HDI

Are Most American Grads Unemployable?

I read this interesting post from the editor in chief at Information Week. It focuses on a comment made by the CEO of HCL Technologies, an Indian IT service vendor. He suggested that employees from developing countries are more focused on their careers and their American counterparts are more interested in getting “rich”.

The CEO suggested Americans are more expensive to train because they don’t focus on process methodologies like ITIL, Six Sigma, etc… So because they have to be trained after college in these methodologies it increases the burden of the organization to do what, (these are my words), should be done in college.

I think this CEO is right on in this area. Our institutions of higher learning need to establish greater partnerships with industry to improve the effectiveness and value of a college degree. There is no doubt in my mind that American workers are among the best in the world but it is mostly because of the freedom we have and the incentive of reward that drives competitiveness. The weak link in the chain is the actual educational experience received at the High School level right on into the college arena.

It has been too long since education and business have been close allies in developing trained students to the working world. Our curriculums have drifted away from the basic tenet of a college degree which is learning the skills needed to be successful in business.

Our industry (IT) is extremely competitive and global. It is so much different than say Healthcare. Healthcare facilities are harder to move because of the patient need but even in Healthcare there are functions that can be distributed anywhere. But IT overall is borderless due to advancements in, you guessed it, technology.

So what is the answer to this CEO? You’re right? You’re wrong? Or both? We still have to look at the wage disparity between workers in India, Malaysia, Costa Rico, etc… as part of the equation. But as long as we have an educational disparity argument, addressing wage issues will be mute.

We are in a global arena and must act accordingly. We can’t control wages but we can control our educational model to help Americans to meet the technical challenges this CEO has brought to the surface.

I would love to hear from you…

Rich Hand

Executive Director of Membership

HDI Higher Education Forum is Gambling with their Time in Las Vegas

The HDI Higher Education Forum (HEF) group is meeting at the Nevada System of Higher Education on the UNLV campus today, Sunday, April 5, 2009, which is one day prior to the 2009 HDI Annual Conference in Las Vegas. This is a special day for them. It allows them to reconnect and rejuvenate with one another prior to a very busy and exciting week at the annual conference.

During this one-day HDI HEF meeting, the main topic of discussion is "Time Management: Capitalizing on Efficiencies". Mia Melanson, an HDI Faculty member is leading this discussion. Mia actually kicked this session off a couple of weeks prior to the meeting. Mia had each participant track their time for 5 days. She provided them with a time log ( Download TimeLogHEF ) to track their time. The goal of this exercise was to discover patterns on how they spend their time. During the meeting, the group analyzed the results of their time logs. Analyzing the time logs helped the group determined their strengths and weaknesses related to time management, which include goal setting, prioritizing, managing interruptions, procastination, and scheduling.

At the first of the meeting, the HDI HEF group shared time management tips with each other. Some of these tips included the following:

• Take a few minutes each and every morning to plan
• Stay organized by using a calendar
• Read "Eat that Frog...Do Ugly Stuff First"  
• Delegate effectively
• Focus on high priority projects
• Become "unavailable" so that you can complete your work, limit interruptions
• Know when to ignore a request/issue, know when to get involved
• If culture allows it, move your office around, so your team has to physically find you, which may give them more time to figure the answer out on their own.

I would now like to take a few moments of your time to ask "How well do you manage time?" For each question, respond with a 1 or 2 or 3....1 means rarely, 2 means sometimes, 3 means often. After you answer each question, add up the points. If you rank between 40-45, you are a time master! If you rank between 35-39, you are good at some things and there is room for improvement. If you rank less than 35, you need to improve and there is great opportunity. Please find the questions below:

1. Are the tasks you work on during the day the ones with the highest priority?
2. Do you find yourself completing tasks on time, without needing extensions?
3. Do you set aside time for planning and scheduling?
4. Do you know how much time you are spending on the various jobs you do?
5. Are you able to effectively limit interruptions?
6. Do you use goal setting to decide what tasks and activities you should work on?
7. Do you leave contingency time in your schedule to deal with the "unexpected"?
8. Do you know whether the tasks you are working on are high value?
9. When you are given a new assignment, do you analyze it for importance and prioritize it accordingly?
10. Are you relaxed about deadlines and commitments?
11. Do you manage distractions well so that you can concentrate and work on critical tasks?
12. Do you find that you can complete your work at work?
13. Do you prioritize your "To Do" list or Action Program?
14. Do you talk with your boss to prioritize the work you're doing?
15. Before you take on a task, do you check that the results will be worth the time put in?

