The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations Book Ever!

The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations Book Ever!
Managed Services Series
The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations

BOOK EVER!
For Managed Services
MSP Universitys
Erick Simpson
MCP, SBSC

Table of Contents
Contents
What Can You Expect From This Book? .............................. 13
The Difference Between a NOC and a Service Desk ............ 16
Section 1: Infrastructure Design ......................................... 22
SERVICE LOCATION REQUIREMENTS - PROVIDER ............................. 23
At the Providers Location ................................................ 23
Environmental Requirements .......................................... 24
NOC and Service Desk System Requirements .................. 26
NOC and Service Desk Hardware Requirements ............. 27
NOC and Service Desk Operating Systems and Software
Requirements .................................................................. 28
Communication Requirements ....................................... 30
Protocols........................................................................... 31
Security Requirements ..................................................... 32
Connectivity Requirements .............................................. 32
Broadband Requirements ................................................ 33
1

Table of Contents
Remote Access and Control Requirements...................... 33

Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity
Requirements ................................................................... 34
SERVICE LOCATION REQUIREMENTS - DATACENTER ......................... 38
At the Providers Datacenter............................................ 38
Datacenter System Requirements ................................... 39
Datacenter Hardware Requirements ............................... 40
Datacenter Operating Systems and Software
Requirements ................................................................... 41
Datacenter Communication Requirements ..................... 43
Datacenter Security Requirements .................................. 44
Datacenter Connectivity Requirements ........................... 44
SERVICE LOCATION REQUIREMENTS OUTSOURCED 3RD PARTY
PROVIDERS LOCATION............................................................... 46
At the Outsourced 3rd Party Provider ............................. 46
SERVICE LOCATION REQUIREMENTS END USER/CLIENT ................. 49
At the End Users or Clients Location .............................. 49
2

Table of Contents
Environmental Requirements .......................................... 50

System Requirements ...................................................... 51
Hardware Requirements .................................................. 52
Operating Systems and Software Requirements ............. 53
Communication Requirements ........................................ 55
Protocols........................................................................... 56
Security Requirements ..................................................... 56
Connectivity Requirements .............................................. 57
Broadband Requirements ................................................ 57
Remote Access and Control Requirements...................... 58
Backup, Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity
Requirements ................................................................... 58
Section 2: NOC and Service Desk Tools and Technology...... 60
REMOTE MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT TOOLS ......................... 64
The Remote Monitoring and Management Tool ............. 64
What To Look For in a Remote Monitoring and
Management Tool ............................................................ 70
3

Table of Contents
TROUBLE TICKETING AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AUTOMATION TOOLS

............................................................................................ 74
The Trouble Ticketing and Professional Services
Automation Tool .............................................................. 74
What To Look For in a Professional Services Automation
Solution ............................................................................ 81
REMOTE ACCESS AND CONTROL TOOLS ......................................... 83
The Remote Access and Control Tool .............................. 83
What To Look For in a Remote Access and Control Tool . 84
VOICE COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTIONS .......................................... 88
The Voice Communications Solution ............................... 88
INTEGRATING NOC AND SERVICE DESK TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES .... 93
The Value of Integration .................................................. 93
Section 3: NOC and Service Desk Deliverables .................... 98
NOC SERVICES ........................................................ ..99
The NOC and Its Deliverables ........................................... 99
Remote Monitoring and Management ............................ 99
4

Table of Contents
Proactive Maintenance .................................................. 102

Reactive Response and Incident Management.............. 104
SERVICE DESK SERVICES ........................................................... 106
The Service Desk and Its Deliverables ............................ 106
VENDOR MANAGEMENT SERVICES ............................................. 111
The Value of Vendor Management ................................ 111
REPORTING ............................................................................ 114
The Value of Reporting................................................... 114
WHAT SHOULD A NOC AND SERVICE DESK SUPPORT?................... 117
Support Considerations .................................................. 117
SERVICE AGREEMENTS AND SLAS............................................... 122
Service Agreement Considerations ................................ 122
Section 4: Processes .........................................................145
INCIDENT AND PROBLEM MANAGEMENT ..................................... 148
The Difference Between Incident Management and
Problem Management ................................................... 148
CONFIGURATION, CHANGE AND RELEASE MANAGEMENT ............... 162
5

Table of Contents
The Differences Between Configuration, Change and

Release Management..................................................... 162
RISK MANAGEMENT ................................................................ 166
Risk Versus Reward ........................................................ 166
SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT .................................................. 172
Delivering Services to Support SLAs ............................... 172
SERVICE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ............................................ 173
Helping End Users and Clients Afford Technology
Services........................................................................... 173
CAPACITY MANAGEMENT ......................................................... 175
Right-Sizing Infrastructure and Services for Growth ..... 175
SERVICE CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT .......................................... 177
Recovery from Service Interruption ............................... 177
AVAILABILITY MANAGEMENT .................................................... 179
When Do You Want It?................................................... 179
SECURITY MANAGEMENT ......................................................... 180
Is Information Safe? ....................................................... 180
6

Table of Contents
COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT ............................................. 182

Can You Hear Me Now? ................................................. 182
Section 5: Clients ..............................................................187
CLIENT QUALIFICATIONS FOR SERVICE ......................................... 188
Setting Minimum Client Qualifications for Service ........ 188
INFRASTRUCTURE QUALIFICATIONS FOR SERVICE ........................... 193
Setting Minimum Infrastructure Qualifications for
Service. ........................................................................ 193
ON-BOARDING CLIENTS ........................................................... 201
The Importance of an Effective On-Boarding Process ... 201
The Business Needs Analysis .......................................... 202
The Technology Assessment .......................................... 203
Required Infrastructure Modifications, Updates and
Upgrades ........................................................................ 203
The Provisioning Process ................................................ 204
The Training Process ...................................................... 209
NOC and Service Desk Client Support Training .............. 210
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Table of Contents
Client and End User Support Training ............................ 210

Service Go-Live ............................................................... 211
DELIVERING SERVICE................................................................ 213
Day to Day Service Delivery ........................................... 213
The NOC Staffs Daily Duties .......................................... 214
The Service Desk Staffs Daily Duties ............................. 216
Interacting with Clients and End Users .......................... 219
What To Say, What Not To Say, and How Not To Say It 219
CLIENT SATISFACTION .............................................................. 226
Measuring Client Satisfaction and Improving Retention 226
Section 6 Hiring and Training Technical Staff ..................231
WRITING EFFECTIVE EMPLOYMENT ADS FOR TECHNICAL STAFF........ 232
USING DISC BEHAVIORAL PROFILES BEFORE INTERVIEWING CANDIDATES
................................................................................ ..241
THE INTERVIEW PROCESS FOR HIRING TECHNICAL STAFF................. 264
THE OFFER LETTER .................................................................. 279
THE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT ................................................ 288
8

Table of Contents
THE EQUIPMENT LOAN AGREEMENT........................................... 299

COMPENSATION PLANS ............................................................ 302
Help Desk Support Jr.-Sr. (Service Desk Staff)................ 303
Service Dispatcher Jr.-Sr. ................................................ 305
Service Desk Manager .................................................... 306
NOC Manager ................................................................. 307
TRAINING TECHNICAL STAFF...................................................... 310
Role-Specific Training ..................................................... 313
NOC staff ........................................................................ 313
Service Desk staff ........................................................... 316
Service Dispatchers ........................................................ 318
NOC Managers ............................................................... 320
Service Desk Managers .................................................. 322
Section 7: NOC and Service Desk Management by the
Numbers ..........................................................................325
MEASURING FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ...................................... 327
MEASURING NOC PERFORMANCE ............................................. 330
9

Table of Contents
MEASURING SERVICE DESK PERFORMANCE .................................. 334

Section 8: Outsourcing NOC and Service Desk
Components ...............................................................340
Benefits of Outsourcing.................................................. 340
Considerations Prior to Outsourcing .............................. 341
What to Outsource ......................................................... 342
What to Keep.................................................................. 343
Integration ...................................................................... 344
Transitioning Clients ....................................................... 345
10

Table of Contents
Section 9: Forms, Tools and Collateral ............................. ..349

CERTIFIED NETWORK CHECKLIST ................................................ 349
CLIENT INFORMATION ON-BOARDING FORM ............................... 352
MANAGED SERVICES AGREEMENT EXAMPLE ................................ 362
SAMPLE MANAGED SERVICES WELCOME LETTER .......................... 383

INCIDENT MANAGEMENT AND RESOLUTION PROCESS EXAMPLE ....... 386
EMPLOYMENT AD FOR A SERVICE DESK ENGINEER ......................... 390
EMPLOYMENT AD FOR A NOC ENGINEER .................................... 395
EMPLOYMENT AD FOR A SERVICE DISPATCHER.............................. 400
EMPLOYMENT AD FOR A SERVICE MANAGER ................................ 405
HR HIRING CHECKLIST FOR A NEW TECHNICAL PERSON .................. 410
HR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR A NEW TECHNICAL PERSON ........... 412
11

Table of Contents
12

What Can You Expect From This Book?

Among the topics we will explore in this publication are best
practices for building, maintaining and maximizing the
efficiencies and effectiveness of your NOC and Service Desk
operations. This means that our discussion will include the
people, processes and systems required to operate a best-inclass NOC and Service Desk.
This book is broken down into logical sections to support the
creation of your NOC and Service Desk, beginning with
considerations for infrastructure design, hardware, services
and the tools and technology to power your deliverables;
which is the next area we will explore, along with your
supported hardware, applications, services and vendors.
We will discuss your service agreements and SLAs, along with
your NOC and Service Desks tiering structures, incident and
problem management procedures and escalation processes to
maintain these SLAs.
We will also dive deeply into people including your staff;
your clients and their staff, and your and your clients vendors.
For the section on your staff, we will discuss effective hiring,
13

training, compensating, incenting and managing your talent to

reward performance that improves your bottom line.
Elsewhere, we will explore how best to interact and
communicate with your clients and their vendors, and set and
manage your clients expectations, as well as how to get the
most out of your own vendor relationships.
We will also explore basic client requirements necessary for
you to support them, and their environments minimum
standards for service, as well as essential pre- and post-sales
activities required for successful on-boarding, provisioning ,
service go-live and ongoing support and maintenance.
Next, we will concentrate on identifying the key performance
metrics and indicators that will be used to baseline your
existing NOC and Service Desks performance and profitability.
These same KPIs will be used to measure improvement in
specific areas over time as you implement the methodologies
contained in this resource.
Finally we will explore the topic of outsourcing some or all of
your NOC and Service Desk operations to third-party
resources, and what you should consider when determining
your strategy in this area. If and when you decide to
implement an outsourcing strategy, our discussion will cover
integration strategies with your existing processes, how to
14

effectively transition your clients and successfully manage all

of your outsourced relationships in order to maintain and
increase client satisfaction over time, and scale your services
more broadly with less internal staff.
15

The Difference Between a NOC and a Service Desk
The Difference Between a NOC and a Service

Desk
The role of a NOC and Service Desk is to manage and maintain
availability of services for their end users or clients and to
facilitate the restoration of normal service operation while
minimizing impact to these end users or clients within an
agreed-upon SLA. In this capacity the NOC and Service Desk
may provide the following services to the end user or client
according to their SLA:
Incident Management
Problem Management
Configuration Management
Change Management
Risk Management
Release Management
Service Level Management
Availability Management
Capacity Management
IT Service Continuity Management
Security Management
Communication Management
16

Incident
Mgmt
Security
Mgmt
Problem
Mgmt
Svc
Continuity
Mgt
Config
Mgmt
NOC/
Service
Desk
Capacity
Mgmt
Change
Mgmt
Avail
Mgmt
Risk Mgmt
Svc Level
Mgmt
Release
Mgmt
Figure 1 NOC and Service Desk Roles
The day-to-day duties of the NOC and Service Desk include:
Receiving all incident notifications and service requests

Recording all incidents and service requests
17

Classifying all incidents and service requests

Prioritizing all incidents and service requests
Troubleshooting all incidents and service requests
Escalating all incidents and service requests as
necessary to maintain SLAs
Maintaining consistent communication with all parties
affected by the incident or service request
Performing all scheduled maintenance activities
Although many of the roles, processes, procedures, activities

and responsibilities of a NOC and a Service Desk and their
respective personnel are more alike than they are dissimilar,
there is one important differentiator between these two
business units: their focus.
In its most literal form, a NOCs duties and responsibilities are
oriented towards proactively managing and maintaining
efficient operating states of hardware devices, software
operating systems and applications and insuring the continuity
of services; and responding to incidents and problems that
impact these. This definition most naturally lends itself to
conducting activities such as remote monitoring and patch
and change management for devices, software and services,
and which do not normally require direct interaction with end
users.
In contrast, a Service Desks and its staffs duties and
responsibilities are focused on managing end user incidents
18

and problems. In fact, the Service Desk is the single point of

contact (SPOC) for all end user issues, which are identified,
documented, prioritized and assigned to internal resources for
troubleshooting and resolution prior to the performance of
quality assurance activities and final closure.
However; this does not imply that these two business units do
not interact with each other, or that the NOC never
communicates with an end user. Exceptions do exist here, as
in any situation, and issues can be escalated freely between
these units during maintenance and incident and problem
management activity.
In addition, depending upon specific factors, there does not
need to be an official NOC or Service Desk at all as long
as the service providers staff delivers these functions by
following best practices processes and procedures to maintain
their SLAs and satisfaction with their clients, this may be
perfectly acceptable.
Lets explore this thought furtherif we may not need an
official NOC, or Service Desk, would we need dedicated
NOC and Service Desk staff? In some cases, and specifically for
smaller service providers we may not. Again as long as
there exist resources to perform or manage these functions,
these hats may be interchangeable.
19

It is completely feasible and realistic to have resources

perform both NOC and Service Desk functions during the
normal course of service delivery. The challenge over time
with this becomes the efficient and effective scaling of
capacity as the service providers client base grows. There will
come a tipping point where it makes sense for the service
provider to dedicate specific resources to particular job
functions, or outsource some of these functions in order to
scale, increase efficiencies and maintain client satisfaction.
It is also a common practice among smaller service
organizations for individual resources to conduct all incident
and problem management activities through several levels of
escalation. What this means is that a resource may continue
to work a specific issue as it makes its way from Tier 1 through
Tier 2 escalations and beyond, based upon the clients SLA and
the NOCs or Service Desks corresponding tiering and
escalation procedures. Again, there may come a tipping point
in the evolution of the service providers business where it
makes sense to dedicate specific resources to individual tiers,
but this may be a long time coming, since industry statistics
reflect that ninety percent of all end user service requests are
closed in Tier 1, with an additional seven percent in Tier 2 and
the balance in Tier 3.
This means that dedicating specific resources to tiers beyond
Tier 1 must be justified by the sheer number of Tier 2 and Tier
20

3 requests being received by the Service Desk, and explains

why the dedication of specific resources to each of these tiers
is more readily found in enterprise-level corporate service
desks, or industry manufacturer, vendor and distributor
support offerings.
21

Section 1: Infrastructure Design
Section 1: Infrastructure Design

The outsourced service provider or internal service manager in
the enterprise will need to insure that their infrastructure
meets the minimum requirements necessary to deliver
effective and efficient NOC and Service Desk services within
their SLAs. While some deliverables will have their own unique
infrastructure requirements, in most cases, all services will
generally share common requirements at both the providers
and clients or end users locations.
This section will explore these minimum requirements in areas
of environmental, systems, communication and connectivity
requirements.
22

Service Location Requirements - Provider

At the Providers Location
Whether the location for delivering NOC and Service Desk
services is a remote outsourced service providers location,
geographically displaced corporate branch office or the third
floor in your corporate building, the basic infrastructure
requirements needed to deliver these services effectively are
identical, and will normally include the following:
Environmental requirements
o NOC/Service Desk
o Data Center
System requirements
o Hardware
o Operating systems and software
o Services
Communication requirements
o Protocols
o Security
Connectivity requirements
o Broadband
o Remote access
Business Continuity
o Backup/DR Plan
o Service Availability
23

Environmental
NOC/Service Desk
Data Center
System
Hardware
OS/Software
Services
Communications
Protocols
Security
Connectivity
Broadband
Remote Access
Business
Continuity
Backup/DR Plan
SVC Availability
Figure 2 Service Delivery Requirements at the Providers Location
Environmental Requirements
NOC/Service Desk
The outsourced service provider or internal service manager will
normally conduct NOC and Service Desk operations from a
centralized location staffed with support personnel. The capacity
planning, design, implementation and staffing of this facility for
the effective delivery of these services require careful
consideration for not only its current service delivery
requirements, but future growth. Therefore, the business-critical
functions and requirements of the facility necessitate the
following:
Physical security
Adequate physical space planning, allowing for future
growth
24

Scalable, highly available redundant network

infrastructure
Continuous, redundant fail-over power
Highly available, redundant voice and broadband
carrier services
Climate control
Backup, disaster recovery and business continuity plan
25

Physical Security
Adequate Physical Space

Highly Available Network
Redundant Power
Redundant Voice/Broadband
Climate Control
Backup/DR/Business Continuity
Figure 3 Infrastructure requirements at the providers location
NOC and Service Desk System Requirements
26

System requirements for NOC and Service Desk service

delivery are defined as those minimum hardware, services,
operating system and software applications, and
configurations and patch and update levels necessary for
proper system, services and application operation and
efficient service delivery. Depending upon the specific
deliverable and its associated SLA, these requirements may
vary widely between outsourced service providers and
internal service managers.
NOC and Service Desk Hardware Requirements
NOC and Service Desk hardware devices and components will
need to meet certain minimum requirements to support their
roles throughout the NOC and Service Desk service delivery
lifecycle. Hardware housed at the outsourced service providers
or the internal service managers NOC and Service Desk must
meet certain physical requirements to fulfill its role in the service
delivery process, and these may consist of the following:
A specific CPU type and speed

A minimum amount of physical RAM
A specific amount of free HDD space
A specific BIOS type and level
Specific physical connectivity types
Specific local and remote connectivity methods
Supported protocols and ports
Security methods
27

Specific configuration
Specific WAN/LAN/DMZ Location
Interoperability with other local or remote devices
Hardware redundancy
CPU
RAM
HDD
BIOS
Physical
Connectivity
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Security
Configuration
Location
Interoperability
Redundancy
Figure 4 Hardware requirements at the providers location
NOC and Service Desk Operating Systems and Software

Requirements
28

Just as there are minimum requirements for hardware housed

at the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers NOC and Service Desk to properly support its role
during NOC and Service Desk service delivery, the same is true
for operating systems and software, which must also meet
certain requirements to fulfill its role in the service delivery
process, and these may consist of the following:
A specific operating system type, version and patch

level
A specific software application type, version and patch
level
Local and remote connectivity methods
Security methods
Interoperability and ability to communicate with other
local or remote systems, services, functions, databases
and applications
Service availability and redundancy
Data backup, restoration and business continuity role
and requirement
29

OS Type
Application Type
Configuration
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Security
Interoperability
Availability
Backup/Restore
Figure 5 Operating system and software requirements at the providers

location
Communication Requirements
Communication requirements for NOC and Service Desk
service delivery are defined as those data and voice network,
bandwidth and protocol requirements necessary to receive
and aggregate performance data and alerts from managed
locations; as well as deliver remote management and
maintenance to endpoints at these locations. This remote
management and maintenance can occur securely over wide
area data networks, while communications and updates by
30

and between the outsourced service providers or internal

service managers NOC and Service Desk and the end user or
client can be delivered over these same data or voice
networks. Robust remote monitoring and management,
trouble ticketing and phone systems are required to provide
minimum required communications capabilities in order to
deliver NOC and Service Desk services efficiently.
Utilizing unified communications and next-generation call
center solutions providing the ability to record all interactions
with end users or clients, vendors and 3rd party support
personnel allow valuable call accounting, monitoring and
customer service benefits to the NOC and Service Desk.
Protocols
Protocols utilized by the outsourced service providers or the
internal service managers NOCs remote monitoring and
management solutions to collect performance data and alerts
for events, services and applications include:
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
Syslog
Network Basic Input/Output System (NetBIOS)
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
31

Security Requirements
Transmission of the aggregated performance data and alerts
generated within disparate end user or client networks from
remote monitoring and management solutions to the
outsourced service providers or the internal service
managers NOC and/or Datacenter is normally accomplished
through secure protocols, and may include:
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
Transport Layer Security (TLS)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer
(HTTPS)
Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
Connectivity Requirements
In this context, connectivity requirements for NOC and Service
Desk service delivery are defined as those services, devices
and processes that allow the transfer of performance data and
alerts from the remote monitoring and management solution
at the end users or clients location to the outsourced service
providers or the internal service managers NOC and/or
Datacenter, and provide remote access, control and desktop
32

sharing capabilities to the outsourced service provider or the

internal service manager and include network connections,
equipment and services such as:
Bridges
Routers
Switches
Gateways
Firewalls
Broadband services
Secure network protocols
Broadband Requirements
In order for successful delivery of NOC and Service Desk
services, fast, reliable broadband carrier service at both the
end users or clients location and the outsourced service
providers or the internal service managers NOC and Service
Desk are required to support both remote monitoring and
management services from disparate end user or client
networks, as well as to provide effective remote access
capabilities for efficient maintenance services.
Remote Access and Control Requirements
The capability to remotely access endpoints in end user or
client networks to share desktops and deliver NOC and Service
Desk services is the cornerstone of a successful remote
management and maintenance deliverable. By delivering
33

services remotely, the outsourced service provider or internal

service manager increases response and resolution times and
is able to support more clients. Remote access to client
networks can be facilitated via many remote monitoring and
management tools and numerous 3rd-party software solutions
as well as through:

(HTTPS)
Secure Telnet /Secure Shell (SSH)
Microsoft Windows Terminal Services
Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
3rd-party remote control solutions
Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity Requirements

In order to insure the high availability of Service Desk and NOC
operations, the outsourced service provider or the internal
service manager must develop and implement strategies to
insure business continuity in the event of service interruption
or disaster. This Business Continuity Plan must assume a worst
case scenario of total inaccessibility to the Service Desk or
NOC and initially provide all of the recovery steps necessary to
support the Service Desk and NOCs critical business functions.
34

Based upon the severity and extent of the service interruption

or disaster, the plan must also provide for the timely
restoration of other less critical business functions over time.
The plan must account for people, communications,
hardware, operating systems and line of business applications,
data, services, facilities to operate from and security.
In order to create the Business Continuity Plan, the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager must
determine the following:
1. Scope
a. Areas to be covered by the Business Continuity
Plan
2. Objectives
a. What results are expected, and courses of
action the Business Continuity team will follow
3. Assumptions
a. What is taken for granted and assumed to be
true
During the Business Continuity Plan requirements phase, the
conduct a Business Impact Analysis to identify those business
departments, functions, processes and systems that are most
vulnerable to threat and are the most time-sensitive functions
of the NOC and Service Desk.
35

The results of this analysis will help the outsourced service

provider or internal service manager properly prioritize and
schedule the recovery of interrupted NOC and Service Desk
systems, communications, data, processes and functions.
Once this has been determined, a Recovery Coordinator and
Recovery Team Leaders can be appointed, who will manage
overall and specific operational unit Business Continuity Plan
activities during an interruption or disaster. The next step in
Business Continuity Plan development is to document the
workflows for each business unit in addition to the NOC and
Service Desk affected by the disruption such as IT, HR, sales,
etc., to utilize as a roadmap in their re-creation when
necessary. These units, along with their recovery/restoration
processes will differ depending upon whether the disruption is
experienced by the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager.
All systems and applications must be identified and
documented in the Business Continuity Plan as well as vital
records and the absolute minimum requirements for NOC and
Service Desk Operation to continue.
Next the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager must identify if alternate means of operation
currently exist, perhaps through hosted solutions in the cloud
that can be accessed from other locations, for instance.
Primary and secondary application support personnel contacts
and vendors need to be identified next. Finally, how business
36

units will function during recovery and the resources

necessary for recovery will need to be documented by
prioritized time frame.
The goal of the Business Continuity Plan is to allow the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager the
ability to quickly restore NOC and Service Desk functionality in
the event of disruption, and is a necessary requirement in
order to maintain agreed-upon SLAs for end users and clients.
This section barely skims the surface of this complex topic.
37

Service Location Requirements Datacenter
Service Location Requirements - Datacenter

