March 2014, Issue 1, volume 16

Opening doors with TOPdesk and UMRA

More in this issue:

Making ITIL speak their language TOPdesk introduces the eHRM Best Practice Package Are you ready to celebrate?

EDITORIAl

Looking back
As Im writing this, January is drawing to a close and Im still recovering from a busy December. The month of holidays and family dinners, of illuminated high streets and festive greetings. December is also the month of deadlines at work: finishing up projects in time for the end of the year, and making preparations for the year to come The first month of 2014 has flown by. With a new year comes a busy schedule, and I almost forget to stop and think about what we can learn from the past year. In the fall of 2013, TOPdesk introduced a new eHRM product: the TOPdesk eHRM Best Practice Package. Another important event was the launch of TOPdesk 5.3. Great projects that we can be proud of. We have a lot to look forward to in terms of sports. TOPdesk is releasing a number of themes this year to help you introduce a sporty atmosphere in your work environment. For instance, you can give your Self Service Desk a makeover for the Olympics and the World Cup. This issue explains how you can easily install these themes. Enjoy your read! Milou Snaterse, Editor-in-Chief

24 18

CONTENTS March 14

PASSING ON KNOWLEDGE IS A WIN-WIN SITUATION

Raoul Eggen Education Coordinator for TOPdesk

NEWS

6 Opening doors with TOPdesk aNd UMRA 9 topdesk 5.3 is released!

Take a more collaborative approach

Read more on page 10

10

Teaching tools
TOPdesk for educative use

12

making itil speak their language

Social media in your department

16

The fight for priority

Social media in your department

18

the right track

TOPdesk eHRM Best Practice Package The first time

18 09

21 column

22

A successful IT project
Are you ready to celebrate?

24 working smarter 28 tips + tricks

oN thE CoVEr:
Mohamed Baroud, Municipality of Lelystad

Stay up to date
To stay up to date on the latest TOPdesk news and service management developments, follow us via the following channels:

TOPdesk comes in third in Main Software 50

TOPdesk came in third in the Main Software 50. TOPdesk earned a score of 97.7 out of 100 and was praised for its good international position and strong growth. Director Wolter Smit accepted the prize on 6 November 2013.

TOPdesk Newsletter @TOPdesk_UK facebook.com/TOPdesk linkedin.com/company/topdesk community.topdesk.com

The goal of the Main Software 50, an initiative from Main Capital partners, is to grant more visibility to the Dutch software sector. The list focuses on independent, unlisted Dutch software companies. The companies were rated based on the size of the organization, growth over the past year, turnover and level of internationalization.

@TOPdesk
@floortjepas As of today, here at @VRFryslan we are using the newest @TOPdesk version :) Made the deadline, thanks for the TOP collaboration! TOPdesk is one of the fastest growing companies in the Dutch provinces of South Holland and Zeeland. This became apparent @tom_floor Whose idea was it to put the Save and Undo buttons next to each other in #Topdesk anyway? @TOPdesk @tom_floor We have heard this before. Good news: this will probably be resolved soon (next version). For this award, KPMG took stock of finances, staff and policies. Other factors, such as social media, innovation, trends and expected @RensBrederveld Started implementing @TOPdesk today. Version 5 is such an improvement. @TOPdesk @RensBrederveld Good to hear! Will you let us know if you have any questions or comments? @RensBrederveld @TOPdesk Its only the acceptance environment. But Im already pleased. TOPdesk currently has a turnover of over 25 million euros and has opened 2 more branches (in Denmark and Brazil), bringing the total to 7. Over the past three years, the number of employees grew from 362 to 448. Director Frank Droogsma foresees continued growth in the next three years: And probably faster than in previous years. The energy that we have invested in growth and innovation over the past years will have great results! More information? Go to community.topdesk.com and check the News and announcements section. growth were also taken into account. during the presentation of the FD Gazellen Awards 2013, awarded by the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad. Like other award winners, TOPdesk displayed a continuous profit growth of at least 20% in 2010, 2011 and 2012. As of TOPdesk 5.4 (expected in the second quarter of 2014), TOPdesk has better support for modern browsers. Unfortunately, the performance of Internet Explorer 8 suffers as a result. The technical explanation is that from this version onwards, TOPdesk is switching from quirks mode to standards mode. This enables you to use the possibilities offered by modern web browsers, such as drag-and-drop. Unfortunately, the performance of Internet Explorer 8 suffers in standards mode. The use of Internet Explorer 8 worldwide is diminishing. However, this browser is still in use among our customers so we do continue to monitor whether TOPdesk works as intended. Should we cease to support this version of the browser, we will explicitly communicate this.

FD Gazellen award 2013 for TOPdesk

TOPdesk 5.4 and Internet Explorer 8

NEWS

Calendar
Belgium
26 27 MAR MAR
Tooling Event Brussels Expo

Visit TOPdesk at SITS14

TOPdesk UK will be present at the SITS14 show. This years edition takes place on 29 and 30 April at Earls Court, London. Mullineux, Director of Campus Services. However, we will also be present on the showroom floor. Visit stand 308 to find out more about our latest version and talk to our We are contributing to two presentations by TOPdesk customers: Solid metrics for Coal Authority by Craig Jeacock, ICT Senior Service Manager & Architect; and Shared services at Norfolk Educational Services by Stuart Registration is now open: Visit www.servicedeskshow.com service management experts in person.