To review your specific areas of accomplishment or improvement see the following question numbers below:

• Goal Setting: questions 6,10, 14, 15
• Prioritizing: questions 1, 4,8,9,13,14,15
• Managing Interruptions: questions 5,9,11,12
• Procrastination: questions 2,10,12
• Scheduling: questions 3,7,12

I would like to thank Mia Melanson for sharing this time management exercise. I hope it helps you improve your time management.

You can review the complete agenda for this HDI Higher Education Forum meeting by downloading it here: Download Agenda_HEF_April 2009_vFINAL. 

If you are interested in learning more about the HDI Higher Education Forum or the other HDI Forum groups, please contact me directly at 719-268-0338 or lcook@thinkhdi.com.  

Thanks for blogging with me!

Leslie Cook, Program and Logistics Manager, HDI Forums

Harvard Business hits it out of the park…

This article from Harvard Business Publishing talks about how small companies are taking advantage of this economic downturn. They point out succinctly why customers are choosing small companies in a time when you would think big company clout would have the upper hand.

It points out specifically how the lack of communication and trust in large organizations is creating a disengaged culture at many big companies which is translating into their customers taking their businesses to places where the “CEO still picks up the phone” and talks to his/her customers.

It is such common sense that it is amazing but not surprising that CEO’s of large organizations are not taking action to build more trust within their own organizations. Big organizations have always had a more difficult challenge in maintaining a positive culture because of the difficulty of managing large groups of people. But as this article points out, large companies are only increasing the unease their employees have by the way they are approaching their business with the constant threat of layoffs and limited communications on the way layoffs are decided.

Does this article ring true at your organization? Think about it and drop a comment on whether you agree or disagree. I think Harvard has hit the nail right on the head…

We have to stop NOT doing business!

I know the news is bleak and revenues are down, but why? I am going to argue here that it is because we have chosen to stop doing business. In board rooms across this country including ours, decisions are being made to cut marketing, training, acquisition, travel, conference, new hires, and all kinds of other budgets. We are doing it because everyone is doing it. And because everyone is doing it, we have stopped doing business!

As business leaders we need to start ignoring the news and the “actions” the government is taking or threatening to take. This environment of fear is creating a self fulfilling prophesy of doom and gloom for our economy.

Anyone that has budget and P&L responsibility should be fighting tooth and nail to continue to spend on the things that keep our businesses healthy, like new technologies that improve efficiency, investments in facilities, tools, and training that will improve opportunities to grow our business. We need to continue to support and nurture our most valuable employees or they will leave.

Leaders have an opportunity in this environment to show their true colors by taking actions that show a commitment to their core values. Are you only thinking about the bottom line? Are you cutting the things that are impacting your customers? Or are you continuing your mission to serve your customers even at the expense of maintaining profit margins? Are you choosing to remain standing through this difficult economic time with your greatest asset; your employees?