At the Providers Datacenter
Because data centers are designed as highly secure, disasterhardened facilities with backup and redundant power, data
communications and environmental controls, they are judged
to be the best solution to insure business continuity for
equipment housed and services hosted there. The Datacenter
is the facility used by the outsourced service provider or the
internal service manager to house data and voice hardware
such as servers, routers, switches, firewalls, gateways and
communications equipment, as well as operating systems and
software applications critical to maintaining highly-available
services and effective service delivery processes to end users
or clients. Due to the high costs associated with building and
operating a Datacenter, many service providers and enterprise
service managers lease space in existing 3rd-party Datacenters
to avail themselves of these facilities and their services at a
significantly reduced initial cost. Requirements of a Datacenter
include:
Physical security
Scalable, redundant network infrastructure
Redundant environmental controls
Continuous, redundant distributed power
Fire detection and prevention systems
Redundant voice and broadband carrier services
38

Backup, disaster recovery and business continuity plan
Physical Security
Redundant Network
Redundant Environmental Controls
Redundant Power
Fire Prevention/Suppression
Figure 6 Infrastructure requirements at the Datacenter
Datacenter System Requirements

39

Datacenter system requirements for NOC and Service Desk

service delivery are defined as those minimum hardware,
services, operating system and software applications, and
configurations and patch and update levels necessary for
proper hosted system, services and application operation and
efficient hosted service delivery. Depending upon the specific
deliverable and its associated SLA, these requirements may
vary widely between outsourced service providers and
internal service managers.
Datacenter Hardware Requirements
Datacenter hardware devices and components will need to
meet certain minimum requirements to support their roles
throughout the NOC and Service Desk service delivery
lifecycle. Highly available hardware housed at the outsourced
service providers or the internal service managers
Datacenter must meet certain physical requirements
including:

Security methods
40

Hardware redundancy
CPU
RAM
HDD
BIOS
Physical
Connectivity
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Security
Configuration
Location
Interoperability
Redundancy
Figure 7 Hardware requirements at the Datacenter
Datacenter Operating Systems and Software Requirements

41

Just as there are minimum requirements for hardware housed

at the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers Datacenter to properly support its role during NOC
and Service Desk service delivery, the same is true for
operating systems and software, any of which may be hosted
at the Datacenter, whose specific requirements may consist of
the following:

level
A specific software application type, version and patch
level
Security methods
and applications
Data backup, restoration and business continuity role
and requirement
42

OS Type
Application
Type
Configuration
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Security
Interoperability
Availability
Backup/Restore
Figure 8 Operating system and software requirements at the

Datacenter
Datacenter Communication Requirements

In this scenario, communication requirements for an
outsourced service provider or internal service managers
Datacenter to support NOC and Service Desk service delivery
are defined as those network, bandwidth and protocol
requirements necessary to support the receipt, transmittal
and aggregation of performance data and alerts from and
between managed locations, the Datacenter and the NOC and
Service Desk; as well as to support delivery of remote
43

management and maintenance to Datacenter and end user

and client endpoints.
Datacenter Security Requirements
Transmission of data between the outsourced service
providers or internal service managers Datacenter, NOC and
Service Desk is normally accomplished through secure
protocols, and may include:

(HTTPS)
In addition, hardened physical security measures governing

entrance to and egress from the Datacenter and access to the
outsourced service providers or internal service managers
equipment and their and their end users or clients data must
be implemented, monitored and managed.
Datacenter Connectivity Requirements
In this context, Datacenter connectivity requirements for NOC
and Service Desk service delivery are defined as those
services, devices and processes that allow connectivity and
communications from the Datacenter to managed end user or
client locations and the outsourced service providers or the
44

internal service managers NOC and Service Desk, and provide

remote access, management and control of the hosted
devices, operating systems, software applications and services
to the outsourced service provider or the internal service
manager and include redundant network connectivity,
Bridges
Routers
Switches
Gateways
Firewalls
Broadband services
45

Service Location Requirements Outsourced 3rd Party Provider
Service Location Requirements Outsourced 3rd

Party Providers Location
At the Outsourced 3rd Party Provider
More and more 3rd party back-office NOC and Service Desk
providers are entering the market with offerings that either
improve the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers existing NOC and Service Desk operations, supplant
portions of their deliverables or replace them completely.
These outsourcers provide private-labeled NOC and Service
Desk services to IT service providers as well as corporate IT
departments and assume the roles of these departments on a
contract basis; delivering services as the IT service provider or
corporate IT department so well that end users or clients may
not be aware of the outsourced relationship between the
parties.
Should the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager choose to engage with one or more of these
outsourced 3rd party providers, they would be wise to
understand these outsourcers existing infrastructure designs
in areas including environmental, systems, communications
and connectivity in order to evaluate their suitability in
maintaining the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers downstream SLAs to their end users or
clients.
46

These infrastructure requirements should closely align with

those maintained by the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager in areas of redundancy, availability,
communications, connectivity and business continuity:
o NOC/Service Desk
o Data Center
System requirements
o Hardware
o Services
o Protocols
o Security
o Broadband
o Remote access
Business Continuity
o Backup/DR Plan
o SVC Availability
47

Environmental
NOC/Service Desk
Data Center
System
Hardware
OS/Software
Services
Communications
Protocols
Security
Connectivity
Broadband
Remote Access
Business
Continuity
Backup/DR Plan
SVC Availability
rd
Figure 9 Service Delivery Requirements at the Outsourced 3 -Party Providers

Location
Additional requirements to consider when engaging with a 3 rd

party outsourced NOC or Service Desk are discussed in Section
8 Outsourcing NOC and Service Desk Components.
48

Service Location Requirements End User/Client

At the End Users or Clients Location
Infrastructure requirements needed at the end users or
clients location for successful NOC and Service Desk service
delivery will normally include the following:
o Customer location
System requirements
o Hardware
o Services
o Protocols
o Security
o Broadband
o Remote access
Environmental
End User or Client
Location
System
Communications
Hardware
OS/Software
Services
Protocols
Security
Connectivity
Broadband
Remote Access
Figure 10 Service Delivery Requirements at the End Clients Location
49

Environmental Requirements
Client Location
The outsourced service provider or internal service manager
will normally install remote monitoring and management
agents on individual, dedicated or shared hardware at the end
users or clients location as required by their chosen RMM
(remote monitoring and management) solution. Therefore,
the business-critical functions of these solutions necessitate
the following environmental requirements at these locations:
Physical security of the dedicated or shared host

hardware
Continuous, redundant power
Highly available voice and broadband carrier services
Secure redundant means of remote as well as physical
access
Climate control
Backup, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Plan for outsourced providers or internal service
managers remote monitoring and management
hardware
50

Physical Security
Redundant Power
Remote Accessibility
Climate Control
Figure 11 Environmental Requirements at End User or Client Location
System Requirements
51

System requirements for NOC and Service Desk service

delivery are defined as those minimum hardware, services,
operating system and software applications, configurations
and patch and update levels necessary for proper system and
application operation to allow the effective delivery of
services. Depending upon the specific deliverable and its
associated SLA, these requirements may vary widely between
outsourced service providers and internal service managers.
Hardware Requirements
Hardware devices and components at the end users or
clients location will need to meet certain minimum
requirements as dictated by the outsourced service provider
or internal service managers RMM solution. Based upon its
specific function and application in the service delivery
process, physical requirements of the hardware may include
the following:

Physical security
52


Hardware redundancy
CPU
RAM
HDD
BIOS
Physical
Connectivity
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Security
Configuration
Location
Interoperability
Redundancy
Figure 12 Hardware Requirements at End User or Client Location
Operating Systems and Software Requirements

Just as there are minimum requirements for hardware to
properly support its role during NOC and Service Desk service
delivery, operating systems and software running on
hardware at the end users or clients location must also meet
53

specific criteria, and these requirements may consist of the

following:

level
A specific Software application type, version and patch
level
Security methods
and applications
Data backup, restore and business continuity process
54

OS Type
Application
Type
Configuration
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Security
Interoperability
Availability
Backup/Restore
Figure 13 Operating System and Software Requirements at End User or

Client Location
Communication Requirements
Communication requirements for NOC and Service Desk
service delivery are defined as those network and protocol
requirements necessary to receive and aggregate
performance data and alerts from end user and client
locations, as well as to allow delivery of remote management
and maintenance to endpoints at these locations. This remote
management and maintenance can occur securely over wide
area data networks, while communications and updates from
the outsourced service provider or internal service manager to
55

the end user or client can be delivered over either data or

voice networks.
Protocols
Protocols utilized by remote monitoring and management
solutions to collect performance data and alerts for events,
services and applications include:
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
Syslog
Network Basic Input/Output System (NetBIOS)
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Security Requirements
Transmission of the aggregated performance data and alerts
generated within disparate end user or client networks from
remote monitoring and management solutions to the
outsourced service providers or the internal service
managers NOC and/or Datacenter is normally accomplished
through secure protocols, and may include:

(HTTPS)
56

Connectivity Requirements
In this context, connectivity requirements for NOC and Service
Desk service delivery are defined as those services, devices
and processes that allow the transfer of performance data and
alerts from the remote monitoring and management solution
at the end users or clients location to the outsourced service
providers or the internal service managers NOC and/or
Datacenter, and provide remote access, control and desktop
sharing capabilities to the outsourced service provider or the
internal service manager and include network connections,
Bridges
Routers
Switches
Gateways
Firewalls
Broadband services
Broadband Requirements
In order for successful delivery of NOC and Service Desk
services, fast, reliable broadband carrier service at the end
users or clients location is required to support both remote
monitoring and management services from disparate end user
57

or client networks, as well as to provide effective remote

access capabilities for efficient maintenance services by the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager.
Remote Access and Control Requirements
The capability to remotely access endpoints in end user or
client networks to share desktops and deliver NOC and Service
Desk services is the cornerstone of a successful remote
management and maintenance deliverable. By delivering
services remotely, the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager increases response and resolution times and
is able to support more clients. Remote access to client
networks can be facilitated via many remote monitoring and
management tools and numerous 3rd-party software solutions
as well as through:

(HTTPS)
Secure Telnet /Secure Shell (SSH)
Microsoft Windows Terminal Services
Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
Backup, Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity

Requirements
58

In order to insure the high availability of Service Desk and NOC

operations, the outsourced service provider or the internal
service manager must develop and implement strategies to
insure the rapid restoration of dedicated remote monitoring
and management hardware in the event of failure.
Basic requirements include having a backup of the remote
monitoring and management device hardwares configuration
and a replacement on hand, as well as the ability to replace
the physical device to maintain established SLAs.
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Section 2: NOC and Service Desk Tools and Technology
Section 2: NOC and Service Desk Tools and

Technology
For purposes of our discussion, we will focus on four key tools
for outsourced service providers and internal service
managers to consider in powering their NOC and Service
Desks:
A remote monitoring and management (RMM)

solution
A trouble-ticketing or Professional Services
Automation (PSA) Solution
A remote access or control solution
A Voice communications solution
Choosing and implementing the appropriate tools will help the

outsourced service provider or internal service manager
reduce costs through standardization and increased
efficiencies and improve end user or client satisfaction by
delivering proactive maintenance and consistent, auditable
service delivery. The right tools will help realize these
outcomes for the following reasons:
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In order to maximize net profits, outsourced service

providers and internal service managers must develop
and implement effective policies and procedures to
improve their efficiencies in service delivery, and look
to these tools as a starting point, leveraging their builtin templates, workflows and functionality
In order to standardize and document incident and

problem management and resolution, outsourced
service providers and internal service managers use
their tools Service Desk functionality to improve and
document their service delivery activity to end users
and clients
In order to show value to the end user or client,

outsourced service providers and internal service
managers rely on their tools abilities to generate
meaningful reports which can be utilized not only for
service validation but; for the outsourced service
provider, also to identify revenue-generating
opportunities, such as when a device or services
monitored threshold is consistently exceeded,
signaling an upgrade or up-sell opportunity
In order to be alerted as quickly as possible to

potential problems in end user or client environments,
managers establish proactive alerting and escalation of
alerts in order to maximize their response time,
61

providing them the ability to respond proactively to

prevent or minimize service interruption
In order to speed response and resolution times,

managers leverage these tools to remotely access and
control end user or client devices, desktops and
laptops
In order to improve staff utilization, outsourced service

providers and internal service managers schedule and
automate the delivery of common maintenance
activities such as operating system, application
software, antivirus and antispyware patching and
updating through the use of these tools, freeing their
staff to work on higher priority or greater revenuegenerating activities
By administering maintenance and end user support

services remotely, outsourced service providers and
internal service managers further increase their
efficiencies and staff utilization, and improve end user
or client response and resolution time, raising client
satisfaction
By providing unified messaging, CRM integration,

custom call routing, recording and accounting
capabilities, next generation voice communications
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solutions improve the service delivery experience and

increase satisfaction for end users and clients
Figure 14 NOC and Service Desk Tool Benefits
63

Remote Monitoring and Management Tools

The Remote Monitoring and Management Tool
The ability for the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager to proactively monitor critical devices and
services is a fundamental necessity for the capability to
maintain and increase service uptime. The most effective
network monitoring solutions allow the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager to install a software
agent on individual, dedicated or shared hardware devices
such as a server or desktop in a clients environment and
initially obtain data on network-connected devices such as:
Hardware asset, role and inventory information

Collect hardware warranty information
Operating system, application software and licensing
and patch level information
Device IP addressing information
Physical system information (memory, disk, NIC, etc.)
Virtual system management (VMWare, Hyper-V, etc.)
Running processes
Up/down device status
Mobile devices
After a predetermined period of time, the remote monitoring

and management tool will be able to gather data and report
on items such as the following:
64

Syslogs
Event Logs
System Uptime
SNMP
Services
While all real-time network monitoring tools share some

commonality, others provide more granular, meaningful
reporting and alerting on equipment, such as:
Output a topological map of the environment

Detailed inventory to the module level
Real-time and historical CPU, memory and interface
statistics
Real-time and historical disk drive performance and
available capacity
VM host and guest monitoring
License key monitoring
Application compliance monitoring
VPN monitoring
VoIP application monitoring
Voice trunk and DSP utilization
The ability to back up and restore specific device
configurations
System warranty monitoring
65

Equipment end-of-life and end-of-sale monitoring
Figure 15 Remote Monitoring and Management Tool Benefits

66

The remote monitoring and management tools capability to

allow the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager to configure pre-set alert thresholds for critical
devices and services and run automated scripts to selfremediate problems prior to escalation is a key to maximizing
service uptime for end users or clients and maintaining SLAs.
Commonly monitored devices and services include:
Servers
Routers
Switches
Firewalls
VM hosts and guests
IP Phones
Access Points
PCs
Printers
In addition to hardware devices, critical services can also be

monitored, alerted on and escalated. Commonly monitored
services include:
Broadband Services
Email Services
Web Services
SQL Services
Backup Services
67
Antivirus Services
VPNs
Bandwidth
VoIP QOS

Not only hardware and services can be monitored, but critical

line-of-business applications are also capable of being
monitored and alerted on. Remote monitoring and
management tools normally utilize the following protocols to
perform their function:
WMI
Syslog
SNMP
Many remote monitoring and management tools integrate

with numerous manufacturers SNMP Management
Information Bases (MIB) for their network hardware,
providing the ability to quickly identify devices, operating
systems and software applications and begin monitoring and
managing them with ready-made templates containing the
manufacturers recommended operating thresholds. These
can be imported as service templates that can be reconfigured
and deployed across multiple customers. Having the ability to
develop and deploy custom services using an SDK can also
provide additional flexibility in the delivery of customized
services. The outsourced service provider or internal service
manager can configure the remote monitoring and
management tool to trigger alerts when these thresholds are
68

reached, as well as modify the alerts to trigger upon reaching

customized operating thresholds.
Another added benefit to many remote monitoring and
management tools is their ability to perform scheduled,
scripted actions such as delivering patches and updates to
operating systems and software applications and conducting
device optimization operations such as disk defragmentation,
deletion of temporary files and more for servers, desktops and
laptops. For many of these tools, if an activity can be scripted,
it can be scheduled to run unattended during off-hours,
providing the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager tremendous labor savings by offloading these
mundane, time-consuming and labor-intensive activities from
their costly human resources to their remote monitoring and
management tool.
In addition, the ability to automatically restart failed services
can also be configured in many of these remote monitoring
and management tools, speeding restoration of critical
services and minimizing downtime all without human
intervention. And along with alerts, all activity conducted by
these tools is captured and available for reporting, creating an
audit trail that can be reviewed at any time, further reducing
the need to manually remote in to end user or client
69

environments to ascertain whether patches were deployed

successfully or backup jobs ran without error.
What to look for in a Remote Monitoring and Management

Tool
today has the benefit of a wide variety of Remote Monitoring
and Management tools to choose from, and several factors
will weigh in their final purchase decision, including:
Suitability for their particular service delivery model,

needs and supported hardware and services
Cost and ROI
Implementation, training and deployment time
The ability to provide meaningful reporting
The quality of vendor support
The ability to, and ease of integration with, their trouble
ticketing or Professional Services Automation solution
The ability to use the application from mobile devices

whose service delivery model focuses on supporting Microsoft
operating systems and software and IBM-compatible
hardware benefit from the widest selection of remote
70

monitoring and management tools. Those whose service

delivery models include support for operating systems such as
Apple, Linux, Unix and Novell, and other 3rd-party software
and hardware will find their choices for remote monitoring
and management tools more limited.
Many remote monitoring and management tool vendors
include hosted, or pay as you go pricing models, lowering
the barrier to entry for the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager, as well as other, more traditional
pricing models. Hosted remote monitoring and management
tool solutions also reduce implementation and deployment
time, as the need for the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager to procure, build and configure host
server hardware is eliminated.
The ability for the remote monitoring and management tool
to document alerts, errors and informational data such as
warranty information through a robust reporting engine is
necessary when validating the outsourced service providers
or internal service managers services to end users or clients,
and crucial when justifying budget requests for service or
equipment upgrades and during capacity planning.
As a result of remote monitoring and management tool
vendors efforts to gain market share, overall vendor support
71

has improved, with additional services such as business

process transformation to help assist with the packaging ,
pricing, marketing and selling of the managed services being
offered, in addition to product training. Outsourced service
providers and internal service managers should make certain
to choose a vendor that provides support during their hours of
service delivery. Depending upon the vendor and outsourced
service providers or internal service managers geographic
locations, time zone factors should be considered. Of note is
the fact that some vendors even offer a hybrid model to
enable 24x7 coverage acting as a seamless extension to your
organization for your customers.
A critical function that the remote monitoring and
management tool must provide is tight integration with the
trouble ticketing or Professional Services Automation solution.
The remote monitoring and management tool must be able to
communicate alerts to the trouble ticketing or Professional
Services Automation solution and open a service request,
documenting the alert, and enabling the trouble ticketing or
Professional Services Automation solution to assign the
appropriate priority and SLA to the service request, and
escalate the incident as appropriate.
72

Figure 16 Remote Monitoring and Management and PSA Tool

Integration Example
73

Trouble Ticketing and Professional Services Automation Tools
Trouble Ticketing and Professional Services

Automation Tools
The Trouble Ticketing and Professional Services Automation
Tool
Choosing and implementing a Service Desk Trouble Ticketing
system in the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers NOC and Service Desk is the next step in improving
efficiencies by enabling the implementation of consistent,
measurable workflow processes and reporting capabilities
across these business units.
On the most fundamental level, basic Service Desk Trouble
Ticketing systems may include the following capabilities:
A service request or trouble ticketing component

A scheduling & dispatching component
A time tracking component
A configuration & change management component
A knowledge base component
A resource management component
A reporting component
For some outsourced service providers and many internal

service managers these Trouble Ticketing systems basic
capabilities may be sufficient to meet their service delivery
needs. Should the outsourced service provider or internal
74

service manager require additional capabilities including tight

integration with Remote Monitoring and Management tools
and consolidated reporting between their Remote Monitoring
and Management and Service Desk activities, a Professional
Services Automation solution might be a better choice.
Effective Professional Services Automation solutions provide
added benefits over basic Trouble Ticketing systems, and
these benefits may include:
A CRM system
A service request or trouble ticketing component
A project management component
A scheduling & dispatching component
A time tracking component
An expense tracking component
An inventory control component
An asset management component
A configuration & change management component
A service agreement & SLA management component
A knowledge base component
A resource management component
Quoting & invoicing integration with accounting
systems
A sales funnel component
75

A marketing campaign management component

Tight two-way integration with N-central through APIs
Robust, customizable consolidated reporting
Community and user group interaction and support
In addition, a Professional Services Automation solution

improves efficiencies by implementing consistent workflow
processes and communication and reporting capabilities
across multiple business units which may include:
Service Desk
NOC
Professional Services
Marketing
Sales
Purchasing
Inventory
Accounting
As a Professional Services Automation solution not only

supports but extends the capabilities of traditional Trouble
Ticketing systems, moving forward we will focus on and
reference Professional Services Automation solutions as they
pertain specifically to our NOC and Service Desk-focused
discussions.
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The Professional Services Automation solutions CRM

functionality allows the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager the ability to automate their NOC
and Service Desks workflows and record and report on end
user or client-facing processes such as sales, marketing,
projects and other services. Applied correctly, this processbased mechanism helps maintain SLAs, boosts client
satisfaction, shortens sales cycles, simplifies incident and
project management, facilitates escalation and improves
problem identification and resolution time.
Other NOC and Service Desk functions benefiting from a
Professional Services Automation solution include effective
resource management through efficient scheduling and
dispatching, time tracking and expense management with
key metrics including utilization and profitability by resource,
deliverable and end user or client easily tracked and reported
on.
The ability for the Professional Services Automation solution
to manage end user or client assets and configurations further
increases the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers efficiencies and speeds problem resolution. And,
when paired with change management, the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager can insure that
77

standardized methods and procedures are followed to handle

all changes to an end users or clients infrastructure,
minimizing the negative impact of any change-related activity.
In order to effectively deliver incident management and
resolution services, the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager will leverage the Professional
Services Automation solutions service request, or trouble
ticketing component, and build their NOC and Service Desk
deliverables around an effective, standards-based incident
management process; incorporating incident identification,
prioritization and escalation for timely resolution all
governed by strict SLAs.
The ability for the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers Remote Monitoring and Management tool
to integrate with the Professional Services Automation
solutions service request component is critical for maximizing
efficiencies and maintaining SLAs, as alerts are passed from
the Remote Monitoring and Management tool to the
Professional Services Automation solution to automate the
creation, prioritization and escalation of service requests. As
incidents are closed, the Professional Services Automation
solution updates its internal searchable knowledge base with
each resolution, allowing the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers staff the ability to quickly query
78

their own internal database during future incident

management activity - a true benefit, especially when dealing
with specific line-of-business applications or unique hardware
and software configurations.
Integration with an outsourced service providers or internal
service managers quoting and accounting solutions further
extends the value of the Professional Services Automation
solution, reducing redundant data entry, increasing
efficiencies and speeding turnaround time for end user or
client quotes and invoices.
The outsourced service providers or internal service
managers ancillary processes also benefit from the
Professional Services Automation solutions ability to create
customized workflows based upon specific solution sales
processes and cycles, tracking each milestone during the sales
process and managing the sales funnel as applicable. As with
the service request component, the sales component enforces
a strict sales process, standardizing each step in the sales cycle
and providing meaningful data through reporting, which
allows the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager to forecast potential revenue accurately, or modify
sales processes in order to achieve their desired outcome.
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In many cases, implementing a Professional Services

Automation solution into an outsourced service providers
practice or internal service managers operation and enforcing
management of each business unit by the processes and
workflows established will be difficult and challenging;
however, in order to transition to not only a proactive service
delivery model, but also a proactive business operations
model, it may be the most efficient and effective answer.
80

Figure 17 Professional Services Automation Solution Benefits
What to look for in a Professional Services Automation

Solution
81

As in an outsourced service providers or internal service

managers decision to purchase a Remote Monitoring and
Management tool, similar factors weigh in the Professional
Services Automation solutions purchase decision:
Suitability for the outsourced service providers or

internal service managers particular service delivery
model
Cost and ROI
The ability to provide meaningful reporting
The quality of vendor support
The ability to, and ease of integration with, their
Remote Monitoring and Management tool
Like many Remote Monitoring and Management tool

vendors, many Professional Services Automation solution
vendors also offer pay as you go pricing models,
lowering the barrier to entry for outsourced service
providers and internal service managers, as well as other,
more traditional pricing models. And as with hosted
Remote Monitoring and Management tools, hosted
Professional Services Automation solutions also reduce
implementation and deployment time.
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Remote Access and Control Tools

