LANDesk Software, a global leader in systems lifecycle management, endpoint security and IT service management, today announced LANDesk® Service Desk 7.5, a significant upgrade to the LANDesk IT service management (ITSM) solution. In today’s always-on global workforce, IT administrators are expected to be readily available, regardless of their location or the time of day. This is becoming increasingly difficult, especially given the fact that service desk budgets are being cut and the majority of service desk personnel are reporting their headcounts will not increase in 2012. In order to better enable service desks to support end user requests while IT administrators are away from their computers, LANDesk Service Desk 7.5 focuses on a user-centric and mobile approach to support.
Service Desk 7.5 introduces its browser interface, LANDesk Web Desk, on a mobile platform. LANDesk Mobile Web Desk provides IT support staff and management with the capability to access service desk functions via a smart phone or tablet device, so that they can maintain the same level of availability and support end users have come to demand while away from their desks. LANDesk Mobile Web Desk ITSM process-handling capabilities are unlimited in that they allow staff to work with any process in any window. Mobile Web Desk is available across multiple platforms.
“We wanted to address the fact that service desk managers are increasingly mobile,” said Steve Daly, CEO, LANDesk Software. “With the Mobile Web Desk functionality of 7.5, they can review service desk information or authorize requests regardless of location or the type of mobile device they may be using, ensuring that end users will receive the continuous, instantaneous support they are increasingly requiring in today’s always-on workplace.”
LANDesk Service Desk 7.5 also includes an enhanced version of LANDesk Management Information. This functionality provides a graphical trend view of key data metrics generated using service desk data, along with external data sources, so IT managers can track the progress of Key Performance Indicators and service performance over time to ensure alignment with business goals. This information can then be pushed out in chart form across the business to all Service Desk web interfaces, including mobile, so that senior management can gain a rounded view of performance on their smartphones or tablet devices and in turn, make more informed business decisions.
In addition to the new mobile functionality provided by Mobile Web Desk and the enhancements in Management Information, LANDesk Service Desk 7.5 also takes advantage of a popular self-service capability, the shopping cart. Recent studies indicate that as younger generations enter the workforce, they prefer to troubleshoot IT needs themselves, while older generations would rather call a service desk staff member on the phone. As baby boomers retire and the workforce becomes increasingly younger, this is a preference IT managers will need to address. With the new shopping cart functionality built into the LANDesk Service Catalogue, employees are given web-based, self-service capabilities provided through a consumer-style shopping cart feature that allows them to add a request (or multiple requests) to their shopping carts and checkout. With the Service Catalogue shopping cart, employees can now enter multiple requests at a time, review their requests before submitting and cancel requests. In addition, even when multiple services are requested through the cart selection, they can still follow their own unique fulfillment processes. This feature allows short-staffed and under-funded service desks to reduce call volumes and provides end users with the consumer style “self service” function they are increasingly demanding.
With Service Desk 7.5, LANDesk is furthering its position as a leader in service desk best practices. LANDesk is also announcing that it is one of just four service management vendors to have recently achieved PinkVERIFY v3.1 status from Pink Elephant for all 15 ITIL v3 processes. Developed by the UK government and used by thousands of organizations around the world, ITIL has become the de facto standard for IT best practices and assists organizations in providing the necessary framework for IT service management.
Additional Features of LANDesk Service Desk 7.5 Include:
- New Installation Administration: Enables SaaS hosts and private cloud administrators to spin up and configure multiple instances of Service Desk through a single control panel
- Enhanced Default Design: Default out-of-the box design now provides an even faster time-to-live route based on customer best practices
- Extended Concurrent License Monitoring: Users can now track and manage the use of their concurrent licenses alongside their named license models for maximum accessibility
- New Localization: Already available in English, French, German, Russian and Portuguese, Service Desk 7.5 extends reach to end users in Japan with Japanese language functionality
LANDesk Service Desk 7.5 is available today.