There are a lot of difficult decisions being made by the leaders of today. When this economic recession starts its recovery, the leaders left standing will not be the ones that cut their most valuable employees. The leaders left standing will be the ones that have core values associated with their customers and employees. The leadership that understands that loyalty from both your customers and employees is essential in the formula for success will be rewarded as the economy recovers. And the economy can only recover if we as leaders continue to do business. Think about it…

Rich Hand

Executive Director of Membership

HDI

HDI Healthcare Providers Forum in Scottsdale

    Just outside of Phoenix, AZ during the second week of February 2009, it might have been a little bit colder than anticipated, but the topics were hot with the Healthcare Providers Forum. We met with nurses to learn ways to bridge the gap between those supported and those who support. We discussed best practices and learned new processes and tools to apply back home. We also discussed our benchmarking report which now contains a year's worth of metrics for the group. One of the hottest topics was cost cutting. The group compiled a growing list of ways they are implementing change in their support centers to address the budgetary demands being placed upon them. Between the great discussion and beautiful scenery in Scottsdale, is was a GREAT week to be part of the HDI forums!

Forum members, let's hear from you! Favorite parts of the agenda, ideas for upcoming meetings, shout-outs or photos (Josh) to share with the group? Post a comment!

IT Help Desk Support Structure

Download HDI Research Corner_Help Desk Structure report_Feb09

To find out about current trends in help desk support staff structure HDI asked its members to share what they are currently doing in their support centers. Results are based on responses from 486 support professionals. Data were collected via an on-line survey which members responded to from February 11, 2009 through February 17, 2009.

Tiered support and Single Point of Contact are prevalent practices in IT support organizations. Almost half of the industry has moved away from a call screener/dispatch position in their organization. For those who have this level of support it falls within the help desk along with Level 1 support. About half of the support centers contain level 2 support, but higher levels of support, such as level 3 and desktop support, often fall within another area of IT support. About 43% plan to make changes to their structure in the year to come and about 43% have no current plans to change

Click here for the full report: Download HDI Research Corner_Help Desk Structure report_Feb09

Jenny Rains, Research Analyst, HDI

Do you have a non-traditional support center structure you would like to blog about? Our members would love to hear it! Comment below.

 

Forum Members Need Each Other Now More Than Ever

The HDI Healthcare Providers Forum and the HDI ITIL Implementation Forum groups met last week, February 9-12, 2009, in Scottsdale, AZ. During these meetings, we had action packed agendas that can be downloaded below, but the hottest topic of the week was "how to thrive in a tough economy".

HDI Healthcare Providers Forum Agenda: Download Agenda_HPF_Feb 2009_vFINAL

HDI ITIL Implementation Forum Agenda: Download Agenda ITIL_Feb 2009_vFINAL

As you all know, we are all faced with budget cuts and a downturn in business during today's economy. I wish I could snap my fingers and make it better for everyone, but in the real world this just can't happen. During the Forum meetings in Scottsdale last week, I watched the HDI Forum Members turn to each other...I watched them emotionally support each other and I watched them physically support each other...they spent countless hours during the meeting discussing tips for surviving and thriving during a tough economy. They even made lists of creative ways to cut costs during these tough times. I am very happy to share these creative cost saving measures with you today. I hope there are ideas listed below that you have not thought of within your organization and you are able to benefit from this list.

Creative Cost Saving Measures:

• Reduce (remove) personal printers. Saves on toner and repair costs.
• Stop replacing printers if they brake…fix them. Remove underutilized printers and put them where they are needed instead of buying new ones.
• Expand e-fax. Reduce the number of fax machines in the agency. Expected result is efficiency and repair cost reduction
• Reduce power consumption on PCs
• Voluntary pager exchange (get rid of pagers) 
• Extend “end-of-life” for PCs (Defrag more often)
• Put non-critical projects on hold
• Don’t fill open positions
• Let contractors go instead of full time employees (FTEs) or convert contractors to FTEs to save money
• Voluntary hour reduction
• Salary/Raise Freeze
• Reduce maintenance contracts
• Cancel all planned Capital Expenditures for the rest of the year. No department is exempt from this. You can plead your case by submitting a business case for reconsideration.
• All departments to volunteered up front to reduce operating budgets by 10%.
• All vacancies have to be approved before they are refilled.  A business case has to be built to be considered.
• Institute a 4 day work week for areas in IT that could work around it. 
• Carpooling is encouraged and put a centralized plan in place to match up carpoolers.
• Reduce the type of supplies being ordered.  (Keep to what is really needed to run the business.)
• Reduction in OT, consulting and promotions.
• Make efforts to reallocate items from one area of the business to another. e.g., Someone needs a bookcase and another area moved and no longer needs their old one. 
• Contract networked printer repair to an outside contractor. They also supply all new printers when requested...essentially just pay for toner/paper.
• Lease program: Pay certain $ per fee for desktops, laptops, servers, and they are (normally) refreshed every 3 years.
• No refreshments for meetings 
• All significant purchases (hardware/software) are being reviewed by Executive Committee (includes CIO) and scrutinized carefully