The Remote Access and Control Tool
Another necessary tool in delivering effective NOC and Service
Desk services is the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers Remote Access and Control solution, or
solutions, as there are two specific scenarios addressed by
these tools:
Remotely accessing equipment

Remotely sharing a desktop session with an end user
or client
These scenarios each require a different capability and

approach by the Remote Access and Control solution. In the
case of remotely accessing equipment, the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager can use already-existing
methods, such as Secure Telnet or SSH, or VPN with RDC for
newer Microsoft Windows server and desktop operating
systems. But in situations that require interaction with an end
user or client remotely, the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers Service Desk will need the ability to
share the users desktop, take control of the users keyboard
and mouse, and interact with them in real-time for effective
and timely incident identification and resolution.
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It is appropriate to note that many Remote Monitoring and

Management tools have remote access and control
capabilities built in for certain devices and operating systems.
What to look for in a Remote Access and Control Tool
An outsourced service provider or internal service manager
today has the benefit of a wide variety of Remote Access and
Control tools to choose from, and as with any purchasing
decision of this type, factors that will weigh in their final
decision include:
Suitability for their particular service delivery model

and supported hardware, operating systems, software
applications and services
Cost and ROI
The availability and quality of vendor support
Outsourced service providers or internal service managers

whose service delivery models focus on supporting Microsoft
operating systems and software, and IBM-compatible
hardware benefit from the widest variety of Remote Access
and Control tools. Those whose service delivery models
include support for Apple, Linux, Unix or Novell operating
systems will find their choices for Remote Access and Control
tools much more limited.
84

As with Remote Monitoring and Management tools and

Professional Services Automation solutions, many remote
control tool vendors include hosted and pay as you go
pricing models, as well as other, more traditional pricing
models. Many of the Remote Access and Control tools
available to the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager are easy to implement, simple to deploy and do not
require extensive training to utilize effectively. Effective
Remote Access and Control Tools should provide the following
functionality:
Secure connectivity to the target device

The ability to take complete control of the target
device
Fast performance
The ability to perform file transfers between source
and target devices
The ability to print from the target device to the host
devices printers
The ability to switch focus between the target device
to the source device, allowing the end user to view the
source devices desktop (for training and other
purposes)
The ability to rapidly deploy, or make available any
necessary Agents to the target device
85

A Web-based architecture to allow functionality from

any source device in any location
Any solution that allows access to an internal network should

be secure, minimizing the end users or clients external
footprint. The Remote Access and Control tool should provide
this security natively, in order to be considered a viable choice
for the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager, allowing the most flexible support options.
The ability to completely control the target device by the
outsourced service provider or internal service managers staff
greatly increases their capacity to quickly and effectively
troubleshoot end user or client issues remotely, increasing
utilization, efficiency and client satisfaction.
The Remote Access and Control tools performance is critical
during remote incident resolution the faster the response,
the better for both the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager and the end user or client.
The ability to transfer data between devices is also a
requirement, as the replacement of operating system or
software application files is a common necessity during
incident troubleshooting and resolution, as is the deployment
of patches and updates to the target device from time to time.
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Printing files accessed from the target device to the source

without the necessity to install and configure printer drivers
also benefits the outsourced service provider or internal
service managers staff during incident resolution.
Rapid deployment of Remote Access and Control Agents, or
the ability to host these Agents on the outsourced service
provider or internal service managers website or support
portal provides maximum speed and availability for remote
access and control support to the end user or client, and the
ability to provide this support from any web browser at any
location provides maximum flexibility in addressing end user
or client issues.
Figure 18 Remote Access and Control Example
87

Voice Communications Solutions

The Voice Communications Solution
must equip their NOC and Service Desk with a robust voice
communications solution in order to effectively deliver NOC
and Service Desk services to their end users or clients. The
availability and proper operation of this system is equally, if
not more important, than any of the other tools and
technologies employed by the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager in the delivery of services.
For maximum benefit to the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager and to improve satisfaction of their
end users or clients, it is imperative for the NOC and Service
Desk to:
Reduce blockage (busy signals)

Improve response time
Increase first call resolution
Shorten average call time
Reduce queue hold times
Shrink abandon rates
In order to facilitate these goals, the chosen voice

communications solution should support the following
minimum features:
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Scalability
Automatic call distribution (ACD) or customizable call
routing (CCR)
Interactive voice response (IVR)
Call monitoring
Call recording
Call accounting (Reporting)
Obviously, the ability to scale as the outsourced service

providers or internal service managers NOC and Service Desk
grows is important, as is automated call distribution, which
allows calls to be routed based upon any number of criteria
including resource availability, time of day, urgency, client,
etc.
The interactive voice response capability of the voice
communications solution allows the creation of intuitive
menus to manage calls effectively and efficiently, and get the
caller to the right queue for service through voice or keypad
response to the auto attendants voice prompts.
The ability to monitor and record interactions between end
users or clients and NOC and Service Desk staff allows the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager to
insure quality of service, facilitate training and maintain a
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digital record that can be archived should the necessity arise

to produce it at a later date.
The call accounting feature is also important in that it allows
analyze call volume and activity through any number of filters,
including queue, resource, time of day, day of week, duration
of call and more. This information is invaluable in staffing and
scheduling activities as well as identifying training needs.
Additional voice communications solution features that can
further benefit the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers NOC and Service Desk include:
Unified communications capability

VoIP support
Integration with Professional Services Automation
solutions
The ability to support unified communications will allow the

outsourced service provider or internal service manager the
most flexibility in managing and maintaining visibility to all
inbound and outbound voice communications by providing an
additional level of communications capability to their staff
especially in smaller organizations where staff responsibilities
may take them away from the NOC or Service Desk.
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VoIP integration provides benefits including the ability to use

softphone software applications on desktops and laptops,
allowing support to be delivered and calls managed anywhere
an internet connection is available, in addition to enabling
support delivery from geographically displaced locations or
home offices simply by plugging in an inexpensive VoIP
handset to a broadband connection and maintaining the same
quality and level of support as if the resource were sitting in
the NOC or at the Service Desk.
Finally, integration with the outsourced service providers
Professional Services Automation solution will enable
advanced CRM functionality including screen pop-ups
identifying the caller, their organization and other important
information, as well as launching their company profile and
logging the call, hopefully allowing the Service Desk to:
Improve response time

Increase first call resolution
Shorten average call time
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Increase
1st Call
Resolution
Shorten
Avg. Call
Times
Improve
Response
Time
Reduce
Blockage
Reduce
Hold Times
Voice
Solution
Figure 19 Voice Communication Solution Goals
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Shrink
Abandon
Rates

Integrating NOC and Service Desk Tools and Technologies
Integrating NOC and Service Desk Tools and

Technologies
The Value of Integration
The more tightly integrated the outsourced service providers
or internal service managers NOC and Service Desk tools and
technologies are, the more effective they will be in scaling,
maximizing service efficiencies, reducing costs, increasing
client satisfaction and improving net profits.
In the same regard, failing to integrate these tools, along with
their independent workflows and processes, will increase
inefficiencies and prolong the time it takes to deliver services,
requiring more manual labor-intensive activity to conduct
NOC and Service Desk functions and consolidate reporting
across disparate systems and solutions. This slows analysis of
key performance metrics and indicators, negatively impacting
overall operational oversight.
The obvious best answer for the outsourced service provider
or internal service manager is so select a suite of solutions
that can be integrated to deliver a superior set of benefits in
combination than would otherwise be possible.
With this understanding, the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager will utilize their Remote Monitoring
and Management tools and Professional Services Automation
and Voice Communications solutions integration capabilities
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to automate and reduce the manual labor necessary to

manage automated alerts for monitored devices, operating
systems, applications and services, as well as user-generated
service requests as much as possible.
In addition to call recording and reporting benefits, when
conducting any required voice communications with end users
or clients, staff efficiencies and response times can be
improved by utilizing click to dial functionality available
through integration of the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers Voice Communications solution
and their Professional Services Automations CRM module,
alleviating the need to manually look up the correct contact
numbers and physically dial them.
And when the necessity arises to conduct a remote access or
control session during incident management, the ability to
utilize the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers Remote Monitoring and Management tools builtin Remote Access and Control functionality speeds incident
response and resolution times.
A potential outcome for this type of tight integration may
resemble the following:
1. An alert is raised by the Remote Monitoring and
Management tool based upon a monitored device
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
reporting an error or becoming unreachable, or as a

result of a monitored service outage
The Remote Monitoring and Management tool opens a
service request in the Professional Services
Automation solutions Service Desk module and
provides the granular data necessary for incident
management and reporting to commence
The Professional Services Automation solution queries
its internal database and appends additional key
information to the service request such as information
about the device and its configuration, the error, time
of the alert, end user or client location and contact
information and contract or SLA information and other
necessary data to support incident management
Based upon the type of alert, the Professional Services
Automation solution designates a priority to the
service request, and an escalation process to maintain
SLA, and assigns it to a support queue or a specific
resource
The Professional Services Automation solution
messages all affected parties of the nature of the alert
and sets the end users or clients expectations for
incident management
The service request is addressed successfully by the
outsourced service providers or internal service
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managers NOC or Service Desk staff; by utilizing their

Remote Monitoring and Management tools Remote
Access and Control function, and documenting their
incident resolution activities, and the service request is
eventually closed after appropriate QA activity is
conducted
7. If the need to communicate directly with the affected
end user or client is required, the integration between
the Professional Services Automation solutions CRM
component and the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers Voice Communications
solution can be leveraged through onscreen click-todial functionality, with call documenting, timestamping and recording of each support call and
appending it to the service request happening
automatically
8. The Professional Services Automation solution
communicates the resolution status of the service
request to the Remote Monitoring and Management
tool, which then cancels the alert
9. The outsourced service provider or internal service
manager can now run consolidated reports and
analytics against this and all incidents, aggregating
data from the Remote Monitoring and Management
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tool and the Voice Communications and Professional

Services Automation solutions
Alert Raised By
RMM Tool
RMM Tool Opens

Service Request
in PSA Solution
PSA Solution
Documents
Service Request
PSA Solution
Assigns Priority,
Escalation, Queue
PSA Solution
Messages
Affected Parties
Incident
Management
Activity Occurs
PSA Solution
Messages
Affected Parties
PSA Solution
Cancels Alert In
RMM Tool
Consolidated
Reporting And
Analytics Occurs
Figure 20 NOC and Service Desk Tools and Technology Integration

Supporting Incident Management and Reporting
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Section 3 NOC and Service Desk Deliverables
Section 3: NOC and Service Desk

Deliverables
In this section we will explore a NOC and Service Desks
deliverables, along with end user or client-facing requirements
necessary for effective service delivery. These considerations
include managing:
Hardware
Operating Systems
Software Applications
Services
Services
Users
Locations
Vendors
Agreements/SLAs
Users
Applications
Locations
OS
Hardware
Vendors
NOC/SVC
Desk
Figure 21 NOC and Service Desk Focus
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SLAs

NOC Services
NOC Services
The NOC and Its Deliverables
In order to insure high availability of hardware, operating
systems, software applications and services under
management, the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers NOC must continuously monitor their
operating states and implement an alerting and response
process to address incidents when these operating states
deviate from established parameters.
In addition to continuously monitoring and reactively
responding to alerts from managed endpoints and services,
the NOC delivers proactive maintenance services such as
patching and updating operating systems, software
applications and device configurations, and optimizing the
operational states of host devices and systems through
activities such as deletion of temporary files, disk
defragmentation, Active Directory, DNS, DHCP and Event Log
management and pruning.
Remote Monitoring and Management
In order to maintain managed systems per service and
maintenance agreements and their SLAs, the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager must conduct
continuous monitoring of these systems and services. This is
facilitated through the Remote Monitoring and Management
99

NOC Services
tools capabilities. There are specific actions that need to be

carried out prior to official turn up, or go-live of
monitoring services for a new end user or client location.
These may include:
Setting up the end users or clients account in the

Remote Monitoring and Management tool and
Professional Services Automation solution
If the Remote Monitoring and Management tool is
appliance-based, configuring and deploying the
appliance per manufacturer or vendor
recommendations for secure communications to and
from the end user or client location and the
managers NOC, Datacenter or Service Desk
agent-based, configuring and deploying agents as
required to monitor managed devices, operating
systems, software applications and services per
manufacturer or vendor recommendations and
enabling secure Remote Access and Control and
communications to and from the end user or client
location and the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers NOC, Datacenter or Service
Desk
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NOC Services
If applicable, initializing a discovery routine by the

Remote Monitoring and Management tool to identify
all network-connected devices and their roles in the
environment
Associating the applicable Remote Monitoring and
Management tools default monitoring templates from
its template library to all identified devices, operating
systems, software applications and services
Developing base monitoring templates and assigning
them to all devices, operating systems, software
applications and services which the Remote
Monitoring and Management tool did not identify or
does not have a default template for
Testing and confirming proper two-way
communications and alerting to and from managed
devices, operating systems, software applications and
services at the end user or client location and the
Configuring, testing and confirming proper operation
of the Remote Monitoring and Management tools
Remote Access and Control function for managed
devices and operating systems
Configuring, testing and confirming proper two-way
integration with the Professional Service Automation
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NOC Services
Solution; with raised alerts resulting in properly

formatted service request generation including end
user, device and client identification information, as
well as correct status updating and alert cancellation
occurring in the Remote Monitoring and Management
tool upon service request resolution in the Professional
Services Automation solution
Configuring, testing and confirming proper scripting
and deployment of unattended operating system and
supported software application patches and updates
Configuring, testing and confirming proper scripting
and execution of unattended device and operating
system optimization activities such as deletion of
temporary files and disk defragmentation
Configuring, testing and confirming proper report
generation and automated report delivery
Integrating Remote Monitoring and Management tool
reporting into Professional Services Automation
solution and testing
Tweaking and tuning thresholds, alerting and reporting
during an initial analysis period to insure outcomes
meet expectations
Proactive Maintenance
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NOC Services
Once the end users or clients environment has been properly

prepared to receive NOC services in this manner and based
upon the associated SLA, the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager will create a proactive maintenance
schedule for the managed devices, operating systems,
software applications and services at the end user or client
location. This schedule will govern the maintenance activities
to be delivered by the NOC staff, and may include:
Keeping operating system and software application

service packs, patches and hotfixes current
Optimizing operating systems, software applications,
backups and hardware
Rebooting servers and critical devices
Installing software updates and upgrades
Optimizing logical directory structures and keeping Active
Directory Schemas and DNS configurations current

will leverage the Remote Monitoring and Management tools
ability to perform as much of this scheduled maintenance
activity as possible during off-hours, report on outcomes and
alert on failures, and provide the benefit of standardizing
these activities across the end user or client base and freeing
valuable human resources for other activities.
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NOC Services
In addition to delivering scheduled maintenance activities, the

NOC will review the Remote Monitoring and Management
tools monitoring reports daily to analyze the operating state
of managed devices, operating systems, software applications
and services to identify service degradation or potential failure
in advance of its occurrence in order to take proactive
preventative measures.
Reactive Response and Incident Management
The NOC will also respond to the Remote Monitoring and
Management tools alerts; indicating a device, operating
system, software application or service is functioning outside
of recommended parameters, and begin incident
management activity reactively in these situations.
Some commonly monitored events by the NOC through the
Remote Monitoring and Management tool may include:
Backups
Connectivity
Cloud/Email/Web/SQL/FTP Services
Windows Services/Events
Device Memory Utilization/Performance
Device Processor Utilization/Performance
Device Hard Drive Utilization/Performance
Router/Firewall Logs
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NOC Services
Antivirus Alerts
Network Security/Unusual Traffic/Attacks
VoIP QOS
VPNs
User Sessions/Authentication
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Service Desk Services

The Service Desk and Its Deliverables
In order to insure high availability of end users or clients
information technology-supported business processes,
activities and workflows, the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers Service Desk must be equipped to
address incidents when these processes, activities and
workflows are degraded or interrupted.
Focused primarily on end user issues, the Service Desk
functions as the single point of contact for end users or
clients, and facilitates the restoration of normal service
operation while minimizing impact to the user and delivering
services within agreed-upon SLAs. In this capacity the Service
Desk works directly with the end user or client, as well as with
the NOC as needed to fulfill its responsibilities.
SPOC
Single Point of Contact for End Users
IMR
Incident Management & Resolution
SLA
Maintain Service Level Agreements
Figure 22 Service Desk Responsibilities
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In order to achieve its objectives, the Service Desk will conduct

the following end user or client-facing activities:
Receive all incident notifications this can be through

any means established by the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager - phone, fax,
portal or email
Record all incidents this is accomplished through the
Professional Services Automation solutions Service
Desk component
Classify all incidents correctly document the nature
of the incident, including affected users, systems,
devices and services
Prioritize all incidents proper prioritization is
essential to effective escalation
Route all incidents based upon factors such as
classification and priority, the incident is assigned to
the appropriate queue or resource for incident
management and resolution
Troubleshoot all incidents perform established
troubleshooting and incident management activity
according to manufacturers and vendors best
practices and outsourced service providers or internal
service managers established procedures
Escalate all incidents as necessary proper internal
and external escalation insures adherence to
established SLAs, including escalation to 3rd-party
vendors for support
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Dispatch resources as needed if included in the end

users or clients agreement and SLA, the Service Desk
will perform dispatch functions and schedule onsite
visits by internal or external physical resources
including 3rd-party vendors per its established
escalation process
Maintain consistent communication with all parties
including end users, their managers and higher, onsite
resources including 3rd-party vendors, and internal
Service Desk management hierarchy
Perform all scheduled activities including but not
limited to moves/adds/changes, maintenance,
documentation and reporting
In order to maintain an effective Service Desk, internal

objectives need to be clear, end user and client requirements
and SLAs documented and understood; incident management,
escalation and dispatch processes standardized and followed,
and training for Service Desk staff as well as end users and
clients needs to be conducted regularly. Service Desk
deliverables need to be clearly defined and service levels
monitored regularly and modified as needed. Additionally,
clearly defined response, resolution and escalation times must
be incorporated into an SLA and communicated to Service
Desk staff as well as to end users and clients.
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There are specific actions that need to be carried out prior to

official turn up, or go-live of Service Desk services for a
new end user or client location.
These may include:
Setting up the end users or clients account in the

Professional Services Automation solution and Remote
Monitoring and Management tool
Configuring, testing and confirming end users or
clients ability to generate properly formatted service
requests with all required information via email and
the Professional Services Automation solutions Service
Desk portal
After the Remote Monitoring and Management tool
has been deployed and configured, testing and
confirming the proper operation of its Remote Access
and Control function for managed devices and
operating systems
Configuring, testing and confirming proper two-way
integration with the Remote Monitoring and
Management tool; with raised alerts resulting in
properly formatted service request generation
including end user, device and client identification
information included, as well as correct status
updating and alert cancellation occurring in the
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Remote Monitoring and Management tool upon

service request resolution in the Professional Services
Automation solution
Integrating Remote Monitoring and Management tool
reporting into Professional Services Automation
solution and testing
Configuring, testing and confirming proper report
generation and automated report delivery
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Vendor Management Services

The Value of Vendor Management
Vendor management is the process whereby the outsourced
service providers or internal service managers NOC and
Service Desk manages all interactions with the end users or
clients infrastructure vendors. This offloads that responsibility
from the end user or client and allows them to focus on
running their business. This service adds tremendous value to
the relationship between the end user or client and the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager; as no
matter whether through an automatically-generated alert, or
via the end user or client generating a service request directly,
any incident requiring 3rd-party vendor support for issues
affecting their infrastructure is managed by the NOC or
Service Desk.
All vendor management activity, including activity conducted
by infrastructure vendors during incident resolution, is
documented in the Professional Services Automation solution
by the NOC or Service Desk per the outsourced service
providers or internal service managers standard incident
management processes and procedures.
This service saves the end user or client the time and potential
frustration of dealing with numerous vendors and also allows
111

proactively manage all infrastructure vendor activity. The NOC

and Service Desk works with these vendors directly to either
quickly resolve issues or schedule on-site vendor visits - both
have been found to tremendously improve efficiencies and
incident response and resolution times, hence improving
client satisfaction.
End user or client infrastructure vendors that the outsourced
services provider or internal service manager agree to manage
may include:
Telco/Long Distance/Teleconferencing vendors

Broadband vendors
Fax/Copier/Printer vendors
Web/Application Development/Database vendors
Line of Business Software vendors
Hosting/Co-Location vendors
Equipment vendors
Point of Sale vendors
Phone/VoIP System vendors
Phone/VoIP Service vendors
Cellular/Smartphone/PDA Service vendors
Structured Cabling vendors
In order to provide Vendor Management services effectively,

the outsourced service provider or internal service manager
must provide all infrastructure vendors under management a
Letter of Agency (LOA) signed by the end user or client, which
112

grants them the authority to act on their behalf, allowing

them the ability to open service requests and schedule
maintenance and repair services as necessary.
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Reporting
Reporting
The Value of Reporting
will integrate the Remote Monitoring and Management tools
reporting function with the Voice Communications and
Professional Services Automation solutions to generate rich,
customized consolidated reports for internal and external (or
end user or client-facing) purposes.
will utilize specifically customized reports internally to analyze
key metrics to evaluate NOC and Service Desk performance
and modify internal processes and procedures to improve
outcomes.
Externally, the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager will utilize specifically customized reports with end
users or clients to validate the successful delivery of services
within SLA and according to existing service agreements; as
well as to identify opportunities to improve the availability or
performance of existing devices, operating systems, software
applications and services through activities outside of the
scope of the existing agreement or SLA. These activities may
involve replacement or reconfiguration, which may or may not
be conducted by the outsourced service provider or internal
114

Reporting
service manager or their staff, but instead by an outside

vendor or other provider.
Report areas commonly available through a Remote
Monitoring and Management tool and Voice Communications
and Professional Services Automation solutions may include:
Device, operating system, software application and

service performance reporting
Device, operating system, software application and
service maintenance reporting
Alert and service request reporting
Call-specific accounting reporting
End user, client, NOC and Service Desk resource
performance reporting
SLA performance reporting
Other customizable KPI reporting
When properly integrated and customized to provide

meaningful data, these reports are a key tool utilized by the
improve the NOC and Service Desks performance and
efficiencies, yielding greater net profits, as well as increasing
end user or client satisfaction.
When creating end user or client-facing reports, it is a good
idea to develop two versions a very high-level executive
115

Reporting
summary, and a more detailed report. In many cases, end

users or clients will prefer the executive summary report over
the detailed report. Always have the detailed report available
when conducting strategic meetings with the end user or
client, as you may wish to refer to it to dig deeper on specific
topics during the conversation.
When developing your executive summary report template,
make certain to include as many visual elements to represent
the data as possible. The more charts, graphs and visual
elements and less text, the better.
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What Should a NOC and Service Desk Support?