Denmark
23 MAY
Service Desk Conference Scandic Hotel, Copenhagen

Germany
27 MAR 15 MAY 05 JUN
TOPdesk on Tour Mannheim TOPdesk on Tour Cologne TOPdesk on Tour Hamburg

TOPdesk Germany at CeBIT

Once again, TOPdesk Germany will be present at CeBIT. This edition takes place on 10 14 March 2014 at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds. The event spans 5 days, and offers 7 million contacts and 1,000 conferences making it Visit us at stand B 06 in hall 3. Not yet attending? Order your tickets for free via the TOPdesk Germany CeBIT page at www.topdesk.de attendance. This is the ideal opportunity to get in touch with our account managers, or get a closer look at our service management software.

Hungary
28 MAR
itSMF show Paulay Rendezvnyterem, Budapest

the largest computer expo in the world. Like last year, TOPdesks German branch will be in

United Kingdom
13 MAR 20 MAR
SDi Showcase Royal Armouries, Leeds TOPdesk UK Demo Day London Office UCISA2014 Brighton Centre, Brighton

TOPdesk on Tour Germany

TOPdesk on Tour is back. After the success of last years edition,TOPdesk Germany is hitting the road again. Every month, we will be visiting customers in three countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Discover our user-friendly service management software close to home. Sign up now For more information or to register for one of the tour dates, visit www.topdesk.de

26 27 28 MAR MAR MAR 29 30 APR APR

SITS14 Earls Court, London

Switzerland
10 APR
TOPdesk on Tour Zrich

6 CUSTOmER IN fOCUS

Photography: Aad Hoogendoorn

OpENINg DOORS wITH TOPDESK AND UMRA

Mohamed Baroud of the Municipality of Lelystad

Text: Timme Hos

CUSTOmER IN fOCUS 7

Its not that different from Star Trek, jokes IT specialist Mohamed Baroud, discussing one of the futuristic-looking footbridges. It is clear that the Municipality of Lelystads building and services are being modernized. TOPdesk and UMRA support this development.

The interior of the Municipality of Lelystads building has been almost completely renovated, boasting many modern features: from flexible office spaces with thin clients to state-of-the-art presentation rooms and an impressive plant wall. Were in the middle of a renovation and change process, emphasizes Baroud.

Facilities service desk, which checks who you are and which doors you can open. Employee data is registered on these passes. Why should we keep registering it manually? TOPdesk and UMRA have made this manual task a thing of the past. UMRA automatically reads out the Active Directory, and the user data is supplied to TOPdesk. New municipality employees head to the HR service desk, where all their information is ready. The only thing they need to do is pick up their pass. Baroud: Its great that you can now see how the different desks exchange information and collaborate more.

All desks in one TOPdesk

Baroud is an IT specialist in an IT team of 20. They face the challenge of translating developments within the municipality to concrete IT solutions. Like HR, IT has been included in the Facilities supporting department, comprising about 120 people. One of the steps taken to improve services is bringing together all the desks. HR had its own desk, Facilities had its own desk and IT had its own desk, says Baroud. We wanted to help internal customers the same way when they had a question, complaint or call. The central desk became Meldpunt 8877, which completely utilizes TOPdesks Self Service Desk. All municipality staff now call one phone number, 8877. They then use a menu to ensure their call finds its way to the right destination.

THANKS TO UMRA, WE GET ALL INFORMATION FROM ONE SOURCE

Mohamed Baroud IT specialist

UMRA: all information from one source

In addition to bringing together all desks, Baroud and his team searched for a way to link the various supporting IT systems. The goal was to simplify and automate the supporting processes. This primarily concerned the management of staff data and the IT landscape, but also the access checks for employees and visitors. The Municipality of Lelystad now uses UMRA to achieve this. Thanks to UMRA, the municipalitys TOPdesk, Active Directory and staff and access systems are linked. You have to see UMRA as something that does things for us under the hood, explains Baroud. Now we get all information from a single source.

Improved municipality licence management

Now UMRA is running, Baroud and his team make a sport of reusing all information as efficiently as possible. We register all of the Municipality of Lelystads software in TOPdesks Configuration Management module, says Baroud. Authorization for standard software is automatically allocated via UMRA. This is done based on employee data, such as job, department, location and budget holder. Moreover, employees can request extra software via a webshop. One of the municipalitys challenges is to utilize the budgets including the one for IT as responsibly as possible. The savings for software licences are already visible, as Baroud explains. Imagine: a municipal project group requires an expensive software licence. We provide licences only for those who need it. And if a licence is only required for three months instead of a year, we have to be able to arrange this and create an accurate report.

TOPdesk and UMRA open doors

What are the actual results of this link? Baroud demonstrates by opening the door to one of the bridges using his employee pass. All employees get a pass, says Baroud. This is registered by the

8 CUSTOmER IN fOCUS

Looking to the future

TOPdesk has been a mainstay for the Municipality of Lelystads facilities matters for a number of years. UMRA is also working well and helps achieve the desired synchronization of the various supporting systems. However, that does not mean that Barouds IT team can put their feet up. They continue opening doors to the future: a new UMRA environment, implementing Office 2013 and creating a SharePoint environment are just a few of their current projects. And to return to the beautifully renovated building: the municipal staff will soon be able to make optimal use of it thanks to the smart use of IT. We are currently working on Reservations Management, explains Baroud. He points to the displays behind him. You will be able to use these to view room availability. Who has booked what? The overview will be sent to a restaurant to help organize the days catering.