I wish everyone had a Forum group to turn to during times of need....and of course, during the good times...which will soon come...hang in there!

Don't miss the next HDI ITIL Implementation Forum meeting and HDI Healthcare Providers Forum meeting. Both meetings will take place June 15-18, 2009 in San Diego, CA. Both of these HDI Forum groups have already started brainstorming topic ideas for their June 2009 meetings. Please find the topic ideas listed below. If you have interest in joining us for one of these meetings, please contact Leslie Cook, Forums Program Manager, at 719-268-0338 or at lcook@thinkhdi.com.

Topic Ideas for next HDI ITIL Implementation Forum on June 15-18, 2009 in San Diego:

• Why would I move to ITIL® V3?
  • Overview of V3 emphasizing differences between V2 and V3 
  • Discussion of reasons an organization might decide to make the transition 
  • Determine if it makes sense for your organization to transition to V3 
  • If so, develop a transition plan for your organization 
• Your ITIL® roadmap
  • Members of the group to present their roadmap for their ITIL initiative to the group   
  • Forum members will discuss and critique your plan and give constructive feedback to improve your plan and improve your likelihood for success   
  • Share your experience with for fellow forum members as you critique their roadmaps and help them their plan   
• I’m stuck! What’s keeping you from moving your ITIL® initiative forward? 
  • Are you stuck?  Has your organization lost its momentum?  Not sure how to move your ITIL initiative forward?
  • Come share your experience in the safe, supportive environment of the forum
  • Get valuable advice from other members who may have been their themselves
  • Learn how to break the log jam and move your organization forward 
• Deep dive into a core ITIL® topic
  • We’ll pick one core set of ITIL processes and do a deep dive to understand the topic in-depth
  • Possible topics include
    • Change, Release, and Configuration Management
    • Service Desk, Incident Management, and Problem Management
    • Service Level Management and Financial Management for IT Services
    • How to conduct a Change Advisory Board Meeting  
• ITIL® simulation
  • Have you ever wanted to see how an organization that had its ITIL act together would actually operate?
  • Come be a part of our ITIL simulation where we’ll operate a company using ITIL best practices
  • Forum members will participate in hands-on simulated operations as we respond to Incidents at the Service Desk, perform Problem Management to discover the root cause of our most critical Incidents, perform a Major Incident review, Create Requests for Change and then manage them through the Change Management process.  We’ll conduct a CAB meeting, assessing RFCs for risk and impact to our organization, and approving those that make sense for our business.
  • Gives members a chance to see what “done” looks like 
• Integrated ITSM tool demonstration
  • Not a sales pitch
  • Let forum members see what an integrated toolset looks like
  • 4 vendors show their wares then have a panel discussion afterwards for Q&A?

Topic Ideas for next HDI Healthcare Providers Forum on June 15-18, 2009 in San Diego:

• Knowledge Management and Decision Trees – Quick and Dirty Cheap 
• Tour at Sharp Healthcare and IS Team/Applications Team Panel (IS applications/IS Infrastructure Support Models…value add, lessons learned)
• Show and Tell from Each Member: 7 minute walk-through of your Incident Management Process/Call Work Flow (scripted format: break fix/Provisioning/Portal in a portal support (physician portal)
• Member Facilitated Discussions (these are not a case studies. the member facilitator is facilitating, because they have experience within their own organization with the topic):
  • The trials of training staff (ongoing, not just new) – i.e. improve the on-boarding/training process, how to absorb so much info in a short time 
  • Best practices around supporting remote workers (both IT and non IT) & Managing Remote Employees 
  • Supporting Patient Portal 
• Member Case Studies (2 members to share information about their support organziation)
• Benchmarking Discussion
• Mind Meld (Birds of a Feather Roundtable Discussion)