Support Considerations
While an internal service manager and their NOC and Service
Desk staff; whose responsibilities are to support an internal
corporate IT infrastructure, may have little or no influence on
establishing minimum requirements for the devices, operating
systems, software applications and services they maintain in
order to receive services, outsourced service providers may be
more fortunate.
Whenever possible, the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager should strive to establish and
maintain minimum standards for service qualification. This
helps standardize on hardware, operating systems, software
applications and services, allowing the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager to require their NOC and
Service Desk staff to maintain proficiencies, skill sets and
certifications on a controlled number of supported items,
rather than a growing, ever-changing variety of systems and
services. The benefits of this philosophy should be obvious,
and include:
More efficient and effective maintenance and incident

resolution
Faster on-boarding of new end users or clients
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Speedier training and knowledge transfer by and

between new and existing NOC and Service Desk staff
Easier end user or client infrastructure setup and
configuration of Remote Monitoring and Management
tools and Professional Services Automation solutions
Standardized performance metrics and reporting
As a result of these and other benefits, end user or client

satisfaction is increased, and the outsourced service providers
or internal service managers and their NOC and Service Desk
staffs jobs are made much easier.
Some minimum standards required for an outsourced service
provider or internal service managers NOC and Service Desk
to provide services for hardware, operating systems, software
applications and services at end user or client locations may
include:
Specific vendor-supported server, desktop and laptop

hardware and BIOS versions
Specific vendor-supported routers, access points,
switches and firewalls
Specific vendor-supported voice hardware and BIOS
versions
Specific vendor-supported cellular, Smartphone and
PDA hardware and operating system versions
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Hardware warranties for specific hardware

Specific vendor-supported operating systems and
patch levels
Specific vendor-supported line of business software
applications, versions and patch levels
Specific vendor-supported antivirus, anti-spam and
anti-spyware solutions, versions and patch levels
Specific vendor-supported backup solutions, versions
and patch levels
Remote data storage
Specific network security protocols and access controls
Specific broadband requirements
Other specific 3rd-party vendor relationships
In addition to qualifying the terms under which support will be

provided by the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager to the end user or client, it is equally
important to establish the services that will be considered out
of scope and specifically excluded from NOC and Service Desk
deliverables and SLAs. Some examples of out of scope services
may include:
Servicing parts, equipment or software not covered by

vendor/manufacturer warranty or support
The cost of any parts, equipment, or shipping charges
119

The cost of any software, licensing, or software

renewal or upgrade fees
The cost of any 3rd-party vendor or manufacturer
support or incident fees required to deliver service
The cost to bring the end users or clients
environment up to minimum standards required for
services
Failure due to acts of God, building modifications,
power failures or other adverse environmental
conditions or factors outside of the control of the
outsourced service provider or internal service
manager
Service and repair made necessary by the alteration or
modification of equipment, operating systems,
software applications or services other than that
authorized by the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers NOC or Service Desk staff;
including alterations, software installations or
modifications of any kind made by end users, the client
or their vendors, or anyone other than the outsourced
service providers or internal service managers NOC or
Service Desk staff
Maintenance of software applications unless
specifically included in service agreement and SLA
Programming (modification of software code) and
program (software) unless specifically included in
service agreement and SLA
Training services of any kind
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It is important that any and all qualifiers for service such as

these be clearly understood by the end user or client prior to
engagement and on-boarding by the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager. This will reduce
misunderstandings and instead improve client satisfaction
during service delivery.
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Service Agreements and SLAs

Service Agreement Considerations
managers Service Level Agreement (SLA) is the agreement
that binds their level of service between their NOC and Service
Desk deliverables and their end users or clients, and records
the common understanding regarding:
Services
Priorities
Responsibilities
Guarantees
Availability
Serviceability
Performance
Operation
Response
Resolution
Agreements are commonly written to include SLAs in

specific sections, along with service definitions, and may
include:
Definition of services
Term of agreement
Fees and payment schedule
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Taxes
Coverage hours
Exclusions
Performance measurement
Incident management process and response time
Limitation of liability
Service requirements
Covered equipment and/or services
The following is an example of an outsourced service

providers Managed Services Agreement and SLA.
Managed Services Agreement and SLA Example
This sample Managed Services Agreement and SLA is included
for instructional and informational purposes only, and is not
recommended, nor warranted for use.
Always have legal counsel review any and all agreements or
documents that you utilize in your IT practice or business unit,
or distribute to your end users or clients prior to doing so.
Local laws and liabilities can never be fully covered by any type
of generic document, including this sample Managed Services
Agreement and SLA.
123

Managed Services Agreement and SLA
1.
Term of Agreement
This Agreement between
_______________________________, herein referred to
as Client, and _______________________________,
hereinafter referred to as Service Provider, is effective
upon the date signed, shall remain in force for a period of
three years, and be reviewed annually to address any
necessary adjustments or modifications. Should
adjustments or modifications be required that increase
the monthly fees paid for the services rendered under
this Agreement, these increases will not exceed ______%
of the value of the existing monthly fees due under this
Agreement. The Service Agreement automatically
renews for a subsequent three year term beginning on
the day immediately following the end of the Initial Term,
unless either party gives the other ninety (90) days prior
written notice of its intent not to renew this Agreement.
a) This Agreement may be terminated by the Client
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upon ninety (90) days written notice if the Service

Provider:
I.
Fails to fulfill in any material respect its

obligations under this Agreement and
does not cure such failure within thirty
(30) days of receipt of such written
notice.
II.
Breaches any material term or condition

of this Agreement and fails to remedy
such breach within thirty (30) days of
receipt of such written notice.
III.
Terminates or suspends its business

operations, unless it is succeeded by a
permitted assignee under this
Agreement.
b) This Agreement may be terminated by the

Service Provider upon ninety (90) days written
notice to the Client.
c) If either party terminates this Agreement, Service
Provider will assist Client in the orderly
termination of services, including timely transfer
125

of the services to another designated provider.

Client agrees to pay Service Provider the actual
costs of rendering such assistance.
2.
Fees and Payment Schedule

Fees will be $_______________ per month, invoiced to
Client on a monthly basis, and will become due and
payable on the first day of each month. Services will be
suspended if payment is not received within 5 days
following date due. Refer to Appendix B for services
covered by the monthly fee under the terms of this
Agreement.
It is understood that any and all services requested by
Client that fall outside of the terms of this Agreement
will be considered Projects, and will be quoted and
billed as separate, individual Services.
3.
Taxes
It is understood that any Federal, State or Local Taxes
applicable shall be added to each invoice for services
or materials rendered under this Agreement. Client
shall pay any such taxes unless a valid exemption
126

certificate is furnished to Service Provider for the state

of use.
4.
Coverage
Remote Helpdesk and Vendor Management of Clients
IT networks will be provided to the Client by Service
Provider through remote means between the hours of
8:00 am 5:00 pm Monday through Friday, excluding
public holidays. Network Monitoring Services will be
provided 24/7/365. All services qualifying under these
conditions, as well as Services that fall outside this
scope will fall under the provisions of Appendix B.
Hardware costs of any kind are not covered under the
terms of this Agreement.
Support and Escalation
Service Provider will respond to Clients Trouble Tickets
under the provisions of Appendix A, and with best effort
after hours or on holidays. Trouble Tickets must be
opened by Clients designated I.T. Contact Person, by
email to our Help Desk, or by phone if email is
unavailable. Each call will be assigned a Trouble Ticket
number for tracking. Our escalation process is detailed
in Appendix A.
Service outside Normal Working Hours
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Emergency services performed outside of the hours of

public holidays, shall be subject to provisions of
Appendix B.
Service Calls Where No Trouble is found

If Client requests onsite service and no problem is
found or reproduced, Client shall be billed at the
current applicable rates as indicated in Appendix B.
Limitation of Liability
In no event shall Service Provider be held liable for
indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages
arising out of service provided hereunder, including
but not limited to loss of profits or revenue, loss of use
of equipment, lost data, costs of substitute equipment,
or other costs.
5.
Additional Maintenance Services
Hardware/System Support
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Service Provider shall provide support of all hardware

and systems specified in Appendix B, provided that all
Hardware is covered under a currently active vendor
support contract; or replaceable parts be readily
available, and all Software be Genuine, Currently
Licensed and Vendor-Supported. Should any hardware or
systems fail to meet these provisions, they will be
excluded from this Service Agreement. Should 3rd Party
vendor support charges be required in order to resolve
any issues, these will be passed on to the Client after first
receiving the Clients authorization to incur them.
Virus Recovery for current, licensed Antivirus protected
systems
Damages caused by, and recovery from, virus infection
not detected and quarantined by the latest Antivirus
definitions are covered under the terms of this
Agreement. This Service is limited to those systems
protected with a currently licensed, vendor-supported
Antivirus solution.
Monitoring Services
Service Provider will provide ongoing monitoring and
security services of all critical devices as indicated in
Appendix B. Service Provider will provide monthly
129

reports as well as document critical alerts, scans and

event resolutions to Client. Should a problem be
discovered during monitoring, Service Provider shall
make every attempt to rectify the condition in a timely
manner through remote means.
6.
Suitability of Existing Environment

Minimum Standards Required for Services
In order for Clients existing environment to qualify for
Service Providers Managed Services, the following
requirements must be met:
1. All Servers with Microsoft Windows Operating
Systems must be running Windows 2008 Server
or later, and have all of the latest Microsoft
Service Packs and Critical Updates installed.
2. All Desktop PCs and notebooks/laptops with
Microsoft Windows operating systems must be
running Windows 7 or later, and have all of the
latest Microsoft service packs and critical
updates installed.
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3. All Server and Desktop Software must be

genuine, licensed and vendor-supported.
4. The environment must have a currently
licensed, up-to-date and vendor-supported
server-based antivirus solution protecting all
servers, desktops, notebooks/laptops, and
email.
5. The environment must have a currently licensed,
vendor-supported server-based backup solution.
licensed, vendor-supported hardware firewall
between the internal network and the Internet.
7. Any Wireless data traffic in the environment
must be secured with a minimum of 128bit
data encryption.
Costs required to bring Clients environment up to

these Minimum Standards are not included in this
Agreement.
7.
Excluded Services
Service rendered under this Agreement does not

include:
131

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Parts, equipment or software not covered by

vendor/manufacturer warranty or support.
The cost of any parts, equipment, or shipping
charges of any kind.
The cost of any software, licensing, or software
renewal or upgrade fees of any kind.
The cost of any 3rd party vendor or
manufacturer support or incident fees of any
kind.
The cost to bring Clients environment up to
minimum standards required for Services.
Failure due to acts of God, building
modifications, power failures or other adverse
environmental conditions or factors.
Service and repair made necessary by the
alteration or modification of equipment other
than that authorized by Service Provider,
modifications of equipment made by Clients
employees or anyone other than Service
Provider.
Maintenance
of
Applications
software
packages, whether acquired from Service
Provider or any other source unless as specified
in Appendix B.
132

9)
10)
8.
Programming (modification of software code)

and program (software) maintenance unless as
specified in Appendix B.
Training Services of any kind.
Miscellaneous
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the
State of __________. It constitutes the entire
Agreement between Client and Service Provider for
monitoring/maintenance/service of all equipment
listed in Appendix B. Its terms and conditions shall
prevail should there be any variance with the terms
and conditions of any order submitted by Client.
Service Provider is not responsible for failure to render
services due to circumstances beyond its control
including, but not limited to, acts of God.
9.
Acceptance of Service Agreement

This Service Agreement covers only those services and
equipment listed in Appendix B. Service Provider
must deem any equipment/services Client may want to
add to this Agreement after the effective date
acceptable. The addition of equipment/services not
listed in Appendix B at the signing of this Agreement,
133

if acceptable to Service Provider, shall result in an

adjustment to the Clients monthly charges.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this
Service Agreement to be signed by their duly authorized
representatives as of the date set forth below.
Authorized Signature
Service Provider
Date
Client
Date
134

Managed Services Agreement

Appendix A
Response and Resolution Times
The following table shows the targets of response and

resolution times for each priority level:
135

Support Tiers
The following details and describes our Support Tier levels:
136


Appendix A (cont)
Service Request Escalation Procedure
1. Support Request is Received
2. Trouble Ticket is Created
3. Issue is Identified and documented in Help Desk
system
4. Issue is qualified to determine if it can be resolved
through Tier 1 Support
If issue can be resolved through Tier 1 Support:
5. Level 1 Resolution - issue is worked to successful
resolution
6. Quality Control Issue is verified to be resolved to
Clients satisfaction
7. Trouble Ticket is closed, after complete problem
resolution details have been updated in Help Desk
system
If issue cannot be resolved through Tier 1 Support:
137

6. Issue is escalated to Tier 2 Support

7. Issue is qualified to determine if it can be resolved by
Tier 2 Support
resolution
system
resolution
138


system
12. Issue is escalated to Onsite Support
through Onsite Support
If issue can be resolved through Onsite Support:
14. Onsite Resolution - issue is worked to successful
resolution
system
If issue cannot be resolved through Onsite Support:
139

17. I.T. Manager Decision Point request is updated with

complete details of all activity performed
140

141

142

Appendix B Cont.
143

144

Section 4: Processes
In order for the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers NOC and Service Desks to deliver uniform,
measurable services in adherence to established SLAs; and
provide end users or clients with a consistent, satisfactory
support experience, they need to develop, implement and
hold their staff accountable to effective service delivery
processes and procedures.
In this context, these NOC and Service Desk service delivery
processes are defined as those processes and workflows
which are necessary in order to allow the NOC and Service
Desk the ability to effectively deliver scheduled and
unscheduled services to end users or clients efficiently, and
include:
Responding to alert conditions and service requests

Following best practices for incident management and
resolution
Delivering services within established SLAs
These service delivery processes govern the following

scheduled and unscheduled events:
145

Remote support
Onsite support
In addition, these service delivery processes include a

documented procedure for addressing any and all activity
performed by the NOC and Service Desk during service
delivery, and embodies a workflow which easily directs the
NOC or Service Desk resource throughout the service delivery
process.
Specific processes that the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager will develop and implement for
effective NOC and Service Desk service delivery may include:
End User or Client On-Boarding, Provisioning and

Service Turn-Up/Go-Live
Incident Management
Problem Management
Configuration Management
Change Management
Release Management
Risk Management
Service Financial Management
Capacity Management
146

Service Continuity Management

Security Management
Reporting Management
Customer Satisfaction Management
We will cover end user or client on-boarding, provisioning and

turn-up/go-live in Section 5 Clients, and discuss the rest of
these processes in the following chapters.
147

Incident and Problem Management

The Difference Between Incident Management and Problem
Management
Although both incidents and problems are related, and will
each trigger an automated alert or an end user or clientgenerated service request, they are different, and are
responded to and handled differently by the outsourced
service providers or internal service managers NOC and
Service Desk.
In this context, an incident can be anything that degrades or
interrupts the end users or clients information technologysupported business processes, activities and workflows.
The purpose of Incident Management is to restore business
continuity as quickly as possible.
A problem, in contrast, is simply a recurring incident.
The purpose of Problem Management is to determine the root
cause of recurring incidents.
With this understanding, it makes sense that the manner in
which the NOC or Service Desk responds to, and the processes
they employ to resolve these issues may differ.
148

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), a

comprehensive set of concepts and best practices for IT
Service Management, separates the incident management
process into six unique components:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Incident detection and recording

Classification and initial support
Analysis and diagnosis
Resolution and recovery
Incident closure
Incident ownership, monitoring, tracking and
communication
After a service request has been created, documented,

prioritized and assigned to a queue or resource in the
Professional Services Automation solution; either as the result
of an alert triggered by the Remote Monitoring and
Management tool or directly generated by an end user or
client, an outsourced service providers or internal service
managers Incident Management Process will be followed to
address the service request.
Adhering to the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers Change Management, Configuration
Management and Communication Management processes,
the NOC or Service Desk resource assigned to the service
149

request will employ the outsourced service providers or

internal service managers Incident Management Process,
which may resemble the following:
1. Support request is received
2. Service request is created
3. Issue is Identified, documented, prioritized and
assigned in Professional Services Automation solution
resolution
6. Quality Control - Issue is verified to be resolved to end
users or clients satisfaction
7. Service request is closed, after complete resolution
details have been updated in Professional Services
Automation solution
150


Tier 2 Support
resolution
Automation solution
resolution
151


Automation solution
11. Issue is escalated to onsite support
through onsite support
14. Onsite resolution - issue is worked to successful
resolution
Automation solution
152


1
2
3
4
Receipt - Service request is received

Creation - Trouble ticket is created
Identification - Issue is identified,
documented, prioritized and assigned
Qualification - Issue is qualified to
determine if it can be resolved in Tier 1
If issue can be resolved in Tier 1:
153

IMR- Issue is worked to successful

resolution
QC Issue is verified to be resolved to

client satisfaction
Close Issue is closed after complete

IMR activities are documented in PSA
If issue cannot be resolved in Tier 1:
6
7
Escalation - Issue is escalated to Tier 2

154


resolution

client satisfaction
10

10
Escalation - Issue is escalated to Tier 3

155

11

resolution
12

client satisfaction
13

156

12
13
Escalation - Issue is escalated to onsite

support
determine if it can be resolved through
onsite support
14

resolution
15

client satisfaction
16

17
IT Manager decision point
Figure 23 Incident Management Process

157

As discussed, should an incident recur, it becomes classified as

a problem, and the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers Problem Management process must be
initiated.
The function of problem management is to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Investigate the root cause of recurring incidents

Classify the problem as a known error
Determine possible solutions
Analyze the impact of the solution
Implement the remediation solution
Review post-remediation impact
A problem is classified as a known error when its underlying

cause has been identified. This is the result of the analysis
conducted and is the outcome necessary in order to
determine possible solutions for remediation.
service managers Change Management, Configuration
Management and Communication Management processes,
the NOC or Service Desk resource assigned to the service
request for the problem will employ the outsourced service
providers or internal service managers Problem Management
Process, which may resemble the following:
158

1. Support request is received

2. Service request is created, or closed service request for
initial incident is re-opened
3. Issue is identified and documented in Professional
Services Automation solution as a Problem
4. Issue is analyzed to determine root cause of problem
5. Issue is classified as a known error
6. The impact of possible solutions are evaluated and the
best solution is determined
7. A request for change is initiated per outsourced service
providers or internal service managers Change
Management process
8. Change is implemented
9. Quality Control - Issue is monitored and verified to be
resolved to end users or clients satisfaction
Automation solution
159

160

Receipt - Service request is received

Creation - Trouble ticket is created
Identification - Issue is identified and

documented
Qualification - Issue is qualified to determine if it

can be resolved in Tier 1
6
7
8
Issue is classified as known error

Impact evaluated and solution determined
Request for Change
Change implemented
QC - Issue is verified to be resolved to client

satisfaction
10
Close Issue is closed after complete PMR

activities are documented in PSA
Figure 24 Problem Management Process
161

Configuration, Change and Release Management

The Differences Between Configuration, Change and Release
Management
Configuration, Change and Release Management are three
individual processes that are also closely related and used in
concert with each other in many instances during NOC and
Service Desk service delivery.
Plainly stated, Configuration Management embodies those
processes that govern the collection, documentation,
maintenance and updating of configuration data in end user
or client IT infrastructures, and the management of that
information in a Configuration Management Database. Many
Professional Services Automation solutions support this
management capability.
The purpose of Configuration Management is to insure that all
configuration data governing hardware, operating system,
application software and services components of an IT
Infrastructure are documented, maintained and updated as
changes are made over time.
Configuration Management of a typical end users or clients IT
infrastructure may include managing the documented
configurations of:
162

Hardware, including servers, desktops, laptops,

routers, switches, firewalls, Smartphones, PDAs and
other devices
Operating systems
Application software
Services including broadband, voice, VoIP, etc.
Live and printed documentation
Change Management represents those standardized

processes that govern all changes made by the NOC or Service
Desk to end user or client hardware, operating systems,
software applications and services during service delivery.
These activities are also documented in the outsourced
service providers or internal service managers Professional
Services Automation solution, which may help automate the
creation and approval of change requests during proactive
maintenance and reactive incident and problem management
activity.
The purpose of Change Management is to insure that change
is planned properly and standardized processes and
procedures are utilized to initiate change in an efficient
manner that reduces the impact of change to the end user or
client.
163

Akin to Configuration Management, Change Management of a

typical end users or clients IT infrastructure may include
managing changes made to:

routers, switches, firewalls, smartphones, PDAs and
other devices
Operating systems and patches, updates, service
packs, hotfixes, etc.
Application software and patches, updates, service
Services including broadband, voice, VoIP,
connectivity, etc.
Network and other documentation
Disaster recovery and business continuity plans
Release Management relies heavily on Configuration and

Change Management, and is responsible for the
implementation and quality control of all hardware, operating
system, software application and services; and version
updates, upgrades and new releases before they are
introduced into the end users or clients production
environment.
The purpose of Release Management is to insure that the
introduction of new major or minor hardware or software
164

releases into a production environment is planned properly

and evaluated in a test environment prior to its rollout to
minimize the impact of the introduction to the end user or
client.
Release Management in a typical end users or clients IT
infrastructure may include application to:

routers, switches, firewalls, smartphones, PDAs and
other devices
Operating systems and patches, updates, service
Application software and patches, updates, service
Services including broadband, voice, VoIP,
connectivity, etc.
165

Risk Management
Risk Management
Risk Versus Reward
In this context, Risk Management processes utilized by the
NOC and Service Desk embody the identification and
assessment of potential risks during service delivery, and the
strategies utilized to minimize, monitor for and control the
probability or impact of negative outcomes to the end user or
client.
Strategies for managing risk may include:
Identifying the potential for risk

Characterizing potential risks
Assessing potential risks to specific activities
Determining the result of risk
Discovering or identifying ways to reduce risk
Creating a strategy to reduce risk based on prioritized
risk reduction procedures
Risk Management is a necessary process during normal day to

day NOC and Service Desk service delivery, and must be
conducted throughout proactive maintenance, as well as
reactive Incident, Problem and Change and Release
Management activities. The mitigation of risk is a key
component in minimizing impact to the end user or client
during these activities.
166

Risk Management
Lets explore an example situation and apply Risk

Management to a common end user or client scenario. Lets
say that a service request has been generated by an end user
reporting that they cannot access the Internet. The
Service Desk resource reviews the information in the service
request and works directly with the end user through the
Remote Monitoring and Management tools Remote Access
and Control capabilities to share and control their desktop to
conduct the following activities:
1. Verify network card configuration
2. Verify ability to release/renew IP address within
correct DHCP scope and correct DNS entries
This all looks good, so the next activity conducted may be:
3. Ping the internal gateway response is good
4. Ping an external IP address response is good
This verifies the ability to reach internal and external devices
by IP address, so the next activity might be:
5. Ping external URL response times out
6. Ping internal device by host name response is good
Now were getting somewhere. But up to this point evaluation
of risk has not identified the necessity to modify the
167

Risk Management
troubleshooting process, as it has simply been benign activity

conducted during Incident Management to identify the cause
of the incident, and no change has been implemented other
than releasing and renewing the devices IP address an
activity that occurs normally. Next steps may include:
7. Verify ability to ping external IP addresses and inability
to ping any external URLs
The suspicion now becomes an issue with DNS. The next
activity to isolate DNS as the area to focus on may include:
8. Configure the devices network adapter with an
internal static IP and external DNS address
9. Ping an external IP address response is good
10. Ping an external URL response is good
So there appears to be a potential issue with the DNS server
addresses being leased to this particular device. But why just
this device? There have been no other reports of this
particular issue from any of the other users in the
environment. More information reveals that this is the only
user in the office using a laptop today with a wireless
connection. So next steps may include:
11. Remotely access the device managing DHCP services
for wired and wireless devices on the users network
168

Risk Management
12. Review the DHCP configuration for the wireless

network and compare the DNS server settings against
those being leased to the wired network
It is discovered that the DNS server settings between the
wired and wireless networks do not match.
Since this is the first report of this issue, establishing this
service request as an incident, the Service Desks responsibility
is to restore business continuity for this user as quickly as
possible. The first proposed change to reach this goal would
be to change the DNS server setting for the wireless network
to match those used for the wired network on the device
handing out leases, wouldnt it?
and here is where Configuration Management, Change
Management and Risk Management meet during the Incident
Management process:
The Service Desk employs Incident Management

during the process of restoring business continuity for
the end user
The Service Desk employs Configuration Management
to determine the configuration of all devices involved
in the Incident Management process
The Service Desk will modify device configurations
during the Incident Management process
169

Risk Management
The Service Desk must evaluate risk prior to requesting

or implementing change through the Risk
Management process
So what is the risk that needs to be evaluated in this scenario?