Want to know more about TOPdesk and UMRA?

UMRA (User Management Resource Administrator) simplifies access and identity management. The link between TOPdesk and UMRA is made possible by our partner Tools4ever. Contact your local TOPdesk branch for more information about the possibilities.

Photography: Aad Hoogendoorn

TOPDESK 5.3 9

TOPDESK 5.3 iS rElEaSED!

Take a more collaborative approach to IT

DISCoVEr our NEWESt VErSIoN

Even easier for operators to collaborate
The new Conversations widget lets operators who collaborate in TOPdesk easily follow and join other operators conversations. This is useful when an operator wants to know how a colleague tackled a certain task, for instance, or wants to share useful information with others.

The right drop-down list at hand

Managing drop-down lists is easier than ever. If you wish to edit a drop-down list, you can do so in the settings of the module in question. This means you can find and edit the list in no time. Whats more, the special hotkey navigation makes finding, editing and saving lists more efficient than ever.

More features
More possibilities for Make invisible to caller Branch-specific searches in the Knowledge Base New in the Form Designer: translation options

Revamped Tasks per Group widget

TOPdesk listens to our customers wishes. This is why we have revamped the Tasks per Group widget. This widget lets you see at a glance how many tasks within your Operator Group are assigned to you and your colleagues. This makes it even easier to collaborate.

Want to know more?

To learn more about the newest version, visit www.topdesk.com/topdesk53 If you wish to learn more about what TOPdesk 5.3 means for your organization, please contact your local TOPdesk branch.

10 EDUCATION

TEACHING tOOLS
Many educational establishments use TOPdesk to make lessons more tangible. This lets students experience how a service management application is used in practice, ensuring they are prepared for the job market.

It is becoming more and more common for IT and facilities courses to ask TOPdesk to contribute to the curriculum. TOPdesk wants to contribute to the quality of education, which is why the software is made available for educative use. TOPdesk also designs lesson modules in collaboration with various college courses. As it currently stands, more than three thousand students come into contact with TOPdesk during their education.

install, manage and set up the software themselves. The facilities courses often opt for a SaaS licence. This means that TOPdesk is responsible for the management, but students can still practice using the software.

and manageable. Eggen continues: In addition to guest lectures, TOPdesk also develops lesson modules and course materials. Students work with TOPdesk for a period of ten weeks. This lets us take a closer look at how processes work in a tool like TOPdesk. An example of this is a case in which we have students translate a request for a company car to a request via a tool. They have to figure out for themselves how the process will proceed, who has to approve it, and what it would look like in the tool.

TOPdesk in the classroom

There is a lot of knowledge about the service management field within TOPdesk. Tooling has become an essential part of the IT and Facilities branches. This is why it is more important than ever that students know how a tool like TOPdesk works, and what its added value is. TOPdesk employs qualified and experienced teachers who contribute to TOPdesk for educative use in addition to their daily tasks; they provide lessons and lectures. Topics discussed during lectures include: what is a CAFM system? How does ITIL actually work in a tool? explains Eggen. The teachers at educational establishments sometimes do not have this knowledge themselves, so it is great that they can involve us. During the lectures, we try to make frameworks like ITIL more comprehensible

Educative licences
Many courses discuss IT and work process automation for their specific sector. Raoul Eggen, Education Coordinator for TOPdesk, has been focusing entirely on TOPdesk for educative use for the past two years. He says: We started by making educative licences available to educational establishments. This makes our tool very accessible for use in their courses. Schools can use an educative licence for a SaaS environment or a local installation on their own server. The latter is particularly interesting for IT courses. This lets students

School buildings in TOPdesk

Educational establishments can collaborate with TOPdesk as closely as they wish. Eggen says, For some establishments we have set up the database in such a way that their buildings are in TOPdesk. This makes it much more engaging for the students. We also train teachers and provide lessons for the students. Sometimes we even hold examinations. Other establishments only have us provide training and do the rest themselves.

Text: Milou Snaterse

EDucation 11

SHARING KNOWLEDGE IS A WIN-WIN SITUATION

Raoul Eggen Education Coordinator for TOPdesk

DId YOU KNOW: -3,000 STUdENTS A YEAR COME INTO CONTACT WITH TOPdESK? -TOPdESK GIVES ABOUT 25 GUEST LECTURES pER YEAR? -TOPdESK ALSO TRAINS TEACHERS? -50 EdUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS USE TOPdESK? -TOPdESK WRITES LESSON MOdULES IN COLLABORATION WITH EdUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS? -TOPdESK COLLABORATES WITH A FOUNdATION ANd pUBLISHER IN THE EdUCATION FIELd?

Suppliers at school
Not many suppliers dedicate themselves to sharing knowledge with students. The primary reason we started doing this is that we really enjoy it. But we also want to make a useful contribution, explains Eggen. We want to teach the students something that will really help them later. This is why TOPdesk has students use the most recent version of the software. The IT branch in particular faces rapid changes and students need to stay up to date. Todays students are future service desk employees or IT and facilities managers. Eggen would like to pass the following on to other suppliers: No matter your organization. It is a lot of fun to pass knowledge on to students. It is a win-win situation. Students get to know you and have the most up-to-date information. More suppliers should be sharing knowledge.

Want to know more?

