Pain Point 4 - Heldesk Hell

How often have any of your staff been left floundering in helpdesk hell? Unable to work due to a glitch in the system or stuck in limbo awaiting the intervention of IT professionals often outside the business.

More helpless than helpful, helpdesk staff can be inundated by requests which they can struggle to respond to efficiently leaving dealership employees stuck in a technological no-man’s land which impacts productivity and profitability.

Whilst it may be just one employee who is waiting for an issue to be resolved, if it isn’t tackled quickly, it can escalate as the well-oiled wheels of the dealership grind to a halt. If the problem persists, it may also mean that customers are affected leading to further delays and dissatisfaction.

With so many applications at work in a dealership, when something does go wrong, it can create a blockage in the day’s entire output. Dealership staff spend time on the phone to the requisite helpdesk and in the cases where an application forms part of one of the sector’s large suppliers’ portfolio of companies, initiating communication with the helpdesk itself can prove a major obstacle.

When communication is made, the helpdesk advisor is unlikely to have the specialist knowledge of that particular digital tool or application necessary for a speedy resolution.

Meanwhile, an overburdened and under resourced helpdesk will struggle to deal with a growing workload to enable them to troubleshoot problems and work effectively. If they’re managing tedious and repetitive tasks such as password resets, internet downtime or sluggish computer response times, the helpdesk staff themselves risk becoming disengaged and demoralised.

Caught in an ever-decreasing cycle of helpdesk hell, the trap may begin to feel inescapable and as our work and daily lives are increasingly dependent on technology, so the risk of outages and the impact is greater.

It’s almost a year since flights were grounded across the world and banks and healthcare systems also severely affected, all caused by a single IT update in the US. Imagine working on the Crowdstrike helpdesk (the company few had heard of until that fateful day) when the worst happened.

Over half of employees in the UK waste their time on low-value tasks, according to a global report last year which included the experiences of 2,500 British workers. The report found that 54% of British employees spend time undertaking what it terms ‘busywork’ or those tasks which do not correspond with their core job roles. Whilst these tasks include participating in unproductive meetings, there were also concerns around the failure to evolve according to economic demands and technological developments, and lack of collaboration across departments.

However, UK respondents also identified issues of navigating bottlenecks caused by ‘outdated tools and fragmented technology’.

IT professional ‘go-to’ website ITPro reported last year that the helpdesk days are numbered. With businesses’ reliance on technology, the humble helpdesk could literally become untenable. A survey of 1,000 IT workers globally found eight out of 10 believed the current model would be unrecognisable by 2027. Almost 87% believe that as IT environments become larger and more complex, responding to issues will become ‘economically unsustainable’.

With a highly experienced, focused and knowledgeable team developing, installing and managing its integration platform, Autofinity prides itself on its accessibility, straightforwardness and timely responses when it becomes necessary to deploy any troubleshooting. If in doubt, our CEO Andy Whitehair is happy to speak to anyone who calls.