Well, in order to modify the DNS server settings on the device
managing DHCP services for the wired and wireless networks
in the users environment the gateway router a reboot of
the device will be required
Remember our basic Risk Management strategy? Here it is
applied to this specific example:
Identify the potential for risk oh yes, there is

absolutely a definite potential for risk
Characterize potential risks - major
Assess potential risks to specific activities the risk is
related to rebooting the gateway router
Determine the result of risk the result will be to
disconnect all users from their existing LAN and WAN
sessions
Discover or identify ways to reduce risk allow the
affected user to work with static IP and DNS address
settings until a reboot of the gateway router is
possible, determine if the user can use a wired
connection until the gateway router can be rebooted,
170

Risk Management
determine if the user needs WAN or Internet access

until the gateway router can be rebooted
Create a strategy to reduce risk based on prioritized
risk reduction procedures the best solution may be
to have the user patch their laptop into the nearest
network drop until the gateway router can be
rebooted after production hours, as this will not
require another support session to reset the wireless
network cards static configuration to dynamic after
the user is done for the day, a second option would be
to use static addressing and initiate the additional
support session as described, and the third option
might be to have the user work locally until a router
reboot is possible
Assuming the first option is implemented, the user is

instructed by the Service Desk where to find a network cable
and how to patch in to the wired network. The Service Desk
manages configuration and change for the gateway router per
the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers policies and procedures, documents all Incident
Management activity in the Professional Services Automation
solution and schedules the gateway router reboot after hours.
During the QA process the next day, the affected user is
contacted to verify if their issue has been resolved and receive
authorization to close the service request.
171


Delivering Services to Support SLAs
In this context, Service Level Management is comprised of
those processes, procedures and activities that manage and
govern the delivery of NOC and Service Desk services to meet
agreed-upon SLAs, or Service Level Agreements; and are
focused on the client as opposed to Service Desk services
whose focus is the individual end user.
In order to conduct effective Service Level Management, the
conduct an effective business needs analysis in order to
properly align deliverables with client needs, then
continuously monitor and modify those deliverables to insure
they meet the established SLA with the client.
The Service Level Management process insures that NOC and
Service Desk services are delivered according to SLA
A properly configured Professional Services Automation
solution alone is not enough to support effective Service Level
Management the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers NOC and Service Desk resources must
properly deliver services and document all of their activity
within it according to the providers or managers established
service delivery procedures. Only then can meaningful
reporting be generated to evaluate performance against SLA.
172


Helping End Users and Clients Afford Technology Services
In this context, Service Level Management is comprised of
those processes, procedures and activities that the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager employs to
identify, reduce and manage the costs associated with their
deliverables in order to make them cost-effective for their
clients.
The Service Level Management process is employed to
evaluate and control IT service delivery costs to insure
affordability for clients
Ways to achieve this goal may include:
Reducing business costs

Increasing internal efficiencies
In order to reduce business costs, the outsourced service

provider or internal service manager may evaluate the
following expenses:
Capital equipment
Vehicle expenses
Tools
IT
General office and operation expenses
173

Labor
Marketing
Insurance
Professional fees
Sales
In order to increase efficiencies, the outsourced service

provider or internal service manager may invest in tools and
technologies such as Remote Monitoring and Management,
Professional Services Automation and Voice Communications
solutions. When integrated and configured properly, this suite
of solutions can automate the delivery of many otherwise
time and labor-intensive manual processes, create and
facilitate an environment of process and workflow
standardization and improved communications and deliver
meaningful reporting to help evaluate and improve
performance and increase service delivery efficiencies.
Over time, a constant review of these cost-reducing and
efficiency-improving activities will continue to help the
manage or drive down costs, allowing these Service Financial
Management processes to benefit clients through the ability
to receive competitively priced services.
174

Capacity Management
Capacity Management
Right-Sizing Infrastructure and Services for Growth
In this context, Capacity Management is comprised of those
processes, procedures and activities that the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager employs to insure
that their service capacity is scalable to support their own
growing client base as well as their end users or clients
growth.
The Capacity Management process insures that NOC and
Service Desk services are scalable to meet internal and
external performance needs cost-effectively.
In order to properly optimally align service deliverable
capabilities to end user or client business needs economically,
must:
Insure the capacity to meet existing end user or client

SLAs
Monitor the performance of deliverables and the
infrastructure supporting the NOC and Service Desk
Monitor the performance of the end users or clients
infrastructure
Accurately forecast, plan for and implement activities
to support increasing capacity needs
175

Capacity Management

may evaluate and monitor the following internal and end user
or client-impacting criteria:
Application performance
Workload performance
Demand performance
Resource performance
Hardware performance
In many cases, the outsourced service provider or internal

service manager will leverage the capabilities of the Remote
Monitoring and Management tool to provide meaningful
performance reports to assist in Capacity Management
processes and activities.
176


Recovery from Service Interruption
In this context, Service Continuity Management is comprised
of those processes, procedures and activities that the
employs to provide recovery from interruption of IT services
and restore business process continuity for the end user or
client. Should an interruption in fact occur, Service Continuity
processes will be followed by the outsourced service
to restore normal IT and IT-supported business functions.
Service Continuity Management is akin to Disaster Recovery
and a precursor to Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity
Planning.
The Service Continuity Management process insures that IT
and IT-related business operations can recover in the event of
interruption or disaster.
In order to insure the high availability of IT and IT-related
business processes, and depending upon their SLA, the
outsourced service provider or the internal service manager
may develop and implement strategies to insure their end
users or clients service continuity in the event of interruption
or disaster. This Service Continuity process must incorporate
all of the recovery steps necessary to support the restoration
177

of critical IT services and their supported business functions

for the end user or client.
178

When Do You Want It?
In this context, Availability Management is comprised of those
availability of the end users or clients IT and IT-supported
business functions and services. Availability Management
requires continual monitoring, optimizing and management of
critical devices, operating systems, application software and
services, making a properly configured and operating Remote
Monitoring and Management tool a must to deliver services
and insure availability cost-effectively.
The Availability Management process insures the reliability,
availability, serviceability, resilience and security of the end
users or clients IT and IT-supported services and business
functions.
Effective Availability Management is a requirement for the
NOC and Service Desk to maintain end user or client SLAs.
179

Security Management
Security Management
Is Information Safe?
In this context, Security Management is comprised of those
the confidentiality, integrity and availability of their own
internal, as well as their end users or clients information, or
data. This obviously requires securing much more than simply
the information itself, but also the physical hosts of the
information, the means of accessing the information, the
transport of the information and the personnel authorized to
access the information.
The Security Management process insures the confidentiality,
integrity and availability of information.
A Security Plan establishes the level of security required to
support the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers internal, as well as end user or client-facing SLAs.
Effective Security Management requires the establishment of
a Security Policy which defines:
The relationship with the outsourced service providers

or their end users or clients general business policy
Coordination with other internal and external IT
processes
180

Security Management
Rules governing access to information

Risk assessment procedures
The security monitoring policy
The status reporting process
The scope of the Security Plan
The structure, processes and procedures of the
Security Management process
The resources responsible for administering the
Security Management process
The internal and external security auditors
Other supporting resources including hardware,
software and staff including the outsourced service
providers or internal service managers staff as well as
end users or clients staff
The integrity and security of information is a top priority for

many business owners and organizations. Executing an
effective Security Management process by the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager will deliver value
to end users or clients above and beyond NOC and Service
Desk deliverables. On the other hand, failing to deliver an
effective Security Management process may harm the end
user or client so severely that it could jeopardize the
continuity or survivability of their business.
181

Can You Hear Me Now?
In this context, Communication Management is comprised of
those processes, procedures and activities that the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager employs to foster
effective, efficient internal and end user or client-facing
communications.
Effective Communication Management is critical in
maintaining internal efficiencies and evaluating and improving
client satisfaction especially for the Service Desk.
In addition, since communication in all of its varied forms is
such a vital component in the creation and maintenance of a
pleasant work environment and culture; which is reflected in
managers staffs interaction with end users or clients, it is
beneficial to help them build awareness, strengthen
interpersonal skills and reinforce best practices for
communications through an established Communication
Management process.
Communication Management governs the content, delivery,
timing and means of delivery of all internal and external
channels of communication within and without an
organization.
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Communications governed by an outsourced service

providers or internal service managers Communications
Management process may encompass:
Verbal communications
o Face to face
o Telephonic
o Voicemail
Nonverbal communications
o Facial expressions
o Body language/bearing
o Style of dress
Written communications
o Email
o Instant Message
o Text Message
o Letters
o Faxes
o Reports
o Minutes
o Agendas
o Memos
o White boards
o Pin up/cork boards
o Written Phone messages
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o Pictures/photos/images
o Website
o Newsletter
Interpersonal communications may be conducted by the
NOC and Service Desk staff with another staff member, a
group, or an end user, client or groups of these, and this
interpersonal communication can be delivered through
written, verbal and nonverbal means. Thus, the staff member
must be mindful of the following:
Who they are communicating with

o Role
o Status
o Culture
What must be, or is being communicated
o Confidential/proprietary information
o Bad news
o Good news
o Gossip
o Instructions
o Other
The delivery mechanism for the communication
o Verbal
o Written
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The manner in which the communication will be

delivered
o Face to face
o Telephonically
o Voicemail
o Email, IM, text, letter, fax, report
Based upon any combination of these comprising an everyday

communications scenario, you can quickly appreciate the
value of establishing rules for the transfer or dissemination of
information down to a granular level that may include the
formatting and verbiage used in written correspondence and
even what is appropriate to write on a white board, pin up on
a cork board or send as a photo or email attachment
electronically.
This type of cultural awareness embodied in the outsourced
service providers or internal service managers
communication protocols will establish the ground rules for
their staffs communications behavior and suit them well
during their service delivery activities with end users or
clients.
In order to insure adherence to these protocols, the
monitor their staffs adherence to the communications
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standards they have established through the Communication

Management process, and hold them accountable to them.
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Section 5: Clients
Section 5: Clients
In order for the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers NOC and Service Desks to deliver uniform,
measurable services in adherence to established SLAs; and
provide end users or clients with a consistent, satisfactory
support experience, they need to develop, implement and
hold their staff accountable to effective qualification, onboarding and ongoing service delivery and customer
satisfaction processes and procedures.
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Client Qualifications For Service
Client Qualifications for Service

Setting Minimum Client Qualifications for Service
Not all clients will qualify for the outsourced service providers
or internal service managers NOC and Service Desk services
nor should they.
In order for the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager to deliver services effectively, efficiently and
profitably, not only do minimum standards need to be
established for the IT infrastructure to be managed, but for
potential clients as well.
Holding true to these client standards can mean the difference
between building strong, growing, mutually beneficial
business relationships with clients or being contractually
obligated to deliver services to difficult, noisy, slow-paying
customers that do not value the time, dedication and effort
required to support their infrastructure and users.
Choosing to support the wrong client will cost the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager more time and
money than it is worth and burden them and their NOC and
Service Desk staff with unnecessary bottlenecks and
frustration.
Best in class providers may consider the following when
determining a potential clients suitability for services:
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Prior history and experience with other providers and

vendors
Financial suitability, standing and creditworthiness
Years in business
Staff attrition
Clients perception and value of the service
relationship
Existence of, or willingness to create an IT budget
Availability of; and direct access to, decision makers
Willingness to provide necessary discovery information
and access to key staff prior to formalizing a service
agreement
Willingness to invest to bring existing IT infrastructure
up to minimum standards required for service
The clients history with other vendors; and specifically IT

providers, will be a good initial indicator of their perception of
the value of support services. If they feel that the price to be
paid to maintain their infrastructure and support their users is
an annoyance and necessary evil to maintain their business,
and they have an unusually active history of hiring and firing IT
service providers, as well as a high staff turnover rate these
are obvious red flags to consider.
On the other hand, if the client perceives the cost of
supporting their environment and users as an investment that
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provides them a competitive advantage in their industry or

target market, and have an existing IT budget; or are willing to
create one, these are good signs.
Unfortunately, in many cases the internal service manager will
not have much influence in qualifying their own clients or end
users prior to delivering service, as their role may be to
support their own organizations internal infrastructure and
users. If this is the case; when faced with difficult end users or
internal decision makers, the service manager must find ways
to reverse any negative end user or client perceptions
regarding their IT support services.
This can also serve the outsourced service provider when
dealing with difficult existing client or end user situations, but
the best way to address this potential reality is to qualify
prospects carefully to avoid engaging with difficult clients in
the first place when possible.
Methods of reversing negative end user or client perceptions
may include:
Reviewing and revising end user or client-facing service

delivery processes and procedures to improve
interpersonal effectiveness
Communicating more, and more effectively with end
users and clients
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Increasing anonymous customer satisfaction surveys

and polling to identify areas for improvement and
improving them
Sharing good news with clients and end users, such as
adherence to SLAs, positive testimonials or comments
and improved customer service metrics
Increasing face-to-face strategic meetings with the
decision maker and discussing historical performance,
positive improvements and future goals and plans to
achieve them
Understanding the decision makers monthly,
quarterly, and year-over-year goals and reflecting
service alignment, support and value in helping to
realize those goals
In todays society; where electronic communications fostered

by email, Facebooking, blogging, tweeting and texting makes it
easy to reduce verbal communications between individuals,
the astute outsourced service provider or internal service
manager will redouble their staffs efforts at increasing their
verbal communications with end users and clients.
Relationships are built and improved upon through verbal
interpersonal interaction, not electronic communications, and
since by their very nature, NOC and Service Desk services are
delivered remotely; and end users, clients and the outsourced
191

service providers or internal service managers staff may

never have the opportunity to physically meet each other, it is
vitally important to seek out ways to provide as much of a
human touch as possible, whenever possible.
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Infrastructure Qualifications For Service
Infrastructure Qualifications for Service

Setting Minimum Infrastructure Qualifications for Service
In order to maximize service delivery efficiencies,
effectiveness, customer satisfaction and profitability,
standardizing on and enforcing baseline environmental
qualifications for the type and state of hardware, operating
systems, applications software and services supported will
serve the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager well. Although it may be more challenging for the
internal service manager to enforce some of these
requirements initially, over time it may be possible for them to
establish and achieve a baseline standard within their internal
organization.
Standardizing on minimum environmental qualifications in
order to qualify for service allows the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager to maintain their staffs
training requirements, certification levels and support
specializations on a specific number of products and services.
Instead of trying to support everything under the sun; which is
impossible to do, and a great way to miss SLAs and erode
client confidence and satisfaction as a result, the enforcement
of minimum standards for service; along with the
establishment of supported products and services, improves
service delivery effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
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Hardware and Hardware Devices

In order to achieve standardization across hardware devices,
may consider the following and establish specific baseline
requirements based upon the role of the hardware or device
in the infrastructure:
Type of hardware (server, router, firewall, switch, pc,

laptop, Smartphone, etc.)
Brand of hardware
Physical security
Access rights and security
Hardware redundancy
Warranty
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Type
CPU
RAM
HDD
BIOS
Physical
Connectivity
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Physical
Security
Access Rights
Configuration
Location
Interoperability
Redundancy
Figure25 Minimum Hardware Requirements for Service
Operating Systems and Applications Software

In order to achieve standardization across operating system
and application software, the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager may consider the following and
establish specific baseline requirements based upon the role
of the operating system or application software in the
infrastructure:
195


level (server, desktop, Smartphone, etc.)
A specific Software application type, version and patch
level (operating system, line of business, office
productivity, etc.)
Security methods
and applications
Data backup, restore and business continuity processes
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OS Type
Application
Type
Configuration
Connectivity
Method
Protocols and
Ports
Security
Interoperability
Availability
Backup/Restore
Figure 26 Minimum Operating System and Software Requirements for

Service
Services
In order to achieve standardization across infrastructure
services, the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager may consider the following and establish specific
baseline requirements based upon the role of these services in
supporting the infrastructure:
Type of service (Telco, broadband, hosting, Co-Lo,

remote backup/storage, etc.)
Provider
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Support/SLA
Communication and status reporting
Security methods
local or remote systems, services, functions
Service backup, restore and business continuity
processes
Service Type
Provider
Configuration
Availability /
Redundancy
Support/SLA
Security
Interoperability
Availability
Backup/Restore
Figure 27 Minimum Operating System and Software Requirements for

Service
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For a Microsoft Windows-centric environment, the outsourced

service provider or internal service manager may establish the
following baseline requirements for service:
All Servers with Microsoft Windows Operating Systems

must be running Windows 2008 Server or later, and
have all of the latest Microsoft Service Packs and
Critical Updates installed
All Desktop PCs and notebooks/laptops with Microsoft
Windows operating systems must be running Windows
7 or later, and have all of the latest Microsoft service
packs and critical updates installed
All Server and Desktop Software must be genuine,
licensed and vendor-supported
The environment must have a currently licensed, upto-date and vendor-supported server-based antivirus
solution protecting all servers, desktops,
notebooks/laptops, and email
The environment must have a currently licensed, vendorsupported server-based backup solution
The environment must have a currently licensed,
vendor-supported hardware firewall between the
internal network and the Internet
Any Wireless data traffic in the environment must be
secured with a minimum of 128bit data encryption
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These minimum requirements serve as examples only.

Ultimately; and based on a variety of factors including internal
capabilities, service deliverables and target market or client, it
will be up to the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager to determine the minimum environmental
standards they will require in order to qualify for their
services.
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On-Boarding Clients
On-Boarding Clients
The Importance of an Effective On-Boarding Process
Once the decision has been made to begin service delivery for
a new client, the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager must execute an effective, efficient onboarding process in order to meet client and end user
expectations and facilitate future service.
A poorly designed and executed on-boarding process will
quickly erode client and end user confidence and satisfaction
and increase service delivery difficulty and cost for the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager. No
matter how you slice it, this is not the way to begin a new
client relationship.
A successful on-boarding process begins before the decision is
made to deliver services to the client.
Read that again. Now think about this it is not possible to
on-board a client successfully if the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager does not collect the
required data in order to set up the clients account and
configure the Remote Monitoring and Management tool,
Professional Services Automation solution, billing and
communications systems to support them.
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On-Boarding Clients
Some of this data-gathering occurs during the initial business

needs analysis meeting with the client, and more is collected
during the technology assessment of their infrastructure
during the pre-sales process. Of course, once the decision has
been made to deliver services to the client, more information
is gathered in order to complete the collection of data
required to properly on-board the client.
The Business Needs Analysis
Early in the client relationship; and during the pre-sales
process, the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager will conduct a business needs analysis with the
prospect to gather the initial background information required
to determine whether their support needs can be met, and if
continuing to explore the feasibility of building a business
relationship with them makes sense.
During this phase of the relationship, high-level information
will be collected regarding the prospects infrastructure
including hardware, operating systems, application software,
services and vendors. In addition, the prospects business
processes and workflows will be discussed and understood, as
well as their growth plans and business goals, along with their
bottlenecks and pain.
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On-Boarding Clients
This information, along with office and branch office location

and key staff, role and contact information will be gathered in
preparation for the technology assessment that must be
conducted, should the decision to move forward be made.
The Technology Assessment
The technology assessment is the next step in gathering more
granular data regarding the prospects infrastructure in order
to document and evaluate the hardware, operating systems,
application software and services utilized in the environment,
as well as their operating state and role in supporting the
prospects business processes.
will leverage their chosen tools and technology; including the
Remote Monitoring and Management tool, in order to
automate as much of the discovery and data-gathering
process during the technology assessment phase as possible,
and evaluate the resultant output to qualify the
infrastructures suitability for services.
Required Infrastructure Modifications, Updates and
Upgrades
Once the results of the technology assessment have been
collated, the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager can compare the data against their established
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On-Boarding Clients
minimum requirements to determine what modifications,

updates or upgrades will need to be performed in order to
qualify the environment for services.
After the required infrastructure modifications, updates and
upgrades have been completed, client on-boarding can
commence.
The Provisioning Process
In this scenario, the client provisioning process is typically
characterized as those processes and procedures required to
prepare the client, their end users and infrastructure to
receive and participate in the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers NOC and Service Desk services, and
may include collecting all of the data required, and conducting
the following activities:
Set up the clients account in the outsourced service

providers or internal service managers Remote
Monitoring and Management tool, Professional
Services Automation solution, Communication and
billing solutions, including all required supported user
information
appliance-based, configure and deploy the appliance
per manufacturer or vendor recommendations for
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On-Boarding Clients
secure communications to and from the end user or

client location and the outsourced service providers
or internal service managers NOC, Datacenter or
Service Desk
agent-based, configure and deploy agents as required
to monitor managed devices, operating systems,
software applications and services per manufacturer
or vendor recommendations and enable secure
Remote Access and Control and communications to
and from the end user or client location and the
If applicable, initialize a discovery routine by the
Remote Monitoring and Management tool to identify
all network-connected devices and their roles in the
environment, or use other means to capture this
information and document it in the RMM tool and
Professional Services Automation solution
Associate the applicable Remote Monitoring and
Management tools default monitoring templates to
all managed devices, operating systems, software
applications and services
Develop base monitoring templates and assign them
to all devices, operating systems, software
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On-Boarding Clients
applications and services which the Remote

Monitoring and Management tool did not identify or
does not have a default template for
Configure, test and confirm end users or clients
ability to generate properly formatted service requests
with all required information via email and the
Professional Services Automation solutions Service
Desk portal
Test and confirm proper two-way communications and
alerting to and from managed devices, operating
systems, software applications and services at the end
user or client location and the outsourced service
providers or internal service managers NOC,
Datacenter or Service Desk
Configure, test and confirm proper operation of the
Remote Monitoring and Management tools Remote
Access and Control function for managed devices and
operating systems
Configure, test and confirm proper two-way
integration with the Remote Monitoring and
Management tool; with raised alerts resulting in
properly formatted service request generation
including end user, device and client identification
information included, as well as correct status
updating and alert cancellation occurring in the
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On-Boarding Clients
Remote Monitoring and Management tool upon

service request resolution in the Professional Services
Automation solution
Configure, test and confirm proper scripting and
deployment of unattended operating system and
supported software application patches and updates
by the RMM tool
Configure, test and confirm proper scripting and
execution of unattended device and operating system
optimization activities such as deletion of temporary
files and disk defragmentation by RMM tool
Customize client reports in Professional Services
Automation solution and test
Configure, test and confirm proper report generation
and automated report delivery by the PSA solution
Key infrastructure information required by the outsourced

service provider or internal service manager for provisioning
may include:
Client contact information

Server(s) information (type, make/model, role,
warranty, support, OS, version, configuration, etc.)
Server application information (type, role, warranty,
support, version, configuration, licensing, etc.)
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On-Boarding Clients
Server services configuration information (IIS, DNS,

DHCP, file & print, line of business, etc.)
Internal Active Directory information (AD Domain,
administrator account, users and computers, etc.)
Network shares, security and distribution groups, etc.
Line of business application information (type, role,
warranty, support, version, configuration, licensing,
etc.)
LAN and WAN information (devices, configuration,
addressing, protocols, security, etc.)
External Domain Registration information (provider,
account, domain name, registrar, DNS, expiration, etc.)
ISP information (provider, account, configuration,
expiration, etc.)
Web and email hosting information (provider, account,
configuration, expiration, etc.)
Router, Switch, Firewall information (type,
make/model, configuration, addressing, support,
warranty, etc.)
Anti-virus, Anti-spam and Anti-spyware information
(type, vendor, role, warranty, support, version,
configuration, licensing, etc.)
Backup, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
information (configuration, processes, etc.)
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On-Boarding Clients
Workstation, laptop and Smartphone information

