed seven of the eight metrics that are most important for managing Desktop Support. What about the eighth metric? What is the Balanced Scorecard, and how do we create one? Can a single measure really tell us the overall performance of our Desktop Support organization? The answer is yes, and we do this by aggregating a number of measures to come up with a combined, overall score for Desktop Support.

MetricNet’s research shows that establishing a single, overall score for your Desktop Support organization is critical. We call this measure the Balanced Score because it truly does communicate a balanced picture of Desktop Support performance. This is a mechanism that utilizes the key metrics tracked by Desktop Support such as Cost per Ticket, Customer Satisfaction, and Mean Time to Resolve, and aggregates them into a single, all-inclusive measure of Desktop Support performance. The value of this metric, when tracked over time, is that it enables Desktop Support to determine whether overall performance is improving or declining. Oftentimes, when a Desktop Support group attempts to communicate its performance to other stakeholders in the business, particularly to lay people who do not understand Desktop Support



operations, they quickly become overwhelmed by the minutia of such measures as Mean Time to Resolve and First Contact Resolution Rate, and they are confused as to how to interpret the results. They are likely to focus in on one, easily-understood measure such as Cost per Ticket, and draw conclusions about overall Desktop Support performance from this metric alone. This is a classic case of “missing the forest for the trees”. It is therefore absolutely critical to communicate the overall performance of Desktop Support, and the Balanced Score does that for you. It allows the aggregation of a whole series of measures, the normalization of those measures, and the creation a single all-encompassing indicator of Desktop Support performance on a monthly basis. In this way, Desktop Support can track its overall performance, and, in any given month, may see costs go up or customer satisfaction go down or Mean Time to Resolve increase, but these individual measures take on a secondary level of importance because the Balanced Score provides a more complete and accurate picture of Desktop Support performance. Figure 15 below illustrates how the Balanced Scorecard is constructed.

Figure 15: Desktop Support Balanced Scorecard

Figure 16 below illustrates the Balanced Score for one Desktop Support organization over a twelve month period. Notice how you can see at a glance which months had improving performance (the balanced score goes up), and which months had declining performance (the balanced score goes down). The good news for this Desktop Support organization is that the overall trend is in a positive direction.



Figure 16: Trending the Desktop Support Balanced Score

Conclusion Most Desktop Support organizations commit two major mistakes when it comes to performance measurement: 1) they do not track the right KPI’s, and 2) they do not exploit the full potential of Desktop Support KPI’s as a diagnostic tool.

In this article we have shown that you can effectively track and trend your Desktop Support performance using just eight KPI’s. The two “foundation metrics” that every Desktop Support should track on an ongoing basis are Cost per Ticket and Customer Satisfaction. The next three metrics in the top eight are the ones that have the greatest influence on cost and customer satisfaction: Technician Utilization, Incident First Contact Resolution, and Mean Time to Resolve. Then we suggest tracking % Resolved Level 1 Capable because it is a proxy for Total Cost of Ownership, and is an overall indicator of Desktop Support efficiency. The seventh metric on our list, Technician Satisfaction, is important because it is so strongly correlated with a number of important metrics on the Desktop Support, including Cost per Contact and Customer Satisfaction. And the final metric, the Balanced Scorecard, provides an overall measure of Desktop Support performance.

These eight metrics not only allow you to effectively measure your Desktop Support performance, but they enable you to:

Track and trend performance over time

Benchmark performance vs. industry peers

Identify strengths and weaknesses in Desktop Support

Diagnose and understand the underlying drivers of performance gaps



Prescribe actions to improve performance

Establish performance goals for both individuals, and the Desktop Support organization

When it comes to Desktop Support measurement and management, less really is more! By tracking just eight KPI’s, and using these KPI’s diagnostically to affect positive change in Desktop Support, the job of guiding your Desktop Support towards world-class performance can be greatly simplified.

Due to space limitations, this article barely begins to scratch the surface on the topic of Best Practices in Desktop Performance Measurement and Management. In subsequent articles, MetricNet will continue its series on Successful Benchmarking for Desktop Support, with articles on:

Benchmarking Peer Group Selection: How to Ensure a Fair, Apples-to-Apples Comparison in Your Desktop Support Benchmark

The Benchmarking Performance Gap: Diagnosing the Causal Factors Behind Your Desktop Support Performance Gaps

The Bottom Line on Desktop Support Performance: Implementing a Balanced Scorecard for Level 2 Support



About the Authors The authors of this article, Jeff Rumburg and Eric Zbikowski, are both Managing Partners at MetricNet, the premier provider of performance metrics, benchmarks, performance reports, and scorecards for corporations worldwide.

Jeff Rumburg is a co-founder and Managing Partner at MetricNet, LLC. Jeff is responsible for global strategy, product development, and financial operations for the company. As a leading expert in benchmarking and re-engineering, Mr. Rumburg authored a best selling book on benchmarking, and has been retained as a benchmarking expert by such well-known companies as American Express, EDS, IBM, and General Motors. He has more than 19 years of industry experience, much of it focused on Desktop Supports, and was the founder of The Help Desk Benchmarking Consortium.

Prior to co-founding MetricNet, Mr. Rumburg was president and founder of The Verity Group, an international management consulting firm specializing in help desk and call center consulting. As president of The Verity Group, Mr. Rumburg launched a number of syndicated benchmarking services that provided Information Technology benchmarks to more than 1,000 corporations worldwide. These included the Help Desk Benchmarking Consortium, and the Call Center Benchmarking Consortium.