I hope to see you at an HDI Forum meeting in the future. Please find a list of all Forum meetings that will take place during June and July below:

• Executive Forum: June 3-5, 2009 in Chicago, IL
• Healthcare Providers Forum: June 15-18, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• Government Forum: June 15-18, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• ITIL Implementation Forum: June 15-18, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• Law Forum: June 22-25, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• Retail Forum: June 22-25, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• Support Center Leadership Forum: June 22-25, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• Insurance Forum: June 22-25, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• Financial Services Forum: June 22-25, 2009 in San Diego, CA
• Higher Education Forum: July 6-9, 2009 in Boise, ID at Boise State University

If you have interest in joining one of these HDI Forum meetings, please contact Leslie Cook, Forums Program Manager, at 719-268-0338 or lcook@thinkhdi.com. You can learn more about the HDI Forums online at http://www.thinkhdi.com/hdi.aspx?c=44 or submit a request for more information. 

Nice blogging with you,

Leslie Cook, HDI

Research Corner - Telecommuting in IT Support: Survey Results!

Download Jan 09 Telecommute report

In 2006, WorldatWork reported that telecommuting trends have been steadily on the rise in America. In the summer of 2008, a poll by Reuters showed that more than 1/3rd of U.S. technology workers would be willing to take a pay cut to work from home. What are HDI members doing in their support centers?

For this survey "telecommute" was defined as "to work for an employer from a remote location such as a home office. These employees are often referred to as teleworkers, remote employees, or virtual employees."

Results represent 410 responses collected from HDI Members via an on-line survey from January 15, 2009 through January 20, 2009.

How much Telecommuting is going on in IT support centers? 

5% of support center analysts telecommute full-time (includes employed and contracted)

33% telecommute with some regularity (even if it is less than once a month)

42% of support centers have analysts who telecommute at least once a month (includes employed and contracted)

34% of support centers have analysts who telecommute at least once a week (includes employed and contracted)

17% of support centers have analysts who telecommute full-time (includes employed and contracted)

How do people feel about telecommuting?

·         Most respondents believe that telecommuting saves the company money and gives them an advantage in hiring skilled staff.

·         About a quarter believe the benefits of telecommuting staff do not outweigh the hassle.

·         The jury is out about whether it is okay for the customers to know they are being supported from an agent who is not working in the office.

·         The concept of telecommuting does not seem to be accepted widely across all levels in the company. We want to know…which demographic has a problem with the concept in your organization? Is it the CEO and/or executives who don’t approve? Or, do you think it is a generational difference, not a hierarchical one? Let us know in the comment section below.

 

What expenses are companies paying for remote employees?

Of those who have support analysts who telecommute most are paying for the remote hardware and software.  Just under ½ are paying for phone and Internet connections. And office expenses such as supplies, furniture, utilities, and ergonomic considerations are not paid for by most companies.

 

What are your thoughts about telecommuting? Let us know!

If you have topics that you might want to see in the future monthly HDI Research Corner, comment below.

Download Jan 09 Telecommute report

 

Related resources:

Reducing Call Center Costs:  White Paper: 51 Ways to Reduce Contact Center Costs

Future Trends in the IT Support Center:  Focus Book: The Support Center in 2011: A Report on the future Trends Facing the Support Industry

 

Jenny Rains

Research Analyst, HDI

 

 

 

 

 

 

The HDI Executive Forum is "hot" in the desert

The HDI Executive Forum is meeting this week, December 8-10, for their final meeting of the 2008 calendar year. The group will reconvene during 2009 at the 2009 HDI Annual Conferencethat takes place April 6-9, 2009 in Las Vegas.