(type, role, warranty, support, version, configuration,
etc.)
Application and productivity software information
(type, role, warranty, support, version, configuration,
etc.)
Printer, POS and peripheral information (network
scanners, faxes, document imaging solutions, credit
card terminals, etc.)
Other network-attached device information (type,
product, service, role, account, warranty, support, etc.)
Vendor information (type, product, service, role,
account, warranty, support, etc.)
This information and more must be collected and archived in

managers Professional Services Automation solution in order
to provide the NOC and Service Desk all of the information
necessary to deliver services to the client in one managed
location.
The Training Process
Prior to service turn-up or go-live, the outsourced service
provider or internal service managers NOC and Service Desk
staff, as well as the new client and their end users need to be
trained.
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On-Boarding Clients
NOC and Service Desk Client Support Training

teams must become familiar with the new clients
infrastructure and its specific support requirements, along
with any required modifications to established support
processes for this particular client or their end users, such as
communication, escalation or status reporting processes.
Client and End User Support Training
provider or internal service manager will typically conduct a
training or multiple training sessions to indoctrinate the client
and their end users on their NOC and Service Desks processes
and procedures for service delivery, and set the appropriate
expectations in regards to response and incident
management. Topics that may be covered during client and
end user training may include:
How to open a service request (email, portal, phone,

etc.)
Service Desk processes (incident, problem,
configuration, change, risk, communication, release,
service level, availability, capacity, service continuity,
security, communication management, etc.)
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On-Boarding Clients
Service Desk response and incident managementspecific processes (issue identification, documentation,
prioritization, assignment, remediation, escalation,
completion, QA, closure, communication, etc.)
Support tiers
Service Level Agreement
Customer Service
Reporting
Service Go-Live
After the outsourced service provider or internal service
managers NOC and Service Desk has completed their clientspecific training and the client and their end users have
received their support training, a service turn-up, or go-live
date can be established. This is the date that all systems,
processes, services, NOC and Service Desk staff and the client
and their infrastructure and end users will be designated as
ready to participate in NOC and Service Desk maintenance and
support services.
The first thirty days after go-live with a new client will be the
most critical for the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager and their staff, as this is the time when the
end users will be the most critical, and need to be won over by
the new support relationship and its service delivery
processes. If there are too many hiccups during this sensitive
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On-Boarding Clients
period, it may be difficult to recover the relationship. This is

why it is imperative that the entire on-boarding process run
smoothly, all processes are tested and validated, all required
information is collected and documented in the Professional
Services Automation solution and NOC and Service Desk staff
and the client and their end users complete their individual
on-boarding training prior to the decision to go live with the
support services.
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Delivering Service
Delivering Service
Day to Day Service Delivery
Although many of the roles, processes, procedures, activities
and responsibilities of an outsourced service providers or
internal service managers NOC and Service Desk and their
respective personnel are more alike than they are dissimilar,
once again, the differentiator between the two is the focus of
their responsibilities.
Although the NOCs duties and responsibilities are oriented
towards proactively managing and maintaining efficient
operating states of hardware devices, software operating
systems and applications and insuring the continuity of
services; and the Service Desks and its staffs duties and
responsibilities are focused on managing end user incidents
and problems, they both respond to incidents and problems
that impact these by following established service delivery
processes.
Based on best practices for proactive and reactive
maintenance and service delivery, at a high level, the general
framework governing these processes is shared by both the
NOC and Service Desk, with differences surfacing based upon
specific tasks. The following sections will reflect this similarity
at a high level.
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Delivering Service
The NOC Staffs Daily Duties

The NOC staffs daily duties are determined by the outsourced
service providers, or internal service managers NOC
manager, whose responsibility includes the management of
the NOC, and the proper identification, prioritization and
assignment of all alerts/service requests and proactive
maintenance duties to the appropriate queue, tier or
resource.
In this context, and since the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers Remote Monitoring and
Management tools alerts generate service requests in the
Professional Services Automation solution, the NOC staffs
typical day may resemble the following:
Log in to the outsourced service providers or internal

service managers Professional Services Automation
solution
Review all newly-assigned service requests to him/her
Review any service requests previously assigned and
still open to insure they are not in danger of falling
outside of SLA (service dispatcher and/or NOC
manager should be alerted to this status automatically
by the PSA solution before it occurs)
Work service requests in order of priority
o Accept service request and time stamp
o Review service request
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Delivering Service
o Consult information documented in PSA

solution as needed in order to perform incident
management
o Qualify issue to determine if it can be resolved
through tier 1 support within SLA
o Work issue to successful resolution
o Verify issue to be resolved
o Document complete incident resolution details
in PSA solution, mark status complete and time
stamp
o Service request is placed in 24 hour QA status
for monitoring
o Service request is closed once issue is
determined to be resolved
If service request cannot be resolved through tier 1
support, or is in danger of falling outside of SLA:
o Service Request is escalated to Tier 2 and
successive tiers of support in accordance with
outsourced service providers or internal
service managers service delivery process
All proactive maintenance activity is also scheduled,

assigned and managed in the outsourced service
providers or internal service managers Professional
Services Automation solution. Additional duties carried out
by NOC staff may include:
Review of monitoring reports to identify issues or

trends that may impact service or business process
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Delivering Service
continuity for clients or end users in order to

address them in advance of potential interruption;
or for capacity planning purposes
Script or manually deliver required hardware,
operating system, application software or service
updates, patches and hotfixes
Assist in new client on-boarding activities
Customize, produce and deliver performance
reports to internal NOC management
Modify and tune alerting and thresholds on
monitored devices, operating systems, application
software and services in order to improve
effectiveness and efficiency
Manage, maintain and update internal and client
and end user infrastructure documentation,
processes and procedures in PSA solution
The Service Desk Staffs Daily Duties

The Service Desk staffs daily duties are determined by the
outsourced service providers, or internal service managers
Service Desk manager, whose responsibility includes the
management of the Service Desk, and the proper prioritization
and assignment of all service requests to the appropriate tier.
The scheduling of all service work is ultimately the
responsibility of the Service Desk manager, but this and other
functions may be performed by a service dispatcher. It is the
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Delivering Service
Service Desk managers ultimate responsibility to make certain

the Service Desk maintains their SLAs.
In this context, a Service Desk staffs typical day may resemble
the following:
Log in to the outsourced service providers or internal

service managers Professional Services Automation
solution
Review all newly-assigned service requests to him/her
Review any service requests previously assigned and
still open to insure they are not in danger of falling
outside of SLA (service dispatcher and/or Service Desk
manager should be alerted to this status automatically
by the PSA solution before it occurs)
Work service requests in order of priority
o Accept service request and time stamp
o Review service request
o Contact client or end user as needed to gather
any additional information necessary in order
to begin incident management
o Consult information documented in PSA
solution as needed in order to perform incident
management
o Qualify issue to determine if it can be resolved
through tier 1 support within SLA
o Work issue to successful resolution
o Verify issue to be resolved to end users
satisfaction
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Delivering Service
o Document complete incident resolution details

in PSA solution, mark status complete and time
stamp
o Service request is placed in 24 hour QA status,
after which the end user is contacted to verify
the issue has been resolved to their satisfaction
and asked if the service request can be closed
o Service request is closed
If service request cannot be resolved through tier 1
support, or is in danger of falling outside of SLA:
o Service Request is escalated to Tier 2 and
successive tiers of support in accordance with
outsourced service providers or internal
service managers service delivery process
As with NOC staff, Service Desk staff will also have

additional duties to carry out, which may include:
Review of Service Desk reports to identify end user

or equipment issues or trends that may impact
customer satisfaction or service or business
process continuity for clients or end users in order
to proactively address them
Assist in new client on-boarding activities
Customize, produce and deliver performance
reports to internal Service Desk management
Manage, maintain and update internal and client
and end user infrastructure documentation,
processes and procedures in PSA solution
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Delivering Service
Interacting with Clients and End Users

Again, because of the reality that Service Desk services are
typically delivered remotely; and end users, clients and the
staff may never have the opportunity to physically meet each
other, it is critical for the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers staff to excel at interpersonal
communications in all forms with clients, and especially verbal
communications with them over the phone.
service managers established communication protocols will
assist in reflecting a professional, courteous, efficient image
for end users and clients, fostering trust, loyalty and customer
satisfaction over time. The following are some additional tips
for Service Desk staff to consider when communicating
verbally with end users or clients.
What To Say, What Not To Say, and How Not To Say It
Being human like the rest of us, the outsourced service
providers or internal service managers staff will find
themselves in situations when speaking with a client or end
user where they might say too much, or say the wrong thing,
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Delivering Service
or say the right thing in the wrong way, or say the right thing,
but in doing so contradict something that the client or end
user had been told previously by someone else. In any of
these scenarios, a top-of-mind awareness and fear of
accidentally doing any of these things during conversations
with clients or end users is required by all Service Desk staff.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Be courteous and professional and ask questions

pertaining to the issue at hand steer clear of idle
chit-chat and volunteering too much personal
information like what the Service Desk staff did over
the weekend, last night, or inquiring the same of the
client or end user. This will help keep the relationship
in the proper perspective
Refrain from volunteering potential causes of the
issue, or thinking out loud when the issue turns
out not to be caused by the Service Desk staffs
overheard suspicions, it may erode the perception of
their competence by the client or end user
Do not have internal discussions with other staff
members on an open line even though one Service
Desk staff is handling their call professionally and
following communication protocol, others may fail to
do so in open conversation
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Delivering Service
Use the hold or mute button constantly this is the

safest way to insure the client or end user is prevented
from hearing the wrong thing, and allows the Service
Desk staff to focus on resolving the incident as quickly
as possible without distraction. Using mute allows the
Service Desk staff to monitor the line, should the client
or end user wish to volunteer any useful information,
or check status
Blank the end users desktop during remote control
sessions whenever possible this practice helps
reduce questions during the troubleshooting process,
and the potential perception by the client or end user
that the Service Desk staff isnt competent because
they are investigating so many different things during
the troubleshooting session
Dont tell the client or end user what you did the
more information is shared with the client or end user,
the more of that information can be misinterpreted,
misunderstood, or again, contradict what they were
told by someone else. Here is a great example of how
to handle a call with an end user following all of these
bullet points:
Example Service Request Call:
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Delivering Service
Service Desk staff: Hi, Mary this is Bob from the Service
Desk. Im calling you to follow up on the service request you
opened regarding X is this a good time for me to
troubleshoot that with you?
Mary: Hi Bob, yes this is a good time.
Service Desk staff: Great, my understanding from reading the
service request notes is that . Is that correct?
Mary: Yes Bob thats what is happening.
Service Desk staff: Okay, do you mind if I start a remote
desktop sharing session with you, so I can begin
troubleshooting?
Mary: Sure Bob, go right ahead.
Service Desk staff: Okay, Mary Im going to put you on mute
while the session initiates, and pick back up when Im
connected. Will that be okay?
Mary: No problem, Bob.
Service Desk staff places end user on mute while session is
initiated
Service Desk staff: Okay, Mary Im in. Would it be ok if I take
a look at a few things in order to help narrow down the cause
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Delivering Service
of the issue? Ill need to blank your screen while I do so is

that also ok?
Mary: Sure, do whatever you need, Bob.
Service Desk staff: Thanks, Mary. Im also going to place you
on mute for about five minutes while I troubleshoot. Would
that be ok? You can feel free to take a short break or grab a
coffee or watercan I see you back in five?
Mary: Ok
Service Desk staff performs incident management
After five minutes:
Service Desk staff: Hi Mary I can hear that youre back are
you with me?
Mary: Yes Bob, Im here.
Service Desk staff: Great. I think I may have discovered the
cause of the issue, and Ive made a few changes that I think
will resolve it. Is it ok with you if I place this service request in
a QA status for 24 hours, and our team follows up with you
tomorrow to make sure its resolved before we close this
service request?
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Delivering Service
Mary: Sure, Bob. Thank you for your help. What was the
problem? What did you do?
Service Desk staff: Youre welcome, Mary it was my
pleasure. Until Im 100% confident that the issue is resolved, I
prefer to keep from stating with absolute certainty what the
cause was and the fix you know, I could be wrong! (jokingly)
How about we wait for the QA process so I can be sure, and if
youre still interested, well be happy to share the technical
details with you. Is that ok?
Mary: Oh sure, Bob, its really not that important.
Service Desk staff: Ok then, Mary, Ill document our support
session in the notes here and place this request in our QA
queue for 24 hours. If the issue should happen to crop up
again, please let us know, ok?
Mary: Sure will. Thanks again.
Service Desk staff: My pleasure. Have a great day.
Can you appreciate how smoothly this support session went?
Ill bet you were wondering just how in the world a Service
Desk staff could effectively deliver a support session by
blanking the users desktop (of course this wont be possible in
all cases), placing the end user on mute for most of it, and
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Delivering Service
then not sharing what the cause of the issue was, or even
better what they did to resolve it.
Now, if the issue does recur, and a different Service Desk staff
is assigned to work on it, there is no potential for the end user
to complicate the session with misheard or misinterpreted
data from the first support session. And because the service
request wasnt closed, but instead placed in a QA status, with
the end users expectations set appropriately, the Service
Desk staff has avoided the you didnt fix it the first time or
this is the second (or third) time Ive opened a request for the
same thing perception, as the issue was never considered
resolved and the request was never closed.
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The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations BOOK EVER!
Client Satisfaction
Measuring Client Satisfaction and Improving Retention
If the outsourced service provider or internal service manager
does not develop and execute a consistent, effective process
to measure client and end user satisfaction in order to
institute a continual client satisfaction improvement process,
they will be doing their clients, end users and NOC and Service
Desk staff a disservice.
The only way to realize improvement in any endeavor is to
measure performance. Just as important as it is to measure
performance of the NOC and Service Desk against SLA and
other key performance metrics in order to establish a baseline
and work towards improvement, it is even more important to
measure client satisfaction.
It does the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager absolutely no good whatsoever to believe they have
the best processes and procedures for service delivery in
place, but have no way to measure their clients or end users
satisfaction, and risk losing them for unknown reasons.
The best way to gauge a decision makers satisfaction is face
to face during regular strategic meetings. It is important to set
aside time specifically for measuring the clients satisfaction,
preferably at the beginning of these meetings. The outsourced
service provider or internal service manager will want to know
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Delivering Service
the clients feedback on their performance, and may ask

questions such as:
On a scale of one to five, what is your overall

satisfaction level with our services?
Can you share with me why you rated us that way,
and what we can do to improve your overall
satisfaction? Or Are there specific areas that we can
improve on to raise your overall satisfaction level with
our services?
How would you rate your satisfaction level with our
customer service?
How would you rate the overall quality of our
strategic business relationship?
How would you rate your level of satisfaction with
the value of our services?
How likely would it be for you to recommend our
services to another organization or business
acquaintance?
The best way to gauge end user satisfaction may be through

anonymous survey, and if possible, delivered via phone by an
outside 3rd-party organization. End users tend to elaborate
more when answering survey questions verbally, as the
surveyor can drill deeper into the answers offered by the end
user respondent.
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Delivering Service
Other ways to gauge end user satisfaction are through

electronic surveys, which can also be completed anonymously.
Some Professional Services Automation solutions support
survey creation natively and enable both automatic and
scheduled survey delivery and response reporting. Caution if
a standard service request survey is delivered in an automated
fashion after every service request closure, end users will
eventually cease responding to them. This is why it is
important to create and deliver surveys purposefully and
periodically to receive the greatest response, and vary the
questions from survey to survey to maintain interest in the
respondent.
Surveys delivered in this fashion must be clear and specific in
their intent. For instance, is the survey gauging overall
satisfaction, or satisfaction from services received from a
specific tier, queue or individual staff member? Surveys must
also be simple to understand and easy to respond to. Keep
questions short one sentence; if possible, and clear. If the
respondent has to figure out what the question means, the
value of their feedback will be diminished, as each respondent
will comprehend the question differently and skew the results.
should keep each survey brief end users should perceive it
to take only a few minutes at most to complete a survey to
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Delivering Service
increase response 5 to 10 questions at the most, if they are

simply gauging satisfaction.
should be prepared to act on the survey responses received.
Taking the time to develop and deliver surveys and collate
responses without an action plan to execute on to raise client
and end user satisfaction is pointless.
Sample electronic end user satisfaction survey questions may
resemble:
On a scale of 1 through 5, with 5 being highest, please

rate your overall level of satisfaction with the Service
Desk
rate your level of satisfaction with the Service Desks
response time
resolution time
customer service
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Delivering Service

communications
performance in keeping your systems up and running
These survey questions are included as an example only. The

should carefully determine the areas of satisfaction they
would like end user feedback on and create short, easy to
understand surveys whose questions are clear and concise,
with a numeric rating system for each question in order to
facilitate analysis in a meaningful way then act on the results
and measure improvement over time through additional
surveys
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Delivering Service
Section 6 Hiring and Training Technical

Staff
The following chapters will cover effective means for writing
employment ads that attract the right talent, using DISC
behavioral profiles before interviewing prospective NOC and
Service Desk staff to make certain the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager is interviewing the right
candidates, how to interview these candidates and which
questions to ask, along with creating an offer letter and
employment agreement and developing a compensation plan
and training requirements.
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Writing Effective Employment Ads for Technical Staff
Writing Effective Employment Ads for Technical

Staff
Writing an employment ad for technical staff may be the first
HR act an outsourced service provider or internal service
manager performs in the search for talent. Lets take a
moment to understand the motivating factors behind
technically-oriented people. Technical staffs ideal work
environment may include challenging technical work, ongoing
training opportunities and a team approach to problem
solving and solution design and delivery, along with
appreciation and respect for their contributions to the team;
with high monetary incentives ranking lower on the list of
requirements when seeking employment, or in their decision
to remain with their current employer. Technicians behavior
normally falls into the Coordinator/ Supporter/ Relater areas
of a DISC (behavioral) profile. A DISC profile is a psychometric
testing technique that uses a simple questionnaire as a basis
for revealing insights into a persons normal, adapted and
work behaviors, and we will explore utilizing DISC profiles to
our advantage during the hiring process in the next chapter.
Understanding these motivators for technical staff, effective
employment ads highlight these specific areas in the body of
the advertisement. The ad copy writers job is to effectively
promote the employment opportunity to the best technicians
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available. The outsourced service provider or internal service

manager is not looking for anybody that can fog a mirror
they want seasoned technicians and engineers, whose past
performance is an indicator of their future potential.
A good new technical hire will dive right in to learning every
last detail about the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers NOC and Service Desk, and take it seriously
to become a subject matter expert on everything they
support. There is a clear pecking order with them, and their
respect is earned by knowing more than they do about a
particular subject. These are the type of individuals that jump
right in to their positions soon after they are hired, and suck
up information like a dry sponge.
Technicians and engineers see things as black and white
problems to solve without a lot of emotion, and the really
good ones can build personal relationships with clients and
end users and understand that their job is to build rapport
with them to establish the trust necessary to elevate the
NOC or Service Desks overall perception as that of a valuable
resource that can solve their technical problems and identify
solutions to increase their efficiencies, productivity and
mitigate their business pain and risk.
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These behavioral traits are what to look for in technical staff.

It can be difficult to find the right staff with the right mix of
technical capability, customer service and desire to do the job
right the first time.
But first things first before the outsourced service provider
or internal service manager has the ability to start the DISC
profiling and interview process, they need candidates. And to
get candidates interested in their employment opportunity
they need to write compelling employment ads.
So they need to structure the employment ad to cover the
basics, plus highlight the nuances that will attract the technical
professionals they seek. In the old days (pre-Internet), it was
necessary to excel at classified ad shorthand for print ads in
the employment section of newspapers. This was the process
where the ad copy writer would try to condense full words
enough to save on the cost of the ad, while still conveying the
gist of their message. Now the luxury of posting just about any
size ad through online job sites such as Monster,
Careerbuilder, Dice, Hotjobs and others for a reasonable fee,
in addition to having it run for months at a time, greatly
improves the process and results. Lets look at the basic
components of an employment posting for a Service Desk
position:
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Company name and location

Job status Full Time, Employee
Relevant Work Experience 3 years minimum
Job Category Service Desk
Career Level Experienced
Job Description Several short paragraphs documenting the
desired candidates qualities, the positions responsibilities
and job duties (emphasis on challenging technical work,
ongoing training opportunities and a team approach to
problem solving)
Minimum Skills Required A short bulleted list of required
skills and experience
Benefits A short paragraph detailing salary range, bonuses
and other benefits
A method of contacting the company
Okay, now lets take a look at a representative employment ad
that conforms to many of the points in the above layout:
Company: Name
Location: Address
Status: Full-Time, Employee
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Job Category: Service Desk

Relevant Work Experience: 3-5 Years
Career Level: Experienced (Non-Manager)
We are currently seeking a highly skilled Service Desk
representative with the drive and determination to help us
support our client base. This position reports to our service
manager. We are looking for an individual who is a problemsolver and has a proven track record of working within a team
environment to successfully address challenging user
computing issues, and is accustomed to leveraging technical
training opportunities to improve their skills. If you have the
experience and the desire, we'd like to talk to you.
Our Service Desk representatives are responsible for
maintaining user uptime and improving their computing
experiences through effective remote monitoring,
maintenance and problem identification and resolution
activities, as well as growing and developing the organizations
perception with existing clients through exceptional customer
service. Candidates must be energetic and focused with a
strong motivation to learn new technologies and management
and maintenance processes. This position requires dedication,
persistence, follow-up, effective utilization of provided
resources and unbeatable customer service.
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This position will include identifying user problems and

working within a structured problem management and
resolution process to remediate issues within established
SLAs, and involves working with other resources and vendors
to deliver effective support services. Responsibilities include
identifying, documenting and troubleshooting user computing
issues to resolution and maintaining client satisfaction.
Job duties include utilizing our remote monitoring and
management (RMM) and professional services automation
(PSA) solutions along with other service-specific tools and
technologies to deliver remote user support services and
update service request information, answer technical support
calls, assign ticket severity, prioritize work accordingly, and
collaborate and work with other staff and vendor support
resources to resolve issues. Overall relationship management
and the ability to coordinate required resources to respond to
complex IT requirements is desired. Other requirements
include participating in ongoing training and attainment of
manufacturer certifications, developing and maintaining
relationships with user and vendor contacts, and preparing
and presenting service and monitoring reports to
management regularly.
Minimum skills required:
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Minimum three years of Service Desk experience

Microsoft Certified Professional status
Excellent knowledge of Microsoft software and
technologies
Strong interpersonal skills required to effectively
communicate with users and vendors
Passion for teamwork, continuing education, problem
solving and exceptional customer service
Must be well spoken, outgoing, organized, detailedorientated, dependable and flexible
Experience with HP, Cisco and Citrix technologies a
plus
Valid driver's license and proof of insurance
Background check and drug screen required
Reliable transportation
This position entails:
Troubleshooting user problems over the phone and

with remote control technologies
Accurate documentation of all activities conducted
The ability to manage, maintain, troubleshoot and
support our users networks, equipment, software and
services
The ability to learn quickly and adapt to changing
requirements
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The successful candidate must be:
Professional and articulate

Interpersonally adept
Technically proficient
A relationship builder
A problem solver
Benefits include group medical/dental insurance, paid

vacation, holidays, personal & sick time and training
reimbursement. Our generous compensation plans are
structured as salary plus bonuses for meeting utilization,
compliance and customer service requirements, with initial
compensation commensurate with relevant experience.
Qualified candidates please submit a current resume, along
with salary history via email
Resources
Careerbuilder.com
www.careerbuilder.com
Dice.com
www.dice.com
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Hotjobs.com
www.hotjobs.com
Monster.com
www.monster.com
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The Interview Process for Hiring Technical Staff
Using DISC Behavioral Profiles Before

Interviewing Candidates
I remember clearly how hit-and-miss our success at hiring the
right staff used to be before we discovered the value of
utilizing DISC behavioral profiling in our hiring process. Based
upon the groundbreaking work of William Moulton Marston
Ph.D. (1893 - 1947) in the (then) emerging field of psychology,
DISC measures four dimensions of normal human behavior:
Dominance - relating to control, power and

assertiveness (how we respond to problems or
challenges)
Influence - relating to social situations and
communication (how we influence others to our point
of view)
Steadiness (submission in Marston's time) - relating to
patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness (how we
respond to the pace of our environment)
Conscientiousness (or caution, compliance in
Marston's time) - relating to structure and organization
(how we respond to rules and procedures set by
others)
We have not only been able to significantly improve our

success rate at hiring the right staff since implementing DISC
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profiling, but we have used DISC profiles to help in teambuilding efforts. If you havent read Jim Collins excellent book
Good to Great, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. One
of the key concepts in Good to Great is that of not only
getting the right people on the bus, but getting the right
people in the right seats on the bus. DISC behavioral profiles
help us achieve both of these objectives.
Based upon answering a series of twenty-four questions, each
with the directive to choose what a candidate is most like
and least like, the DISC profile will generate a voluminous
report describing the subjects behavior with incredible
accuracy. Here is a representative example of the types of
questions a subject is asked to answer in a DISC profile:
Each question has two answers choose one answer that
indicates which you are Most Like, and one answer that
indicates which you are Least Like. Each question requires two
choices:
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Most Like
Least Like
Gentle, kindly
Persuasive, convincing
x
x
Humble, reserved, modest

Original, inventive, individualistic
Attractive, Charming, attracts others

x
Cooperative, agreeable
Stubborn, unyielding
Sweet, pleasing
Easily led, follower