For more information about TOPdesk for educational purposes, contact Raoul Eggen via +31 (0)15 270 09 00 or send an email to info@topdesk.com

12 CUSTOmER IN fOCUS

Text: Leah Clarke

mAKINg ITIl SpEAK THEIR lANgUAgE

With 2,100 stores and 18,500 employees in 35 countries, international retail chain JYSK is a huge organization. However, with an annually increasing turnover and at least 2 new stores opening every week, there is no doubt that the company has a winning formula. Winnie Ahrensberg, IT project manager for JYSK, tells us how this Danish giant uses service management to ensure continued success.

Photography: JYSK

cuStomEr in FocuS 13

Lars Larsen, founder of JYSK

14 CUSTOmER IN fOCUS

Photography: JYSK

In 1979, Lars Larsen opened his first store in Aarhus, Denmark. His clear vision and dedication to offering his customers the best possible deal helped make JYSK what it is today: a runaway retail success with stores across the globe, as well as a household name when it comes to household goods. With stores from the UK to China, managing and coordinating services is no mean feat.

TOPdesk Denmark
After a long selection process, JYSK Nordic chose TOPdesk. In doing so, they became the first customer for TOPdesk Denmark, TOPdesks youngest branch at the time. JYSK was already familiar with TOPdesk Denmark due to a recent supplier collaboration with the AD HOC product. This was created by Aventor the name of TOPdesk Denmark prior to joining TOPdesk. The product no longer met their requirements, says David Truelsen Basse, Marketing Manager and Head of Office Sales at TOPdesk Denmark. However, they liked us as a supplier and partner. That brought us back into the match again.

Going live
JYSK Nordic went live with TOPdesk in Denmark and Poland in October 2011, followed by the rest of JYSK Nordic the following month. Things are going well: JYSK has made their new service management system work for them in exactly the right way. We now have a system where new incidents are automatically sent to the correct department and country straight away, says Ahrensberg. We didnt want our Service Centre to have a dispatch role: this lets us resolve incidents much more quickly and enables the stores to focus on selling their wares.

The right set-up

Getting the infrastructure right is crucial both in terms of technology and organization. The JYSK Group comprises three elements: JYSK Nordic, with stores in China and throughout Europe; Dnisches Bettenlager, also with stores in Europe; and finally the Franchises, which can be found all over the world from Canada to Kazakhstan. TOPdesk came into the picture when JYSK Nordic started looking for a new service management solution. When the time came to replace our old service management tool, making the right choice was important. Our entire organization relies on this tool: almost all communication with JYSK stores is through service management, says Ahrensberg.

Clear requirements
With so much on the line, the company defined requirements the new solution had to meet. We wanted a system that matched JYSKs needs out of the box, so we do not need to develop everything ourselves. However, the system still had to be customizable. We also wanted an ITILcompliant solution, but we use ITIL the JYSK way. This means we dont use ITIL to the fullest, but we try to implement the concept of ITIL so its speaking the same language. Finally, the softwares look and feel was important, as well as the flow we needed it to be intuitive and easy to use.

cuStomEr in FocuS 15

Such an efficient set-up is essential to a burgeoning organization like JYSK. This is also evident in their use of the Configuration Management module. JYSK has set up an integration with their SCCM tool. As a result, information about the organizations hardware and software is sent straight to TOPdesk. This saves time and safeguards data accuracy.

example of this is JYSKs recent upgrade to TOPdesk 5.2 after previously using version 4.3. This is going to be a large change for all our TOPdesk users, but the software is still intuitive and easy to use. This means we will be able to complete the upgrade without a lot of training. Upgrading to TOPdesk 5.2 means more than just getting to know the new interface, however: JYSK is also planning on implementing the Form Designer module. It will be integrated with our own Intranet. This will make it easier to direct incidents and requests from callers to the relevant

operator group, says Ahrensberg. So, do these plans indicate that the future is looking bright for JYSK Nordic and TOPdesk? It would seem so: We continue to look for more ways to use TOPdesk around the organization we already use TOPdesk for more than just IT. We would like to have even more departments use TOPdesk as their main service management tool.

The future
Ahrensberg is already looking towards the future and how JYSK can continue getting the best out of their TOPdesk set-up. One

Now that JYSK Nordic is fully familiar with TOPdesk, this is what the users have to say about the tool.

Default text is a great feature that saves us a lot of time every day.

The reports on category let us know whether certain categories need more attention.

From a management perspective, I really appreciate the reporting capabilities in TOPdesk. Its a welcome change to know how we are actually doing, rather than how we think we are doing.

16 pROCESS AND pRACTICE

Photography: Menno van der Bijl

JAN dijkshoorn
is a consultant for TOPdesk. He is a process specialist and is specialized in using TOPdesk for customer support.

THE FIGHt FOR pRIORIty

If you want to use social media as a communications channel for your IT or Facilities department, you are just setting yourself up for trouble. Is this proposition true?

Social media is no longer special

The rise of social media has become more visible in recent years, also in the business world. More and more companies use these types of media for external communication to speak to their customers. But social media are also increasingly used for internal communication. Company forums like Yammer or instant messenger are part of the standard communication methods. In my daily tasks and at shows, I clearly notice that IT and Facilities departments are looking for a way to deal with this. Do you have a Twitter module? is a question I hear again and again. We do not have such a module, but I do not think that it is necessary to skillfully work with social media.

is less personal. As a result, people do not use as much communication etiquette. They quickly send or post a message about what is bothering them. They can do this quickly, so they also expect a quick response. This communication also takes place in public. It is no longer a direct relationship between you and the caller who tells you what is wrong; colleagues can read along as well.