Mr. Rumburg has also held a number of executive positions at META Group, and Gartner, Inc. As a vice president at Gartner, Mr. Rumburg led a project team that reengineered Gartner’s global benchmarking product suite. And as vice president at META Group, Mr. Rumburg’s career was focused on help desk and call center consulting.

Mr. Rumburg's education includes an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, an M.S. magna cum laude in Operations Research from Stanford University, and a B.S. magna cum laude in Mechanical Engineering. He is author of A Hands-On Guide to Competitive Benchmarking: The Path to Continuous Quality and Productivity Improvement, and has taught graduate-level engineering and business courses.

Mr. Rumburg’s contact information is as follows:

Jeff Rumburg Managing Partner MetricNet, LLC 1431 Mayhurst Blvd Telephone: 703-992-8160 Facsimile: 703-992-8130 E-mail: [email protected]



Eric Zbikowski is a co-founder and Managing Partner at MetricNet, LLC. Eric oversees all of worldwide sales, marketing and operations, and assists in the direction of MetricNet's global enterprise.

Mr. Zbikowski is a knowledgeable leader with nearly 15 years experience in operational management, customer service and performance benchmarking. Previously, he was The Director of Operations, Worldwide Sales and Services at MicroStrategy - a leading enterprise software company. There, he ran worldwide sales operations and assisted in the execution of an overall sales strategy. Prior to that, he was Director of Sales and Marketing at The Corporate Executive Board - a global research firm focusing on corporate strategy for senior executives. Previously, he was a Vice President of Consulting at META Group - a leading information technology research and advisory services firm, where he helped create and launch META Group's Call Center Benchmark for Energy Utilities and fulfilled numerous help desk, call center and customer satisfaction engagements for Fortune 2000 companies.

Prior to joining META Group, Mr. Zbikowski worked at The Bentley Group, A TSC Company, where he managed and directed the Information Services Division, focusing primarily on customer satisfaction, competitive analysis and performance benchmarking. Mr. Zbikowski also spent 3 1/2 years at Gartner Group, where he was well-published in performance benchmarking. There, he served as a regular speaker at conference seminars and co-created/launched a quality-management, customer-satisfaction benchmarking service used by CIOs of Fortune 500 companies.

Mr. Zbikowski is also extensively involved in the community and is Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of The Board and Chairman of The Development Committee at The Computer Corner, a nonprofit community technology center in Washington DC. The Computer Corner continues to be rated "one of the finest small charities Greater Washington has to offer" by The Catalogue for Philanthropy. Mr. Zbikowski graduated cum laude in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with a dual concentration in entrepreneurial management and marketing.

Mr. Zbikowski’s contact information is as follows: Eric Zbikowski Managing Partner MetricNet, LLC 2328 Champlain St NW Suite #308 Washington, DC 20009 Telephone: (office) 202-758-0128; (cell) 202-321-5760 Facsimile: 202-333-3234 E-mail: [email protected]

About MetricNet MetricNet is the leading source of on-line benchmarks, scorecards, and performance metrics for corporate managers worldwide. MetricNet benchmarks encompass virtually every industry and government sector, and address all major business areas including IT, customer service, and technical support.



Our mission is to provide our clients with the benchmarks they need to run their businesses more effectively. MetricNet is committed to making the benchmarking process quick and easy for its customers. We have pioneered a number of innovative techniques to ensure that our clients receive fast, accurate benchmarks, with a minimum of time and effort.

MetricNet offers a number of competitive differentiators vs. other industry consulting firms. These include:

• Credibility and Experience – The principals of MetricNet have collectively

completed more than 1,300 benchmarks since 1988. Each of them has extensively researched, written, and published on the topic of Desktop Support Benchmarking. Prior to joining MetricNet, the founders of the company held senior management positions at a number of companies including Gartner, META Group, MicroStrategy, the Stanford Research Institute, and the Verity Group.

• Benchmarking Database – MetricNet’s Desktop Support Benchmarking database is the most comprehensive in the industry. The database contains information on more than 40 Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), salary data for key Desktop Support positions, technology profiles, and more than 70 best practices from hundreds of Desktop Support organizations worldwide.

• Methodology Expertise – Through decades of Desktop Support consulting experience, MetricNet has perfected its methodology for Desktop Support Benchmarking. MetricNet’s approach to peer group selection, data normalization, gap analysis, and action planning yields consistently positive results for its Desktop Support clients. One of MetricNet’s co-founders, Jeff Rumburg, authored the first ever book on benchmarking in 1989, and MetricNet has authored and published numerous articles on the topic of Desktop Support Benchmarking.

• Objectivity – MetricNet’s recommendations are independent and unbiased. We have no relationships with hardware manufacturers, software vendors or systems integrators, and we do not perform downstream hardware or software implementation work. As a result, our clients receive objective recommendations that are free from any vendor bias.

MetricNet, LLC serves a global client base from its headquarters in McLean, VA. MetricNet’s Federal Tax Identification Number is 20-5791285 and its web site address is www.metricnet.com. The principle location of MetricNet, LLC is:

1431 Mayhurst Blvd. McLean, VA 22102 United States Telephone: 703-992-7559 Facsimile: 703-992-7558 E-Mail: [email protected]

For More Information For more information on MetricNet, go to www.metricnet.com, e-mail us at [email protected], or call us at 703-992-8160.

Documents

Eight Essential KPI's for Desktop Support v2metricnet-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Eight... · But what about Cost per Ticket, the other foundation metric in the