Bold, daring
Loyal, faithful, devoted
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Charming, delightful
It seems almost unbelievable that merely completing twentyfour questions like this can create a comprehensive behavioral
profile that we have come to rely on in each and every one of
our hiring decisions. And Ive got to admit that when we have
gone ahead and made a hiring decision in spite of some red
flags uncovered by a DISC profile, weve always come to regret
it.
Heres a sample portion of a fictitious DISC profile:
Elizabeth prefers being a team player, and wants each player
to contribute along with her. Many people see her as a selfstarter dedicated to achieving results. She can be blunt and
critical of people who do not meet her standards. She may
have difficulty dealing with others who are slower in thought
and action. Elizabeth has the ability to question people's basic
assumptions about things. She prides herself on her creativity,
incisiveness and cleverness. She can be incisive, analytical and
argumentative at times. She is aggressive and confident. She
tends to have a "short fuse" and can display anger or
displeasure when she feels that people are taking advantage
of her. Elizabeth is forward-looking, aggressive and
competitive. His vision for results is one of her positive
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strengths. She is comfortable in an environment that may be

characterized by high pressure and is variety-oriented.
Elizabeth will work long hours until a tough problem is solved.
After it is solved, Elizabeth may become bored with any routine
work that follows. She is logical, incisive and critical in her
problem-solving activities. She sometimes gets so involved in a
project that she tends to take charge. She usually takes time
when confronted with a major decision; that is, she takes an
unemotional approach to analyzing the data and facts. Others
may see this as vacillating; however she is just thinking
through all the ramifications of her decision. Elizabeth finds it
easy to share her opinions on solving work-related problems.
Sometimes she may be so opinionated about a particular
problem that she has difficulty letting others participate in the
process. She sometimes requires assistance in bringing major
projects to completion. She may have so many projects
underway that she needs help from others. She likes the
freedom to explore and the authority to re-examine and retest
her findings.
Elizabeth tends to be intolerant of people who seem
ambiguous or think too slowly. She usually communicates in a
cool and direct manner. Some may see her as being aloof and
blunt. When communicating with others, Elizabeth must
carefully avoid being excessively critical or pushy. She tries to
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get on with the subject, while others may be trying to work

through the details. She is skilled at asking informed questions
and extracting information, but for some people she may need
to phrase her questions more tactfully. Her creative and active
mind may hinder her ability to communicate to others
effectively. She may present the information in a form that
cannot be easily understood by some people. Others often
misunderstand her great ability as a creative thinker. She is
not influenced by people who are overly enthusiastic. They
rarely get her attention. She may display a lack of empathy for
others who cannot achieve her standards.
Here are some other excerpts from Elizabeths DISC Profile:
Value to the organization:
This section of the report identifies the specific talents and
behavior Elizabeth brings to the job. By looking at these
statements, one can identify her role in the organization. The
organization can then develop a system to capitalize on her
particular value and make her an integral part of the team.
Thinks big
Forward-looking and future-oriented
Presents the facts without emotion
Places high value on time
Usually makes decisions with the bottom line in mind
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Innovative
Always looking for logical solutions
Initiates activity
Challenge-oriented
Ideal environment:
This section identifies the ideal work environment based on
Elizabeth's basic style. People with limited flexibility will find
themselves uncomfortable working in any job not described in
this section. People with flexibility use intelligence to modify
their behavior and can be comfortable in many environments.
Use this section to identify specific duties and responsibilities
that Elizabeth enjoys and also those that create frustration.
Evaluation based on results, not the process

Non-routine work with challenge and opportunity
An innovative and futuristic-oriented environment
Projects that produce tangible results
Data to analyze
Private office or work area
Environment where she can be a part of the team, but
removed from office politics
Forum to express ideas and viewpoints
Perceptions:
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A person's behavior and feelings may be quickly telegraphed

to others. This section provides additional information on
Elizabeth's self-perception and how, under certain conditions,
others may perceive her behavior. Understanding this section
will empower Elizabeth to project the image that will allow her
to control the situation.
Self-perception:
Elizabeth usually sees herself as being:
Pioneering
Assertive
Competitive
Confident
Positive
Winner
Others perception:
Under moderate pressure, tension, stress or fatigue, others
may see her as being:
Demanding
Nervy
Egotistical
Aggressive
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And, under extreme pressure, stress or fatigue, others may

see her as being:
Abrasive
Controlling
Arbitrary
Opinionated
Descriptors:
Based on Elizabeth's responses, the report has marked those
words that describe her personal behavior. They describe how
she solves problems and meets challenges, influences people,
responds to the pace of the environment and how she
responds to rules and procedures set by others.
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Adapted style:
Elizabeth sees her present work environment requiring her to
exhibit the behavior listed on this page. If the following
statements DO NOT sound job related, explore the reasons
why she is adapting this behavior.
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Precise, analytical approach to work tasks

Acting without precedent, and able to respond to
change in daily work
Sensitivity to existing rules and regulations
Limited contact with people
Disciplined, meticulous attention to order
Having the ability to see the "big picture" as well as the
small pieces of the puzzle
Careful, thoughtful approach to decision making
Quickly responding to crisis and change, with a strong
desire for immediate results
Anticipating and solving problems
Persistence in job completion
Dealing with a wide variety of work activities
Calculation of risks before taking action
Accurate adherence to high quality standards
Keys to motivating:
Elizabeth wants:
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Evaluation on not only the results achieved, but the

quality of the work and the price she paid for
performance
Sincere appreciation for achievements--may interpret
as manipulation if overdone
To explore new ideas and authority to test her findings
To be part of a quality-oriented work group
Support staff to do detail work
To know the agenda for the meeting
New challenges and problems to solve
Freedom from controls that restrict her creativity
To be seen as a leader
Prestige, position and titles so she can control the
destiny of others
Meetings that stay on the agenda, or reasons for
changing the agenda
Keys to managing:
Elizabeth needs:
To know results expected and to be evaluated on the

results
To adjust her intensity to match the situation
To be more cooperative with other team members
A program for pacing work and relaxing
To analyze constructive criticism to see if it's true and
how it may be impacting her career
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To display empathy for people who approach life

differently than she does
To understand that her tendency to tell it like it is may
reduce performance rather than raise it with some
people
To understand her role on the team--either a team
player or the leader
To negotiate commitment face-to-face
Appreciation of the feelings of others
To be objective and listen when others volunteer
constructive criticism
The opportunity to ask questions to clarify or
determine why
Areas for improvement:

In this area is a listing of possible limitations without regard to
a specific job. Review with Elizabeth and cross out those
limitations that do not apply. Highlight 1 to 3 limitations that
are hindering her performance and develop an action plan to
eliminate or reduce this hindrance.
Elizabeth has a tendency to:

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Have no concept of the problems that slower-moving

people may have with her style
Be inconsistent because of many stops, starts and
ever-changing direction
Set standards for herself and others so high that
impossibility of the situation is common place
Have difficulty finding balance between family and
work
Have trouble delegating--can't wait, so does it herself
I hope by now you can see how extremely valuable this tool is,
and why we choose to include it as a requirement during our
hiring process.
So how exactly do we use the DISC profile? Well, we will
review all of the resumes that come in for a particular job
posting, and then determine who our top candidates are.
After this, we will conduct a quick phone interview with each
candidate, and the ones that make it to the next cut will be
emailed a link to take our DISC behavioral profile online. We
then review the resultant report, and decide who to call in for
in-person interviews.
For technical staff candidates, in addition to the standard DISC
behavioral profile, we will also have them take a specialized
version of the DISC profile, called the Personal Talent Skills
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Inventory (PTSI). The PTSI is an objective analysis of the

candidates understanding of themselves, their strengths and
their weaknesses. An individuals talents and personal skills
are a fundamental and integral part of who they are. The PTSI
describes what an individual can do in 23 capacities, or
personal skills, related to the business environment.
The PTSI is designed to capture how people see themselves
and the world around them. To do this, it measures a person
from two perspectives, external and internal, and in six
dimensions, three in each perspective.
External:
Empathetic Outlook Judgment of people

Practical Thinking Judgment of tasks
Systems Judgment Judgment of systems
Internal:
Sense of Self Judgment of being

Role Awareness Judgment of doing
Self Direction Judgment of becoming
The PTSI report provides a ranking of personal skills that

describe an individuals potential for workplace performance
by determining their capability in several areas. After
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analyzing the clarity, bias and intensity of each of the six

dimensions, one can begin to understand an individuals self
view and world view, gaining true insight into the internal and
external perspectives that affect superior performance.
Understanding problem-solving techniques, and the ability to
implement them effectively during service delivery, is how we
define a successful technical resource. We utilize the PTSI to
identify a candidates problem-solving strengths and
weaknesses and their ability to perform these functions in the
workplace.
The following is a sample of the results from a fictitious PTSI:
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Name: Elizabeth
World View
This is how Elizabeth sees the world around her. This view
measures her clarity and understanding of people, tasks and
systems. It could also be looked at in terms of feeling, doing
and thinking from an external standpoint. The statements
below are based primarily on the 3 dimensions on the left side
of the dimensional balance page and are in a random order.
Elizabeth may benefit from improving her relationships

with authority figures
She needs an environment in which contributions are
recognized, properly rewarded, and appreciated.
She has the ability to become action-oriented in order
to complete the task at hand
She performs best in an atmosphere where there is an
open exchange of ideas and where feedback is readily
available.
Elizabeth can be versatile and can adapt to different
types of people and changing situations
She may benefit from understanding the importance of
interpersonal relationships
She needs an atmosphere that has structure and a
defined chain of command
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She understands how to deal with ideas, knowledge,

and systems
Elizabeth has the ability to use her people skills in
order to relate to others
Self View
This is how Elizabeth sees herself. This view measures her
clarity and understanding of herself, her roles in life and her
direction for the future. The internal dimensions are a
reflection of her from both personal and professional
viewpoints. The statements below are based primarily on the
3 dimensions on the right side of the dimensional balance
page and are in a random order.
Elizabeth tends to use her internal awareness to

achieve the desired outcome during the process of a
role change
She may apply her life planning skills for personal
growth
She has a grasp of her actual and potential
accomplishments, life roles and activities
She has achieved a moderate level of selfunderstanding
Elizabeth believes that her own worth is based equally
on her sense of self, her life roles, and growing as a
person
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She may focus on gaining information to clearly

envision herself in the future
She could get into a comfort zone which could restrict
her from developing or applying more of her potential
She tends to have a balanced understanding of herself,
her roles and her future development
Elizabeth tends to be adaptable, depending on what is
called for in the current situation
As you can tell, this portion of the PTSI provides a good

understanding of a candidates perceptions of not only
external environments such as the workplace, but of
themselves as well, and can also be utilized as a tool to
improve an existing technical candidates skills or
interpersonal relationships with others. The following section
illustrates the PTSIs findings of a candidates critical success
skills in a visually appealing manner, and ranks the candidates
responses against the population:
259

Critical Success Skills
260

261

The General Employment Skills Summary
262

Getting Results
263

As you can see from these graphical representations, Elizabeth

consistently scored highly in almost every area of the PTSI.
Based upon the information reflected in this Personal Talent
Skills Inventory, along with an evaluation of Elizabeths DISC
behavioral profile, its immediately apparent that she would
make a good candidate for a position on our technical team.

Now that weve reviewed the DISC behavioral profile and
Personal Talent Skills Inventory results of our top candidates,
we can decide which of these merit an in-person interview.
Note that we have minimized much of the effort we used to
expend when hiring staff in the old days. Those were the days
when candidates would show up to our offices after sending in
a resume that looked promising, and wed take lots and lots of
time out of our busy schedules to interview them. And guess
what? Many of the interviews for technical positions went
really well making it difficult for us to choose the right
candidate.
264

Always remember to keep in mind the candidates current

employment situation during the interview and hiring process,
and ask pointed questions regarding their prior and current
employment history. A great technical candidate should not
currently be out of work, unless there is a very compelling
reason for it. Its simple logic to assume that successful,
aggressive and motivated technical resources worth their salt
should currently be employed. And if they are successful, they
should look and act the part. A good candidate realizes the
value of first impressions and follow-up. If theyre not dressed
to impress, and speak confidently and articulately during
interviews, thats strike one. If they dont initiate good followup after interviews, thats strike two. If they are not
responsive to your attempts at contact after interviews, thats
strike three.
Successful technical candidates will have a firm knowledge of
their history at previous employers, and be able to
communicate their skill set, certifications and technical
experience, in addition to their salaries and bonus plans for
the past 3 years. Were also going to ask them specific
questions about their daily duties, roles and responsibilities,
and how much of their compensation was based upon
meeting quotas for utilization, billing, client satisfaction and
adhering to SLAs, and how often they failed to achieve them.
265

If they stutter or stammer, or begin tap-dancing during this

line of questioning, thats a red flag. And as with any potential
hire, spotty or short tenure at previous employers is always a
matter for concern. Read between the lines of the candidates
resume, and dont be afraid to ask the tough questions be
direct and look for the same in return. If youre not good at
confrontation, for Petes sake, please have someone else
perform these initial interviews for you. The ultimate
effectiveness of your service delivery begins with the decisions
you make during the hiring process.
Lets take a look at areas to evaluate when interviewing a
technical staff candidate (depending upon their experience
and areas of expertise, an experienced technical person will
qualify themselves by answering the following questions
successfully):
Ask the candidate to verbalize their basic problem

management and resolution strategy
Is the candidate experienced and trained in PSAs,
trouble-ticketing systems and RMM solutions? If so,
ask them to describe which ones and their experience
with them.
How does the candidate keep up with new
technology?
What are the candidates certifications?
266

What are the candidates existing utilization numbers

at their current/recent position?
How many service requests does the candidate close
per day/week/month at their current/recent position?
What is the candidates current/recent job title and
function?
Does the candidate have experience providing
proactive, reactive support, or both?
What percentage of time does the candidate provide
remote support at their current/recent position?
What percentage of time does the candidate provide
onsite support at their current/recent position?
Does the candidate have experience with producing
service reports?
Ask the candidate to describe successful methods
theyve used to calm an irate user or client with
specific examples
Ask the candidate to provide a history of the hardware
they have worked with and to rank their expertise in
same
Ask the candidate to provide a history of the software
same
Ask the candidate to provide a history of the solutions
same
267

Ask the candidate to provide a history of the vendors

they have worked with and to describe their
relationship
What metrics is the candidates measured by in their
current/recent position and how often do they exceed
them?
What support tier does the candidate currently
participate in at their current/recent position?
How many other technical resources comprise the
candidates business unit at their current/recent
position?
What percentage of time does the candidate spend
mentoring other technical resources at their
current/recent position?
What percentage of time does the candidate spend
troubleshooting an issue before deciding to escalate it?
Has the candidate ever managed a team of resources?
If so, ask them to describe these situations, their role
and responsibilities and success at achieving their
objective.
Verbalize several support scenarios specific to the
position the candidate is interviewing for, and ask
them how they would approach and resolve them
For an exhaustive list of technical questions to ask the

candidate, browse to the following links at Daniel Petris
excellent IT Knowledgebase:
268

Networking:
http://www.petri.co.il/mcse_system_administrator_ne
tworking_interview_questions.htm
Active Directory:
http://www.petri.co.il/mcse_system_administrator_ac
tive_directory_interview_questions.htm
Microsoft Exchange:
http://www.petri.co.il/mcse-system-administratorexchange-interview-questions.htm
PC Support:
http://www.petri.co.il/mcse-system-administrator-pctechnician-interview-questions.htm
The interview questions contained at the links above on the

Petri Knowledgebase are comprehensive take a look at these
when developing your interview and testing process for new
technical hires and dont reinvent the wheel.
Based upon review of the Personal Talent Skills Inventory and
candidates performance during the initial interview,
determine whether the candidate can qualify to join your
technical staff, once they understand your particular
processes and procedures, tools and technology.
These are the technical-specific areas we will cover during the
initial live interview with all candidates, as well as the
269

technical-specific activities they will be asked to perform

during the interview (such as taking a written technical test or
troubleshooting a test pc, server or network sabotaged for
this purpose). The best technical candidates will rise to the top
of the list naturally. But let me throw out a cautionary note
here we dont want to make the mistake of hiring the best
candidate of the bunch just because they are the best
candidate of the bunch. Weve got to hire the best candidate
for our organization. This means we must be prepared to
interview many candidates before making the commitment to
hire and train one.
Some general questions we would also like to have answered

include:
What do you know about our company?

o What we are gauging here is their preparation
for the interview a good candidate would
have researched our website, at the very least
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your previous
employment history
o What we are looking for is a brief description of
their work history & skills, a narrative of their
personal and professional experiences
270

What are some of your strengths?

o This question should not be difficult for the
candidate to answer
What are some of your weaknesses?
o A good candidate should not have any trouble
naming 3 weaknesses give them plenty of
time to answer
What do you see yourself doing in 3 years? . how
about in 5 years?
o Is the candidate a goal-setter?
Tell me about a time when you made a mistake with a
client and what steps you took to resolve the issue
o Look for awareness of fallibility, and gauge the
candidates problem-resolution technique
What do you get excited about? . What upsets you?
What situations make you lose your temper?
o These last two questions are more personal in
nature, and will be explored in more detail
when discussing the candidates DISC Profile
with them
What was one of your greatest successes?
What are 3 things you do extremely well?
o A solid candidate will have no trouble
answering these questions
What are 3 things that you need to improve on?
o A good candidate should not have any trouble
naming all 3 things give them plenty of time
to answer
271

In a group or team what position do you take on

leader, coordinator or support?
o Were looking for natural leaders here
Tell us about a team you have worked in
o What we are looking for is what their role was,
again to determine if they are a leader,
facilitator, or socializer
What are three positive things your last boss would say
about you?
o A good candidate should have no problem
answering this question
How much guidance and management do you like?
o We are trying to determine how independent
the candidate is
How much do you feel you need?
o A good candidate will be able to verbalize when
they need direction
What type of people do you work best with?
o This may elicit a canned response, but we may
also get a nugget of insight if the person replies,
"People who arent idiots."
If budgets were of no concern at your current or
previous employer, what would be the first thing you
would spend money on and why?
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o The answer to this question gives an insight as

to how involved the person was at their
previous job. How quickly candidate responds
lets us know how much thought theyve put
into this subject in the past.
Can you send us an example of something youve
written a quote or proposal?
o We need to gauge the candidates ability to
write quotes and proposals, if required
Is there anything that would interfere with your
regular attendance?
o A boilerplate question which may reveal any
personal conflicts
What would your perfect job look like?
o This is the candidates opportunity to push the
envelope, and test our response the more
descriptive, the better
Why should we hire you? . What makes you more
qualified than the other applicants?
o This is the candidates opportunity to sell us
and try to close the position
What skills do you possess that you think would
benefit our company? .How do you see yourself
fitting in?
o A follow-up on the previous line of questioning
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Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on Word, Excel,

PowerPoint, Outlook, Vista
o Were looking for the candidates proficiency
with our basic office applications
How do you respond to pressure & deadlines?
o There isnt a specifically wrong answer here,
but were looking for the candidates coping
mechanism we might hear: It stresses me
out when, to which our follow-up would be:
How do you deal with it?, to which they
might answer: I just get out of the office for a
few minutes, and take a walk to clear my head
If you could start your career again, what would you do
differently?
o Were looking for an honest appraisal
How would you describe your personality?
o Easy going, problem solver, director, like talking
to people, make friends easily, etc.
What is your favorite movie of all time? Why?
o Just a question to loosen up the mood, we
might find a common interest and chat for a bit
Describe a time when you made a client/client
extremely happy?
o A positive, reinforcing question
Do you mind if we call your former employer?
274

o A good reason for a negative answer here must

be offered
Why are you considering a career change at this time,
or leaving your current position?
What do you like and dislike about your current
position?
o A couple of basic interview questions meant to
provide insight into the candidates current
state of mind and desires
What about this position do you find the most
appealing? .... Least appealing?
o Were looking for something in addition to the
compensation
In your present position, what internal problems have
you identified and taken action to fix?
o Were gauging how deeply the candidate cares
to involve themselves as a change agent for the
benefit of others besides themselves
What kind of feedback have you received from past
clients?
o Expect positive reviews here
How have you handled negative feedback from clients,
or team members?
o Were looking for a truthful response here ask
for a specific incident
275

Give an example of a time where there was a conflict

in a team/group that you were involved in and how it
was resolved.
o What did they do, how did they handle it?
What we are looking for is the ability to go
straight to the source. Telling the boss right
away, without telling the person concerned or
ignoring the situation and hoping it will go away
are not good signs.
Do you have any questions for us?
o A good candidate will always have questions
These are all excellent questions to pose to potential

candidates for our technical position. Im certain you can now
see why we dont just interview anyone that can fog a mirror
the interview and hiring process is lengthy, and deservedly so
we need to be absolutely certain to do everything in our
power to minimize the possibility of hiring the wrong person.
If were going to spend the considerable time and money to
hire and train a new technical person, we want an excellent
return on our investment.
So lets say weve found one or two candidates that we feel
have the right stuff, and would be a positive addition to our
team. Our next step is to schedule an interview with another
member of our organization. At MSPU, all job candidates for
276

key roles are interviewed by either I or my business partner. If

they are a technical candidate, I perform the first live
interview, and if they are a sales and marketing candidate,
Gary performs the first live interview. Then we swap roles, so
Gary gets to perform the second live interview with all
technical candidates, and I do the same for the sales and
marketing candidates. This second interview will either
validate or solidify the decision to hire a candidate, or not.
Like it or not, unless were a seasoned HR or hiring
professional, sometimes its difficult to be completely
objective during the interview and hiring process. This is
where having another trusted individual available to compare
notes with can be invaluable especially in situations when
there needs to be a tie-breaker two equally qualified
candidates that we may find challenging to choose between.
In addition, when Im the second interviewer, I know that the
candidate has already passed muster in order to get to me, so
I begin exploring other areas that the first interviewer may not
have covered to answer questions about compatibility (will
the candidate be able to fit into our culture), and I try to gauge
from a gut feeling (I know, the DISC profile doesnt lie!) and
comfort level my impression of how easy it will be to work
with and integrate the candidate into our organization. Ill ask
questions specifically intended to reveal the more personal
side of the candidate, like what their taste in movies or T.V.
277

shows is, what they do for recreation, and ask them about
their immediate family, as well as their parents and their
backgrounds; to get an idea of their stability and support
system, and attempt to uncover any stressors that may affect
performance on the job. This is all carried out in a friendly,
conversational, get to know me manner, where I will share
personal information with the candidate myself, a la Hannibal
Lecter in Silence of the Lambs quid pro quo, Clarisse.
If the candidate stands a good chance of joining the team, its
important to begin building a relationship early on. If we really
want to win over a candidate, we need to show them the
human side of our organization, as well as the career
opportunity. Assuming the second interview goes well, we
now have a green light to formalize an offer to the successful
candidate. During the first interview, items such as
compensation and duties and responsibilities would naturally
have been discussed, as well as a projected start date of
employment, should the candidate be awarded the position.
Its now time to formalize our offer to the successful
candidate by means of an offer letter.
278

The Offer Letter
The Offer Letter

The offer letter will detail our intent to hire the candidate,
what their roles and responsibilities will be, as well as their
compensation, bonus and benefits plan. As with any and all
forms used in your business practice, please consult with your
legal advisor before relying on them.
Lets take a look at a standard offer letter:
Offer of Employment and Employment Contract
Monday, September 1st, 2013

(Employees Name)
(Employees Address)
Dear (Employee Name);
We are pleased to offer you a position with (Company). Your
start date, manager, compensation, benefits, and other terms
of employment will be as set forth below and on EXHIBIT A.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT
279

The Offer Letter
1. Position and Duties. Company shall employ you, and you

agree to competently and professionally perform such duties
as are customarily the responsibility of the position as set
forth in the job description attached as EXHIBIT A and as
reasonably assigned to you from time to time by your
Manager as set forth in EXHIBIT A.
2. Outside Business Activities. During your employment with
Company, you shall devote competent energies, interests, and
abilities to the performance of your duties under this
Agreement. During the term of this Agreement, you shall not,
without Companys prior written consent, render any services
to others for compensation or engage or participate, actively
or passively, in any other business activities that would
interfere with the performance of your duties hereunder or
compete with Companys business.
3. Employment Classification. You shall be a Full-Time
Employee and shall not be entitled to benefits except as
specifically outlined herein.
4. Compensation/Benefits.
4.1 Wage. Company shall pay you the wage as set forth
in the job description attached as EXHIBIT A.
280

