Is Service Desk an IT Job?

Is a Service Desk an IT Job? / The Important Role of a Service Desk Analyst

Now more than ever, technology sits at the core of business. Network systems, computers, and mobile devices are working together to make growth easier, simpler, and faster – but for them to be effective, they need to work properly.

Ensuring this happens isn’t always easy. More complex and diverse systems come to the market each year, and troubleshooting these systems can be hard on your IT teams. In many cases, the issues can be more advanced than your current IT department training covers. It pays to have an expert on your team.   

In this article, we will discuss the benefits of an IT service desk analyst. We demonstrate how these higher-level IT support specialists aid your IT staff in maintaining strong and efficient internal systems and discuss how to benefit from an IT service desk while meeting your budget. 

What is an IT Service Desk?

An IT Service Desk Analyst is a single customer service contact specifically trained to resolve service requests. This dedicated contact provides technical support information and solutions for internal hardware and software issues ranging from common incidents or rare and complicated issues that fall outside of what a typical IT department handles.

When incidents with technology arise, the IT Service Desk Analyst provides initial testing, research, and resolution of issues. If the analyst can’t resolve the issue at the outset, the analyst contacts relevant service resources and internal departments, sets up the needed service requests, and follows through with your IT department with a final solution.

Most customer issues are handled entirely through your analyst. From common user issues to more complex issues, your agent is trained to provide full assistance. He or she may work with other company specialists and vendors to resolve various hardware issues and technical issues, but he or she remains your primary contact for all direct customer issues.

In addition to troubleshooting issues, your analyst logs them for a better understanding of issues and to improve their internal processes and frameworks moving forward. Your analyst typically works at an outside company and reports issues and requests through their internal service desk software to a central desk using clear incident descriptions, impacts of incidents, and incident tracking for improved service down the road.

The analyst also logs solutions internally for increased organizational learning and places them into a documented form on the intranet for ongoing customer reference.

As you can see, these IT service desk agents have a big role, but it’s an important one for maintaining fully functional systems in a timely manner.

What is the Difference Between an IT Service Desk and a Helpdesk or Call Center?

The business functions of IT help desks and IT service desks sound similar at first, but are quite different. 

Core Functions of a Helpdesk vs a Service Desk Analyst

IT Help Desks

Those who work at a helpdesk function  are primarily contacts who resolve quick and simple issues or connect you to those who can. The department as a whole works similar to how a contact center functions by deferring most complex matters.

IT Service Desk Analysts

Like help desk analysts, IT service desk analysts are the first point of contact and come with customer service experience. However, they work at a much higher level. Their deep training and a more thorough understanding of technology mean they help with essential functions and advanced cases service. They also maintain a direct role in resolving issues, acting as the chief contact for any and all issues. They either resolve these issues themselves or work directly with other departments to resolve them, resulting in faster and more professional service at all levels of issue severity.

Service Desk Analyst Education and Training

Though some entry-level positions at a service desk can be obtained without specific training or education, 40% of analysts have a college degree in Computer Science or a related field. Some also gain certifications to offer higher levels of service and regularly increase their knowledge to improve their employment in the field and reach individual career goals. 

There are a range of certifications to fulfill a range of service needs. Their learning ranges from software that supports specific IT service desk work to deeper understandings of terminology and systems to better resolve issues.

Depending on the level of experience and certification, a desk agent job role can range from a common entry-level role to a broader role, allowing you to find a representative to fit your budget. The average salary can range from $30,000 a year for basic services to $50,000 to $70,000 a year for more advanced assistance.

Deep Knowledge of Products and Operation Processes

Analysts have deep technical knowledge in today’s systems and contribute heavily with overall knowledge management within their organization. Their in-depth ground knowledge in today’s systems covers frequent questions and common processes. As more complex issues arise, they use their organizational knowledge and awareness of business processes to collaborate with the appropriate departments and vendors to resolve issues, working directly with them toward a solution. The service desk functions as the hub of operations and communications for all issues.

Skills that are a Cut Above

Since a service desk job works directly with IT customers and independent internal and external departments, analysts possess a number of essential skills:

Interpersonal skills (aka “soft skills” ): They maintain a harmonious atmosphere with IT customers and any outside departments/vendors – even during stressful situations.

Technical skills: They possess deep knowledge of systems and solutions to solve issues at the outset.

Language skills: They know the right terminology to explain technical issues clearly to any outside departments and vendors to resolve issues faster and easier.  

Communication skills: They keep IT customers informed for strong customer service. In addition, they update their own internal departments on progress and solutions to better service IT customers down the road.  

Excellent time management skills: They resolve issues quickly and effectively, reduce troubleshooting time for improved customer service.

Service Desk Analysts Play an Integral Role Within Your Team

Most of today’s business is conducted via technology systems. If your business relies heavily on them, it pays to have a trained analyst on hand when you need one. Your analyst will play an active role with your IT teams to ensure your systems work as they should and are trained to work in even the most stressful and demanding situations. They are an important and powerful ally with your IT department, resolving issues quickly and effectively when timing is of the essence.  

Budget Benefits of an MSP

Maintaining a service desk full-time can be a heavy strain on your bottom line. Since the analysts are needed only when your IT teams can’t cover the issues, many companies opt to forgo full-time hiring and instead hire analysts at a reduced rate through managed service providers (MSPs).

The best way to maintain a consistent budget and not overpay for months of higher incidents is to hire an MSP for a fixed monthly fee. Spot Migration offers a fixed monthly fee regardless of how frequently you need IT assistance. You benefit from assistance as issues arise and at a lower cost than you would pay for pay-per service or full-time staff. There is no restriction on the number of times you require services, and you gain the benefit of a fully trained and knowledgeable representative without incurring the expense of training.

To learn more about our range of service desk assistance and overall capabilities, contact us.