The group is very busy this week discussing "hot" topics, while enjoying the La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, CA. The La Quinta Resort held its grand opening in late January 1927, and since this date the resort has been recognized by top travel, lifestyle, golf, and tennis publications as one of the top destination resorts in the world.

Some of the members of this group started the week off with a pleasant round of golf, but quickly jumped into the real reason they are here…to discuss topics that are important to them and to the industry. This group chose to discuss some interesting and relevant topics during this meeting. During each of the meeting sessions, the groups held lively and interactive conversations, broke out into groups to solve issues, and learned how to lower costs while obtaining a higher quality of support...all while considering their people, processes, technologies, financial issues, and metrics.

Please find a summary of the Executive Forum meeting topics below, but you can also download the complete meeting agenda here: Download Agenda_EXF_December 2008_vFINAL.

Topics discussed during the December 2008 HDI Executive Forum meeting:

Configuration Management – Why is this so difficult?

- ITIL v2 talked about the CMDB and its relationship with all of the ITIL processes. ITIL v3 says we need Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM) supported by a Configuration Management System (CMS) which is made up of have many physical CMDBs integrated by the Federated CMDB…..now that really clears things up?

- This highly interactive session cut through the clutter to discuss the real intent and value of the CMDB. We began with an overview of what v3 has to say, and then we discussed a practical approach to the CMDB covering: objectives, benefits, challenges, tools, 10 things to avoid, and keys to success. The session concluded with a roundtable discussion regarding specific challenges and successes.

No more ‘Tiers’ Support – the Savvy Support model

- Our very own past 

chairperson of the HDI Strategic Advisory Board, Phil Verghis, explored a provocative topic. Is our ‘tiered’ model of support outdated and causing more harm than good? If so, what exactly is the new support model that replaces it? What ae the pre-requisites that you as a leader will need to get in place before you can consider moving to this new model? 

HDI Practices Survey

- HDI presented the findings of the 2008 HDI Practices and Salary Survey, which made the Executive Forum group the first to see the report

 

- We also took the time to receive input from the Executive Forum group for future HDI Practices and Salary Surveys

 

Open Discussion on Tool Sets

- What tools are Executive Forum Members using and for what?

- What do you like about each tool?

- What do you not like about each tool?

- What is the history of your tools?

 

HDI does have a couple of open spots in the HDI Executive Forum group. If you are an IT Service and Support director or executive, and are responsible for 50 or more support staff, you qualify to participate in the HDI Executive Forum. If you want to learn more about this HDI Forum group or join the group, please feel free to contact me at 719-268-0338 or via email at lcook@thinkhdi.com.

 

Nice blogging with you,

Leslie Cook

Program Manager, HDI Forums

Don’t get caught up in the reduction frenzy!

The following two passages are from an article on HarvardBusiness.org. It is titled: “The Secret of Success in a Failing Economy”. It is very timely, and I have written an article that will be in the January issue of Support World magazine addressing this same issue. My article will be titled: “Don’t Make Bad Decisions in a Bad Economy”. The points are the same; never stop investing in your people or the things that are important to your customers. I will let you read the excerpts. Let us know what you think?

“The more jarring message comes for companies and their leaders. We're still early into the downturn, but already big companies are reacting the way they always do. They are encouraging their highest-paid, most-experienced performers--that is, those with the most practice--to be the first to leave. Last year, in perhaps the most famous example of this brain-dead, knee-jerk policy , Circuit City, the giant electronics retailer, announced its so-called "wage management initiative." The plan: fire its most talented and experienced employees in favor of younger workers making less money. Of course, customers who visited the stores looking for advice got much less of it, which meant they took their business elsewhere. The result? Last month, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy.”

“How's this for a secret of success? You don't survive a downturn by encouraging your most experienced people to leave. Perhaps more business leaders can resist this wrong-headed practice--and hold on to those employees who have had the most practice in their careers.”

Rich Hand

Executive Director of Membership

HDI