Corporate Helpdesk vs. Higher Education Helpdesk

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Corporate Helpdesk vs. Higher Education Helpdesk

• Eric Boisvert
• Evelyne Haldimann

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Helpdesk in the Corporate World

• Standardized equipment
• Individuals get what the Company provides
• Individuals have little/no customization ability
• Individuals are not administrators
• Computer activity monitored/sensored
• SLAs SLTs in place
• Focus on Productivity / Security

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Helpdesk in the Higher Ed World

• Variety of equipment deployed
• Different OS, Software, Hardware cross campus
• Central IT does not usurp College specific IT
• Tries to standardize, not always possible
• Individuals dictate needs/desires of computer
• Individuals have full administrative access
• Full customization capability
• No sensorship Academic Freedom
• Sporatic/Non-existent SLAs SLTs in place
• Focus on Service

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Apple vs. Windows Corporate vs. Higher Education

• Pre-Intel Separate World
• No difference from Corp or Higher Ed perspective
• Corporate still You get what you get
• Higher Ed still mixed bag of offerings

• Post-Intel PC Apple Worlds collide
• Corporate may not support Apple with windows due
  to cost, licensing, security
• Higher Ed will require training to support more
  products with same resources

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Apple vs. Windows Corporate vs. Higher Education

• Pre-Intel Security
• Higher Ed Apple notion by users security not an
  issue.
• Higher Ed Windows tough to get window updates
  not turned off or done
• Corporate Apple depending on business, perhaps
  no support/security on Apple
• Corporate Windows tight security on the you get
  what we give model

• Post-Intel Security
• Higher Ed Apple continued notion of security not
  an issue, but now compounded due to windows
  vulnerabilities not used to
• Corporate Apple perhaps little or less security
  knowledge since majority of helpdesks are Windows
  trained. Training curve and dollars to spend

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Staffing a Helpdesk

• Corporate employs FT PT paid staff
• Higher Ed depends on Student workers to
  supplement scant FT staff
• Corporate uses model to staff X number on
  Helpdesk per X number of employees
• Higher Ed has stagnant workforce count no matter
  the number of employees (No adds to staff)
• Turnover high for both.
• Corporate due to burnout and/or promotions
• Higher Ed due to graduation of student supplement
  staff

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Challenges for a Higher Ed HelpDesk

• Academic Freedom ability to use computer as
  desired
• Diverse hardware/software configurations
• Limited resources and financial backing
• Jack of all trades in regards to support.
• ie. EMail clients to support include Outlook,
  Outlook Express, Entourage, Mac Mail, Webmail,
  Eudora, Thunderbird
• Student help has limited access to Administrative
  functions

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Challenges for a Corporate Helpdesk

• Possibility for less cross training
• Helpdesk positions split by function
• Standard fixes and scripts to support users
• Users feel like a number or problem type rather
  than feeling like individuals getting help
• Assessment is results oriented time at task,
  number of calls per hour, expect high
  productivity from every staff

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Work Space/Environment of Corporate vs. Higher Ed

• Corporate Regardless of location the computer is
  standard and secure
• Higher Ed Lines get blurred whether computer is
  a home machine or a university asset
• Corporate Computer used for work only
• Higher Ed Academic Freedom leads to misuse and
  personal use

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Follow-Up/Closure by Helpdesk

• Corporate follow-up typically done by third
  party. By phone, mail, or online
• Higher Ed follow-up not always in existence or
  done by Helpdesk
• Corporate is more focused on productivity and
  performance. How many not how well.
• Higher Ed is more focused on service. How well
  rather than how many

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Questions?