The challenges of social media for your department

The accessible nature of social media and the public way communication takes place are points that are worthy of your attention especially if you will be using social media as a means of communication with your callers. You see, your callers will expect a swift response from your department if they contact you via a Twitter account, for instance. If they do not receive a timely response to the original call, it may result in a new complaint. In addition, the public nature of problems made known via social media will pave the way to awareness among your callers. That is to say, callers often do not see the problems they face as problems until they discover that they affect other people as well. The coffee machine that sometimes needs to be turned on and off after someone has a cup of coffee is practically seen as a ritual until you discuss it and really do see it as a nuisance.

The nature of social media

Communication via social media often differs from communication via traditional channels. Communicating via social media can feel more accessible. Posting a comment on a forum has been done many times before and

pROCESS AND pRACTICE 17

Communicating reduces uncertainty

But what does this mean? Should you be afraid of communication via social media? Should you have answers ready because customers expect fast communication and a public complaint could lead to more negative feedback? My answer to this is no. Your callers will not expect a solution straight away; they chiefly want to be heard and know where they stand. Negative feedback is a result of inadequate services and uncertainty regarding what is being done about the call. This is why the following points are extremely important: Take care of expectations management: let the customer know when the call will be processed at the latest. Communicate: let the caller know if you think that you will be unable to process the call on time. However, also communicate why you need more time. Do not keep the customer in the dark about their call. Be consistent: give each call of the same type the same expected resolution time.

What can you expect?

To minimize negative buzz that may develop via social media, I advise you to standardize the call resolution process. Classify calls according to priority and duration, for example. Using durations, you can indicate when the call will be processed at the latest. Assign a duration to each priority. When a call is logged, it is assigned a priority based on a number of properties. The same type of call will receive the same priority in future, and therefore the same duration. You can communicate this duration to the caller so that they know when to expect a solution.

Added benefits
Whether or not you use social media within your organization, correctly prioritizing calls offers even more benefits. For instance, it can help with operator scheduling. It makes clear when a call should be processed, and prevents calls from not being picked up because they do not have a target date. You can also report on durations and priorities and use the results to adjust your durations. What makes social media special is that they are public in nature. With the right approach, they can have an additional positive effect: other callers can see the resolution of calls that may affect them as well.

Always the same

Use impact and urgency when prioritizing calls. A priority matrix can help you take a structured approach when determining priority and duration. This lets you define and substantiate why a call is assigned a specific duration, letting callers know where they stand. You now have a thorough, clear communication strategy that tries to eliminate arbitrariness.

Make your callers happy

You will have to take a different approach to your work as a result of social media. Bear in mind that it is most important to work consistently, be open to your customers so they know what to expect, and above all communicate this clearly. These things make callers happy, even if you do not use social media.

18 TOPDESK

Text: Stefanie Klaassen

ThE riGht traCK

TOPdesk launched the new eHRM Best Practice Package during the Performa HR show. In doing so, TOPdesk introduced a unique eHRM product. Alwin Smale, the packages initiator, tells us about the underlying thought process, and about the importance of tooling for HR departments.
The Best Practice Package is the first all-in-one solution combining eHRM software with best practice HR processes. This complete package is offered as a new eHRM solution in addition to TOPdesks existing customer-specific approach. Alwin Smale, TOPdesk account manager, tells us more. One of the most common questions we encounter during eHRM implementations is, How do other people do this? This package is our answer. We assume that most companies work in a certain way. We then use our best practice model to check whether this approach can be applied to the customer. This eHRM package lets the customer get off to a quicker, more focused start. put emails in the right folders and make sure that the right people follow up or process tasks. Did we make a copy of this passport? Did we get all the signatures? In such cases, TOPdesk sends notifications and provides clear overviews of what has been done. This means you only have to step in when something looks like it may go wrong, which saves a lot of time. The same is also true for finding and keeping track of certain things: you can quickly find your answers and immediately know where to look.

Perfectly suited
HR departments are becoming aware that tasks should be automated, says Smale. Our consultants also indicate that HR departments often already have a process-oriented approach. They all do roughly the same work and everyone knows how to do it. HR is also generally used to working with a system: administration systems, flagged emails and so on. However, the link between the processes and the tool is often missing, making tasks less efficient than they could be. Smale continues: I once asked a customer, Doesnt it bother you, having to make all these follow-up calls? The customer answered, Yes, but its such a fundamental part of our job that we dont mind anymore. Automating administrative tasks means there is no more need for follow-up calls, leaving more room

Tools for eHRM

In everyday life, you have to do a lot of things online. Think of scheduling an MOT check online, for instance, says Smale. This is perfectly normal, but in many HR departments it has never really been necessary to arrange things in such a way. You still see a lot of paperwork: someone asks a question and the HR staff head straight to the filing cabinets to find the answer. This is quite old-fashioned. Why is it so important to have a good eHRM tool? Smale explains: It helps make your work easier; you no longer have to follow up administrative tasks. Some people do nothing but

Photography: Aad Hoogendoorn

TOPDESK 19

20 TOPDESK

Generic or specific?

