Organizations of every size need to get more nimble, and the service management solution can either be a big hindrance or vital ally in meeting this objective. Service management platforms that force organizations to pay expensive development talent for customization and maintenance clearly fall into the adversary camp. On the other hand, tools that can be deployed quickly and easily, configured by non-technical users, and efficiently adapted as business needs change will prove invaluable in fostering the agility organizations need today.

To meet current business requirements, organizations need a fourth-generation service desk platform, one that delivers the following attributes:

• Fast deployment. Rather than having to do a lot of process engineering, fourth-generation service desk platforms enable you to leverage automated, pre-configured processes—effectively jump starting the bulk of the work needed to get your service desk running.
• Easy configuration. As opposed to prior generation solutions that require labor-intensive custom coding, fourth-generation platforms let your team use an intuitive point-and-click interface to configure the platform to the specific needs of your business. With these platforms, any IT team member can make these configuration changes using simple, logical business rules.
• Flexible adaptation. As needs change, fourth-generation platforms can easily be tailored to new business requirements. Users can adapt workflows, approval processes, escalations and more—all via a graphical user interface.
• Smooth upgrades. By leveraging a fourth-generation SaaS-based tool that doesn’t require custom coding, organizations enjoy a seamless upgrade path. As the SaaS platform is enhanced, you’ll be able to leverage new capabilities automatically, as opposed to having to do development, testing, rollouts and training on a new platform version.

Note: This is the second in a five-part series of posts on the fourth-generation service desk. In our first post, we provided an overview of prior platform generations and their associated limitations. Stay tuned for our next post, which outlines how the next generation of service desk platforms enables IT teams to benefit from a SaaS model. In addition you can also view a webcast titled “Service Desk Manager: Where do we go from here?” with George Spalding, Executive VP Pink Elephant to understand the obstacles of prior generations of service management platforms and learn how a new generation of solutions addresses these fundamental limitations.