WE cAN NOW SAVE TImE bY TAKING A mOrE fOcUSED APPrOAch

Alwin Smale TOPdesk Account Manager

One of the most important reasons to develop the Best Practice Package is offering HR organizations a choice: in practice, it turns out that organizations are often fine with a generic approach, but TOPdesk only had a specific approach. Smale: Many customers see that their processes are not completely specific. For HR departments, standardization is the way to bring quality to a consistent level. This grants insight into costs and tasks, allowing for targeted management. With the Best Practice Package, existing processes are compared to a generic work method, the blueprint. Smale: During the implementation of the Best Practice Package, it becomes immediately apparent during the intake which processes are not running smoothly.

for tasks that are of added value to the HR department. A tool is of added value, especially for HR departments, even though it might not immediately spring to mind. But when you do get a tool, you do not want to think about what it should look like: you just want it to work. These were good starting points for TOPdesk when setting up the Best Practice Package.

This lets organizations quickly indicate which steps should be taken.

Renewal
TOPdesk uses the expertise of Vroom Consultancy B.V. for the Best Practice Package. One of the bureaus focuses is adjusting the setup of HR departments. In doing so, they kept running through the same processes, and developed their HR best practices. Smale: The collaboration between Vroom and TOPdesk offers the best of both worlds: TOPdesk links the best practices with the actual practice, and ensures that these work within organizations. The collaboration with these experts has put us at the forefront of the trend: a tool for HR in a unique combination with 20 years of best practices from the market. Tools are becoming more and more important, and we can see that customers are very happy with TOPdesk after a short period of time. You no longer have to perform tasks you rather wouldnt. HR departments often ask, With a tool, dont you lose customer contact? Then answer is no: you determine this yourself, and you have enough time left over to focus on what really matters, which also puts you in contact with your colleagues. For instance, you can spend more time on people who want to work on their personal development, or want to reintegrate after sick leave. This lets you focus on your core tasks and work more efficiently. Yes, on the right path, thats exactly what it is.

HR department blueprint
The Best Practice Package makes it easier to use a tool to support the HR department. Smale says, It is a blueprint for an HR department, based on the idea that processes are universal. Employee questions, and therefore answers, are usually the same; how HR departments deal with them is more specific. Matters such as leave and compensation are determined in part by legislation and follow a strict pattern. However, whether something must be processed in one or three days is another matter. The most important processes have been set up in advance as templates in the TOPdesk software, complete with dashboards and notifications. In the new HR Process Manager module, the processes are displayed online and you can immediately see how activities are organized. We can now take a much more targeted approach during implementations, which saves even more time: organizations can implement processes in easily manageable chunks. It may be useful to have long meetings about processes, but it isnt always necessary. With the Best Practice Package, we start with the most important processes. We provide advice, and then ask whether it appeals to them. Together with the customer, we select the HR domains with which we will continue. You can then tweak and expand upon those domains.

Want to know more?

For more information about the Best Practice Package, contact Alwin Smale via +31 (0)15 270 09 00 or send an email to info@topdesk.com

COlUmN
Ron van Haasteren
... is a TOPdesk consultant. He has a degree in Communication Studies and uses this knowledge when performing his tasks for various organizations. Ron will share his experiences in the upcoming editions of TOPdesk Magazine.

THE fIRST TImE

About two months ago, I bought my rst house. This is an amazing, huge milestone in my life, of course. But I soon ran in to all kinds of questions.

Is it smart to buy a dormer? Are we going straight for an extension or should we wait a few years? Which type of mortgage is the best? How will we arrange the financing in our partnership contract, and what happens if one of us passes away? All of these are questions I have never had to ask before. Whats more, I have to answer them myself as well. This is all new to me, so it is quite tricky. Luckily, I am not the only one buying a house for the first time, so I do not have to worry about everything by myself. For example, my brother started cohabiting two years ago. I am even one of the last ones in my group of friends to buy a house. This means that I can learn from other peoples experiences and mistakes. I can talk to my friends about their choices over

a beer on a Saturday night. During these conversations, I hear a lot of very useful tips that relieve my worries. One thing I decided as a result of these conversations is that I will not immediately buy a dormer: it will be cheaper if I do this later. I will go for an extension straight away, though; if I wait five years, there will be a clear difference in the brick colour. And as for the mortgage type: I hired a mortgage broker, who will always know more than my friends or I do. In my work as a consultant, I often see situations in which customers are doing something for the first time. For instance, I once visited an organization where no one had used an application before. With the going live date approaching, big changes were coming for the entire department.

As a consultant, I used examples to try to show the customer that they were not the first ones to go live with an application. In doing so, I try to reduce the tension that comes with doing something for the first time. I do not have a beer with my customers on a Saturday night, but lunches and coffee breaks are good opportunities to reduce stress. What I want to say is: even if it is the first time for you, you are probably not the only person to do it for the first time. If you talk to other people who have done it before, you will see that you learn from their experiences.

22 pROCESS AND pRACTICE

Photography: Aad Hoogendoorn

A SUCCESSfUl IT pROJECT

WhEN IT cOmES TO cOmPLEX PrOJEcTS WITh TIGhT SchEDULES, IT IS GrEAT TO bE AbLE TO hAND ThE rESPONSIbILITY OVEr TO TOPDESK
Danil Huijbens Project leader

Text: Nienke Deuss

pROCESS AND pRACTICE 23

IT projects are not known for always going according to plan. This means that it is important to nd a project leader to steer everything in the right direction which is also true for your TOPdesk implementation. You can appoint someone from your own organization, or hire an external project leader. And why not hire a TOPdesk project leader for a TOPdesk project?
Implementing a new tool can be a complex business, for instance when several departments are involved. A project leader is often assigned to give such a project the greatest possible chance of success. You can appoint an internal project leader from your own organization, or an external project leader. Many organizations select the former for smaller projects. Not every project requires an external project leader, says Danil Huijbens, TOPdesk project leader. An internal project leader knows the organization, knows who to involve and when, and can ensure the technical set-up is a success with the help of a TOPdesk consultant. If your TOPdesk implementation concerns a more complex project, you can also involve a TOPdesk project leader. Huijbens: When it comes to important projects involving several departments, that involve complex technology and especially projects that have to be completed quickly, there are many benefits to calling in a TOPdesk project leader. you cannot influence how far the project team has progressed by the next time. As a project leader, I ensure that everything has been arranged by the organization so that my consultancy days are used as effectively as possible. Moreover, Im no longer dependent on an external project leader who still has to read up; now its up to me to make sure that we deliver quality.

Closely involved
When you bring in a TOPdesk project leader, they become part of your organization during the project. Huijbens spends most of his working week as a project leader at a customers. I now spend three to five days a week at ICT Samenwerking, the centralized IT service desk of four Dutch municipalities. I arrive in the morning, connect my laptop and can get straight to work with the project group. I make sure that the homework assigned by a consultant is completed and organize internal sessions to inform and involve employees. It is a more intensive type of collaboration between a customer and TOPdesk, but it makes sure that these projects go smoothly.

Lifting the burden

Many larger organizations enjoy being able to outsource their TOPdesk project in its entirety, as Huijbens explains. There are TOPdesk project leaders at Boskalis or Nationale Nederlanden, for example. With such organizations it often concerns complex projects with tight schedules. Its great for them to be able to pass the responsibility on to TOPdesk, so they can say, I want you to do this and have it done by this date. Once the decision is made to appoint a project leader from outside the organization, its only logical to involve a TOPdesk project leader, says Huijbens. Every project leader started as a TOPdesk consultant. This means he or she knows a lot about the software and has supervised similar implementation projects before. Another external project leader would have to invest a lot of time in getting to know both the organization and the software.

A flexible approach
The project leader is a TOPdesk expert who knows everything about the tool and the underlying database structure. This knowledge offers a number of advantages, according to Huijbens. Thanks to my work as a consultant, I can make a good estimate of how much impact an issue in the software will have, and whether it will cause problems for a project. Moreover, I can make good use of all of TOPdesks resources; I know exactly who to turn to, and if I need something I can immediately arrange it with a colleague. It lets me take a more flexible approach, which often results in fewer consultancy days.

Responsible for quality

Huijbens enjoys carrying full responsibility for a project. As a TOPdesk consultant, I would visit customers one day a week. In such situations,

Curious about the possibilities?

For more information, contact your local TOPdesk office.

24 WorKinG SmartEr

Photography: Robin Kuijs

patrick mackaaij
is an information distribution coordinator. He is specialized in technical issues and optimizing processes.

ARE YOU READY TO CElEbRATE?

For the last couple of years, TOPdesk has offered free bespoke work to give your own installation a temporary festive makeover. Examples of this include the recent Christmas bespoke work, but also themes to celebrate the Olympics. The bespoke work is easy to install and remove.

WorKinG SmartEr 25

Here at the TOPdesk office, we naturally use our software to support you. During the holiday season a few years ago, employees came up with the idea to give the software a festive theme for Sinterklaas, a holiday celebrated on 5 December in Belgium and the Netherlands. After receiving enthusiastic feedback from colleagues and customers, we decided to create Christmas bespoke work as well. After all, Sinterklaas is only celebrated in two countries. The Christmas theme would let people all over the world give their TOPdesk a festive look in December.

Behind the scenes

At TOPdesk, we do our very best to ensure that the bespoke work is available on time. We start with a brainstorm about the possibilities. Afterwards, our graphic designers get started on creating a design. We try to incorporate yearly variation in the bespoke work, and take into account our multilingual software and user base. Our Customer Solutions team converts the design into a zip file with bespoke work for the prevailing TOPdesk versions. Testers make sure the bespoke work and TOPdesk function correctly with the latest versions of the three biggest web browsers.

Holidays and events

It has now become tradition to regularly release themes. We are currently designing a new look and feel for the following holidays and events: Football European and World Cups Olympic Games (winter and summer) Halloween (new in 2014!) With our latest version of the European/World Cup bespoke work, we went a step further. In addition to the special football TOPdesk look and feel, you could also display the latest results for the games and groups.

Installing the bespoke work

Once the bespoke work is available, you can find it on the TOPdesk Extranet. The description of the bespoke work lists the most important system requirements. If you have a TOPdesk acceptance environment, we advise you to use this to test the bespoke work in your own environment. Despite our careful process, it is possible for something unexpected to happen with bespoke work. The installation steps are described in the readme file included with the bespoke work. In practice it boils down to selecting the bespoke work zip file in the Administrator Console and restarting TOPdesk. Look and feel bespoke work can run alongside other customer solutions or add-ons. When installing the bespoke work, TOPdesk automatically checks whether files overlap with installed customer solutions. If this is the case, you will receive a warning. If you use several TOPdesk environments, you probably use the adjustable TOPdesk look and feel colours to differentiate between the various installations. Keep in mind that using this bespoke work will overwrite these colours. You can deactivate and remove the bespoke work via the Administrator Console.

Supported web browsers and TOPdesk versions

The temporary bespoke work is intended to be and should remain just a little something, so we only test it on the most prevalent web browsers and TOPdesk versions. In practice, the bespoke work works on the latest and second-latest released version of TOPdesk. In terms of web browsers, we limit ourselves to the latest version of the three most used web browsers. The readme file included with the bespoke work lists which versions have been tested.

26 WorKinG SmartEr

TOPdesk in your house style

In addition to festive themes, you can also give TOPdesk a custom look and feel that matches your organizations house style. Your application manager can upload your organizations logo and adjust the title and background colour for TOPdesk in the Functional Settings. Many customers use these options to visually distinguish the various TOPdesk installations within their organization. We can deliver a bespoke work zip file for you based on a specific design (for a fee). You can contact the Customer Solutions team for an estimate of the costs and duration. If you have an idea for your own TOPdesk look and feel, we can translate this to a custom design.

Editorial
Want to comment? Go to www.scribd.com/TOPdesk The TOPdesk Magazine covers subjects that are topical in the world of professional service desks in IT, facilities and other service providing organizations. TOPdesk Magazine is intended for managers, service desk employees, facilities organizations and electronic city councils anyone who is involved with supporting clients on a daily basis. This concerns both the processes and the technology behind these services. TOPdesk Magazine is a TOPdesk publication Tel: +44 (0) 207 803 4200 Email: editorial@topdesk.com Editor-in-chief: Milou Snaterse Editors: Nienke Deuss, Timme Hos, Stefanie Klaassen, Milou Snaterse Translators: Leah Clarke Contributors: Jan Dijkshoorn, Raoul Eggen, Ron van Haasteren, Fiona IJkema, Patrick Mackaaij, Niek Steenhuis, Bram Verheij Layout: Louise van der Laak Photography: Menno van der Bijl, Aad Hoogendoorn, Robin Kuijs Copy editor: Leah Clarke A print run of 7,500 Quarterly magazine Languages: Dutch, English

When is the bespoke work available?

We communicate the availability of the themed bespoke work via a number of channels: social media, our website and the TOPdesk Extranet. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

WORK TOWARDS A SUCCESSFUL SELF SERVICE DESK !

The more your end users use the SSD, the more time and money you will save.

After a successful promotion, your end users will be motivated to log their calls in the SSD.

Please feel free to contact us to discuss the possibilities of your Self Service Desk promotion.

+31 (0)15 270 09 60 contact@designagencyddc.com www.designagencyddc.com

28 KlANT IN bEElD

tips + tricks
Multilingual forms in the Form Designer
From TOPdesk 5.3 onwards it is possible to publish forms in multiple languages in the Self Service Desk. The languages available in the Form Designer are the same languages set up for the Knowledge Base. There is now a single setting for this. 1. Via Settings, go to Functional Settings. 2. Select Region and Language and then Knowledge Base and Forms. 3. Click New to add a language, or double-click an existing language to edit it. Once a language is added, you can translate your forms: 1. Open an existing form, or create a new one. 2. In the top right corner of the form, click Open translation view. 3. In the left panel, select the language from which you wish to translate the form. 4. In the right panel, select the language to which you wish to translate the form. 5. The Visible in Self Service Desk checkbox lets you determine whether the form is visible in the Self Service Desk. 6. Depending on the browser language settings of the Self Service Desk users, the form will be displayed in the correct language. Please note! Adding a language via Knowledge Base and Forms also adds a language to the Knowledge Base. The knowledge items need to be translated to this language to be visible in the Self Service Desk. If the Self Service Desk user has set their browser to a language in which the knowledge items have not been translated, the user will not be able to view the knowledge items in the Knowledge Base. 1. Click on the operator menu in the top right corner of the page 2. S elect My Settings. 3. Determine your setting for Default for Make invisible to caller. > Regardless of your chosen setting, you can always manually indicate whether a text is displayed in the Self Service Desk or not. . After introducing this option, we were frequently asked whether this feature could be activated by default. This is why this has been added as a new option in TOPdesk 5.3. Every operator can now select their own default setting, determining the visibility of new entries in the Action field.

(De)activating the Make invisible to caller setting by default?

In TOPdesk 5, when you enter text in the Action field as an operator, you can indicate whether this comment should be visible to the caller in the Self Service Desk. This makes it easy to add information that is relevant to you as an operator but not of interest to the caller.

TOPdesk UK limited t +44 (0)20 7803 4200 e info@topdesk.co.uk w www.topdesk.co.uk TOPdesk Nederland BV t +31 (0)15 270 09 00 e info@topdesk.nl w www.topdesk.nl

TOPdesk Belgium bvba t +32 (0)3 292 32 90 e info@topdesk.be w www.topdesk.be TOPdesk Danmark A/S t +45 7015 7500 e info@topdesk.dk w www.topdesk.dk

TOPdesk Deutschland GmbH t +49 (0)631 624 00 0 e info@topdesk.de w www.topdesk.de

TOPdesk Consulatoria e Tecnologia De Software - Eirili t +55 11 3040 2817 e info@topdesk.com.br w www.topdesk.com.br TOPdesk Magyarorszg Kft. (Hungary) t +36 1 301 0190 e info@topdesk.hu w www.topdesk.hu