The Offer Letter
4.2 Reimbursement of Expenses. You shall be

reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses
paid or incurred by you in the performance of your
duties. You shall provide Company with original
receipts for such expenses.
4.3 Withholdings. All compensation paid to you under
this Agreement, including payment of salary and
taxable benefits shall be subject to such withholdings
as may be required by law or Companys general
practices.
4.4 Benefits. You will also receive Companys standard
employee benefits package (including health
insurance), and will be subject to Companys vacation
policy as such package and policy are in effect from
time to time.
5. At-Will Employment. Either party may terminate this
Agreement by written notice at any time for any reason or for
no reason. This Agreement is intended to be and shall be
deemed to be an at-will employment Agreement and does not
constitute a guarantee of continuing employment for any
term.
6. Nondisclosure Agreement. You agree to sign Companys
standard Employee Nondisclosure Agreement, Non-Compete
281

The Offer Letter
and Proprietary Rights Assignment as a condition of your

employment. We wish to impress upon you that we do not
wish you to bring with you any confidential or proprietary
material of any former employer or to violate any other
obligation to your former employers.
7. Authorization to Work. Because of federal regulations
adopted in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986,
you will need to present documentation demonstrating that
you have authorization to work in the United States.
8. Further Assurances. Each party shall perform any and all
further acts and execute and deliver any documents that are
reasonably necessary to carry out the intent of this
Agreement.
9. Notices. All notices or other communications required or
permitted by this Agreement or by law shall be in writing and
shall be deemed duly served and given when delivered
personally or by facsimile, air courier, certified mail (return
receipt requested), postage and fees prepaid, to the party at
the address indicated in the signature block or at such other
address as a party may request in writing.
10. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed and
interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of
California, as such laws are applied to agreements between
282

The Offer Letter
residents of California to be performed entirely within the

State of California.
11. Entire Agreement. This Agreement sets forth the entire
Agreement between the parties pertaining to the subject
matter hereof and supersedes all prior written agreements
and all prior or contemporaneous oral Agreements and
understandings, expressed or implied.
12. Written Modification and Waiver. No modification to this
Agreement, nor any waiver of any rights, shall be effective
unless assented to in writing by the party to be charged, and
the waiver of any breach or default shall not constitute a
waiver of any other right or any subsequent breach or default.
13. Assignment. This Agreement is personal in nature, and
neither of the parties shall, without the consent of the other,
assign or transfer this Agreement or any rights or obligations
under this Agreement, except that Company may assign or
transfer this Agreement to a successor of Companys business,
in the event of the transfer or sale of all or substantially all of
the assets of Companys business, or to a subsidiary, provided
that in the case of any assignment or transfer under the terms
of this Section, this Agreement shall be binding on and inure
to the benefit of the successor of Companys business, and the
283

The Offer Letter
successor of Companys business shall discharge and perform

all of the obligations of Company under this Agreement.
14. Severability. If any of the provisions of this Agreement are
determined to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, such
provisions shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary
to make such provisions enforceable, and the remaining
provisions shall continue in full force and effect to the extent
the economic benefits conferred upon the parties by this
Agreement remain substantially unimpaired.
15. Arbitration of Disputes. Any controversy or claim arising
out of or relating to this contract, or the breach thereof, shall
be settled by arbitration administered by the American
Arbitration Association under its National Rules for the
Resolution of Employment Disputes, and judgment upon the
award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered by any
court having jurisdiction thereof.
We look forward to your arrival and what we hope will be the
start of a mutually satisfying work relationship.
Sincerely,
MSP University
By: __________________________
MSPU Authorized Representative
284

The Offer Letter
Acknowledged, Accepted, and Agreed
Date: _____________
By: __________________________
Employee
Once the employee signs the Offer Letter, they will have
formally agreed to the terms and conditions of our
employment as described. An EXHIBIT A would follow this
agreement, stipulating the employees job description, duties
and compensation. Lets review an example EXHIBIT A:
Exhibit A
Job Description Service Desk Analyst

Start Date Is Monday, September 4, 2013
285

The Offer Letter
This position will require, but not be limited to the following

Essential Responsibilities:
Provide remote and onsite desktop, laptop, server and

network problem management and resolution services
to clients and end users via Companys
communications and remote and onsite support
solutions, processes and procedures
Identify, document, prioritize, troubleshoot and
escalate service requests per Companys problem
management and resolution processes and SLAs
Perform proactive maintenance of client and end user
hardware, software and services per Companys
established processes and best practices
Maintain and pursue I.T. training competencies and
certifications per Companys established training
schedule and requirements
Maintain Company standards for client satisfaction,
utilization and compliance policies
Utilize Companys PSA and RMM solutions per
Companys established processes to deliver
maintenance and problem management and
resolution services to clients and end users
286

The Offer Letter
Interface with clients, end users and vendor support

resources as needed to deliver services within
established SLAs
Maintain communication with all affected parties
during problem management and resolution per
Companys established processes and procedures
Base Salary for this position will be ($) per year.

Eligibility to participate in quarterly bonuses will be
determined by meeting established Company utilization,
process and policy compliance, attainment of training and
competencies/certifications, adherence to SLAs and customer
service performance metrics:
Utilization requirement score: (%)
Process and policy compliance score: (%)
Attainment of competencies: (%)
Adherence to SLAs score: (%)
Customer service score: (%)
Of course, your particular business model, products, services
job requirements and compensation schedules will dictate
how you structure EXHIBIT A.
287

The Employment Agreement

As part of the HR and hiring process, we are going to require
our new technical person to sign an employment agreement.
The employment agreement will detail the technical persons
job title and duties and responsibilities, and will contain nondisclosure and non-compete language in order to protect
ourselves from the potential for one of our competitors to
hire our technical person away at some later date, and
leverage our business plans, processes or other intellectual
property against us. Depending upon your local or state laws,
NDA and non-compete language and/or agreements will need
to be tailored specifically to protect your rights in a court of
law. As with any and all forms used in your business practice,
please consult with your legal advisor before relying on them.
Lets take a look at a standard Employment Agreement:
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
This Employment Agreement (this "Agreement") is made
effective by and between Company name , of full address to
include zip code(employees name) ("Employee"), of
(employees address).
288

A. Company name is engaged in the business of Providing

Information Technology Services. Employee will
primarily perform the job duties at full address
B. Company name desires to have the services of
Employee.
C. Employee is willing to be employed by Company
Name.
Therefore, the parties agree as follows:
1. EMPLOYMENT. Company Name shall employ Employee
as a (job title). Employee shall provide to MSPU the following
services: duties as needed. Employee accepts and agrees to
such employment, and agrees to be subject to the general
supervision, advice and direction of Company name and its
supervisory personnel. Employee shall also perform (i) such
other duties as are customarily performed by an employee in
a similar position, and (ii) such other and unrelated services
and duties as may be assigned to Employee from time to time
.
2. BEST EFFORTS OF EMPLOYEE. Employee agrees to perform
faithfully, industriously, and to the best of Employee's ability,
experience, and talents, all of the duties that may be required
by the express and implicit terms of this Agreement, to the
289

reasonable satisfaction of Company name. Such duties shall

be provided at such place(s) as the needs, business, or
opportunities may require from time to time.
3. EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT. Company name will
reimburse Employee for "out-of-pocket" expenses incurred by
Employee in accordance with policies in effect from time to
time.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING OPERATIONS.
Employee shall provide Company name with all information,
suggestions, and recommendations regarding MSPUs
business, of which Employee has knowledge, which will be of
benefit toCompany name.
5. CONFIDENTIALITY. Employee recognizes that Company
name has and will have information regarding the following:
- inventions
- products
- product design
- processes
- technical matters
- trade secrets
290

- copyrights
- client lists
- prices
- costs
- discounts
- business affairs
- future plans
- marketing plans and methods
- communications
- meetings
- conversations
- training
- emails
- faxes
- documents
- wage and compensation information
291

- disciplinary actions
- policies
and other vital information items (collectively, "Information")
which are valuable, special and unique assets of Company
name. Employee agrees that Employee will not at any time
or in any manner, either directly or indirectly, divulge,
disclose, or communicate any Information to any third party
without the prior written consent of Company name.
Employee will protect the Information and treat it as strictly
confidential. A violation by Employee of this paragraph shall
be a material violation of this Agreement and will justify legal
and/or equitable relief.
6. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION. If it
appears that Employee has disclosed (or has threatened to
disclose) Information in violation of this Agreement,
Company name shall be entitled to an injunction to restrain
Employee from disclosing, in whole or in part, such
Information, or from providing any services to any party to
whom such Information has been disclosed or may be
disclosed. Company name shall not be prohibited by this
provision from pursuing other remedies, including a claim for
losses and damages.
292

7. CONFIDENTIALITY AFTER TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.

The confidentiality provisions of this Agreement shall remain
in full force and effect for a 1 year period after the
termination of Employee's employment.
8. NON-COMPETE AGREEMENT. Employee recognizes that
the various items of Information are special and unique assets
of the Company and need to be protected from improper
disclosure. In consideration of the disclosure of the
Information to Employee, Employee agrees and covenants
that for a period of 1 year following the termination of this
Agreement, whether such termination is voluntary or
involuntary, Employee will not compete directly or indirectly
with Company name. The term not compete shall mean
that the Employee shall not, on Employees behalf or on
behalf of any other party, solicit or seek the business of any
client or account of the Company existing during the term of
employment and wherein said solicitation involves a product
and/or service substantially similar to or competitive with any
present or future product and/or service of the Company. This
covenant shall apply to the geographical area that includes all
of the State of California and any other state in which the
Company has clients. Directly or indirectly engaging in any
competitive business includes, but is not limited to: (i)
engaging in a business as owner, partner, or agent, (ii)
becoming an employee of any third party that is engaged in
293

such business, (iii) becoming interested directly or indirectly in

any such business, or (iv) soliciting any client of Company
name for the benefit of a third party that is engaged in such
business. Employee agrees that this non-compete provision
will not adversely affect Employee's livelihood.
9. EMPLOYEE'S INABILITY TO CONTRACT FOR EMPLOYER.
Employee shall not have the right to make any contracts or
commitments for or on behalf of Company name without
first obtaining the express written consent of MSPU.
10. BENEFITS. Employee shall be entitled to employment
benefits, including holidays, sick leave, and vacation as
provided by Company name policies in effect from time to
time.
11. TERM/TERMINATION. Employee's employment under this
Agreement shall be for an unspecified term on an "at will"
basis. This Agreement may be terminated by company at will
and by Employee upon 2 Week's written notice. If Employee
is in violation of any part of this Agreement, company may
terminate employment without notice and with compensation
to Employee only to the date of such termination. The
compensation paid under this Agreement shall be Employee's
exclusive remedy. Please refer to the rules governing
294

termination in your own region/countrys

regulatory/governmental offices.
12. COMPLIANCE WITH EMPLOYER'S RULES. Employee agrees
to comply with all of the rules and regulations of Company
name.
13. RETURN OF PROPERTY. Upon termination of this
Agreement, Employee shall deliver to Company name all
property which is Company names property or related to
Company names business (including keys, records, notes,
data, memoranda, models, and equipment) that is in
Employee's possession or under Employee's control. Such
obligation shall be governed by any separate confidentiality or
proprietary rights agreement signed by Employee.
14. NOTICES. All notices required or permitted under this
Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed delivered
when delivered in person or on the third day after being
deposited in the United States mail, postage paid, addressed
as follows:
Employer:
Company name
Full address
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Employee:
(Employee Name)
(Employee Street Address)
(Employee City, State ZIP)
Such addresses may be changed from time to time by either
party by providing written notice in the manner set forth
above.
15. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Agreement contains the entire
agreement of the parties and there are no other promises or
conditions in any other agreement whether oral or written.
This Agreement supersedes any prior written or oral
agreements between the parties.
16. AMENDMENT. This Agreement may be modified or
amended, if the amendment is made in writing and is signed
by both parties.
17. SEVERABILITY. If any provisions of this Agreement shall be
held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the
remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and
enforceable. If a court finds that any provision of this
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Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, but that by limiting

such provision it would become valid or enforceable, then
such provision shall be deemed to be written, construed, and
enforced as so limited.
18. WAIVER OF CONTRACTUAL RIGHT. The failure of either
party to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not be
construed as a waiver or limitation of that party's right to
subsequently enforce and compel strict compliance with every
provision of this Agreement.
19. APPLICABLE LAW. This Agreement shall be governed by
the laws of the State of California.
EMPLOYER:
Company nameBy: _______________________Date:

________________
(Authorized Company name representative name/title)
AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED.

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EMPLOYEE:
By:
_______________________Date: ________________
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The Equipment Loan Agreement

From time to time, and based upon the technical staffs needs,
it may become necessary to supply them with companyowned equipment in order to provide them the ability to fulfill
their duties and responsibilities. Examples of equipment that
can be furnished to employees may include:
Vehicles
PCs
Laptops
Wireless PC cards
Cell phones/Smart phones/PDAs
Pagers
Security tokens
Key cards/credentials
Test equipment
Inventory
This equipment obviously has value to the company, so it is a

good idea to have a solid equipment loan agreement in place
documenting it and its value, and holding the employee
responsible for keeping it in good condition. The equipment
loan agreement also makes it easier to reclaim equipment
when an employee leaves the organization, as they agree to
forfeit the cost to replace the equipment from their pay
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should they fail to return it according to the terms of their

employment agreement. Lets take a look at a standard
equipment loan agreement:
Equipment Loan
Statement of Understanding
I am taking possession of the following equipment belonging to
Company
name:_________________________________________________
_
Description
__________________________________________________
Model Number, Serial Number
which has a replacement cost of $

__________________________________________________
I will take reasonable and necessary steps to safeguard this
equipment from damage and theft.
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If this equipment is damaged or stolen, I will report the relevant

facts as soon as possible to my supervisor. I further understand that
I have an obligation to pursue recovery for Company from such a
loss through my relevant insurance coverage, whether automobile,
homeowners or tenants.
I understand that I must return this equipment as instructed to
Company premises within twenty-four hours of being asked to do so
by my supervisor or Company administration.
I understand that I must immediately return this equipment as
instructed to Company premises in the event that my employment
ends, whether by voluntary quit or involuntary termination.
I agree and hereby give permission to Company to deduct from my
pay any amount I owe to Company (up to the replacement cost
noted above) due to my failure to return this equipment in working
condition to Company as documented in my Employment
Agreement.
________________________________________________
Employee Signature, printed name and date
__________________________________________________
Date EQUIPMENT RETURNED:
__________________________________________________
Received By
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Compensation Plans
Compensation Plans
Throughout the years weve had the opportunity to work with
our partners, one of the topics that seem to be the most
challenging for them is creating an equitable compensation
plan for technical staff. Now, as IT service providers, our
perception of an equitable compensation plan and our
technical staffs perception of an equitable compensation plan
may not always match. A generally accepted industry statistic
regarding compensation is that a technician should generate
two and a half times their W-2 compensation in billable labor
time. This means that a technical person earning $60,000 a
year on their W-2 should be generating $150,000 in billable
labor time per year.
Billable time based on W-2 earnings
W-2 Earnings
Billable Labor
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000
$90,000
$100,000
$75,000
$100,000
$125,000
$150,000
$175,000
$200,000
$225,000
$250,000
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Salary.com reports the following U.S. national averages for

total compensation (base salaries, bonuses and benefits) for
the following technical positions on their website at
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_newse
arch.asp:
Help Desk Support Jr.-Sr. (Service Desk Staff)

Benefit
Base Salary
Bonuses
Social
Security
401k/403b
Disability
Healthcare
Pension
Time Off
Total
Median Amount
% Of Total
$44,900
$906
$3,504
$52,608
$1,135
$4,111
68.5% 1.4% 5.3% -
$1,741
$458
$6,103
$2,290
$5,638
$65,540
$2,042
$537
$6,103
$2,687
$6,615
$75,839
2.7%
0.7%
9.3%
3.5%
8.6%
69.4%
1.5%
5.4%
- 2.7%
- 0.7%
- 8.0%
- 3.5%
- 8.7%
100%
Source: salary.com
Please note that the median Service Desk staffs bonuses in

the US as reported by salary.com amount to about 1.5% of
their total take-home compensation. In our experience, this is
extremely low, as we would bonus our Service Desk staff
upwards of 10% of their total salary for achieving goals set for:
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Utilization requirements
Process and policy compliance
Attainment of competencies
Adherence to SLAs
Customer service
We would base customer service scores upon survey

responses. In addition, bonuses could be attained individually
and by the entire group on a monthly, quarterly and yearly
basis. This was designed so that if an individual resource
achieved their minimum goals in each area for the month,
they would be eligible to receive a bonus. If they achieved the
bonus each month for the entire quarter, they would be
eligible to receive a quarterly bonus as well. If the entire team
achieved their bonuses each month in a quarter, they would
be eligible to receive a quarterly team bonus, and if they were
able to achieve a quarterly team bonus through 4 consecutive
quarters, they would be eligible to receive a yearly bonus. All
of these bonuses would be in addition to previously-received
bonuses, so the individual Service Desk staff could potentially
be eligible to receive the following bonuses:
Monthly individual bonus

Quarterly individual bonus
Quarterly team bonus
Yearly team bonus
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Service Dispatcher Jr.-Sr.

Benefit
Base Salary
Bonuses
Social
Security
401k/403b
Disability
Healthcare
Pension
Time Off
Total
Median Amount
% Of Total
$34,910
$475
$2,707
$42,063
$764
$3,276
67.1% 0.9% 5.2% -
68.2%
1.2%
5.3%
$1,345
$354
$6,103
$1,769
$4,355
$52,017
$1,627
$428
$6,103
$2,141
$5,271
$61,674
2.6% 2.6%
0.7% 0.7%
11.7% - 9.9%
3.4% 3.5%
8.4% 8.5%
100%
Source: salary.com
Note that the median service dispatchers bonuses in the US

as reported by salary.com amount to about 1.2% of their total
take-home compensation. This is low in our experience, as we
bonused our dispatcher a small amount based upon meeting
SLAs, along with allowing participation in team bonuses, but
their bonus did not quite rival the Service Desk staffs.
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Service Desk Manager

Benefit
Median Amount
% Of Total
Base Salary
Bonuses
Social Security
401k/403b
Disability
Healthcare
Pension
Time Off
Total
$84,146
$6,923
$6,967
$3,461
$911
$6,103
$4,553
$11,208
$124,272
67.7%
5.6%
5.6%
2.8%
0.7%
4.9%
3.7%
9.0%
100%
Source: salary.com
Note that the median Service Desk managers bonuses in the

US as reported by salary.com average 5.6% of their total takehome compensation. This matches our experience.
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NOC Manager
Benefit
Median Amount
% Of Total
Base Salary
Bonuses
Social Security
401k/403b
Disability
Healthcare
Pension
Time Off
Total
$95,508
$4,250
$7,708
$3,849
$1,008
$6,103
$5,038
$12,401
$136,844
70.5%
3.1%
5.6%
2.8%
0.7%
4.5%
3.7%
9.1%
100%
Source: salary.com
Note that the median NOC managers bonuses in the US as

reported by salary.com average about 3.1% of their total takehome compensation. This matches our experience.
A compensation plan for a new technical person will normally
be structured as base salary plus bonuses. A base salary is a
guaranteed amount of compensation the technical person will
receive each month, and if they meet specific goals set by
their supervisor during the month, quarter and year,
additional bonuses can be realized.
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In a base plus bonus compensation plan, we generally see

small bonus percentages structured in to support the
guaranteed base salary, and engineered in such a manner as
to reward the technical staff on activity that helps the
organization increase efficiencies and client satisfaction,
among other factors all of which in one form or another
drive additional profits to the bottom line. This is where the
bonuses are paid out from the additional revenues that the
technical staff helps to generate.
Now I hope Ive done a decent job of presenting different
ways of looking at technical compensation and bonus plans for
you. Please do not take any of the figures in this chapter as
gospel but rather visit salary.com to drill deep and utilize
their filtering capabilities and input your zip code, state or
metro area to discover what the median compensation is
being reported for the technical roles required for your service
delivery model and mode. Ive used information gathered
from partners, and the rest from our own experience to help
you get started.
Let me caution you against thinking that by reading this

chapter you will be able to save yourself some homework and
come away with a ready-made compensation plan that you
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can simply slap your companys name on, implement and be

successful with.
Youve got to do your own legwork and investigation into
what your true margins and profitability are for each of your
services, products and solutions. From there, youve got to dig
down deep into your gut and come up with a realistic
expectation of how much increased profitability each of your
technical resources can achieve, and of this number, what you
are comfortable with incenting your staff to qualify for.
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Training Technical Staff

The function of training technical staff in an IT services
organization, NOC or Service Desk is obviously much different
than training staff in other businesses or business units. In
addition to training technical staff in NOC and Service Desk
overall day-to-day operations and functions, there need to be
opportunities for technical staff to receive the role-specific
training required to make them effective, efficient and
successful, in order to receive the maximum return on their
hiring investment.
Lets identify the common training that will be delivered to all
staff, regardless of their job description, before going into
role-specific technical training topics:
Company Overview Training

o Vision, mission, values, philosophy, goals
HR Process Training
o Overview of compensation, benefits, conduct,
sick day and vacation policy, Employee
handbook, acceptable use policy
Administrative Setup and Training
o User and email account creation, telco account,
extension and voicemail creation,
o Use of company equipment (cell phone, PC,
laptop, etc.)
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o Use of company software, Instant Messaging,

remote access and remote email
Formal introduction to management and staff
o Tour of facility
o Introduction to all management and staff
The above points cover in broad strokes some of the tasks

associated with any new employees basic training and
indoctrination to an organization of course, the outsourced
service providers or internal service managers policies and
procedures may differ from those illustrated.
So what role-specific training is needed to deliver to insure a
technical persons success? Lets highlight some of the obvious
areas for their managers to address:
Internal tools and technology training

o Make certain all technical staff is trained on
internal tools
PSA solution
RMM solution
Remote control solution
Quoting solution
Technical drawing solution
Project planning/management solution
Specialty solutions
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All others
Processes and procedures

o Make certain all technical staff is trained on all
processes and procedures
Employee handbook
Incident management, escalation and
resolution
Remote monitoring and management
Remote control
Patching and updating
Documentation
Customer service
Reporting
All others
Product and Service Training
o Make certain all technical staff is trained on all
of products and services delivered
Roles and responsibilities
their own, as well as other team members
roles, responsibilities and expectations
Clients
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o Make certain all technical staff is trained on the

organizations clients and their individual
needs, requirements and SLAs
Fulfillment partners
organizations fulfillment partners, their
services and their engagement process
Vendors
organizations vendors, their services and their
engagement process
Goals and bonuses
their individual and team goals and bonus
programs
Competency and certification achievement
organizations requirements for their
attainment of additional competencies and
certifications
Role-Specific Training
NOC staff
In this context, the NOC staff participates in the outsourced
service providers or internal service managers incident
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management and resolution process, and can be assigned to

deliver proactive remote patching, updating and monitoring
services for devices, operating systems, applications software
and services in client environments. Whereas the Service Desk
staff works primarily with end user issues, the NOC staffs
main focus is on managing and delivering scheduled
maintenance activities to critical devices and responding to
alerts generated by the providers Remote Monitoring and
Management solution.
The NOC staff identifies, prioritizes and documents all service
activity and will execute the outsourced service providers or
internal service managers incident management and
resolution processes as well as utilize the providers chosen
software and hardware management and remediation tools,
processes and procedures during remote service delivery.
In addition to the general training requirements for all
technical staff previously mentioned, at a minimum, all NOC
staff will need specific training in these areas:
Problem management and resolution

o Incident Management
o Problem Management
o Configuration Management
o Change Management
o Risk Management
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o Release Management
o Service Level Management
o Availability Management
o Capacity Management
o Service Continuity Management
o Security Management
o Communication Management
o Installing agents
o Configuring thresholds
o Configuring alerts
o Developing scripts
o Change Management
o Risk Management
o Service level management
o Communications Management
Day to day service delivery
o Receiving all incident notifications and service
requests
o Recording all incidents and service requests
o Classifying all incidents and service requests
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o Prioritizing all incidents and service requests

o Troubleshooting all incidents and service
requests
o Escalating all incidents and service requests as
necessary to maintain SLA
o Maintaining consistent communication with all
parties affected by the incident or service
request
o Performing all scheduled maintenance activities
o Reporting on all activities
Customer service
o Customer management
o Setting and adjusting expectations
o Phone etiquette
o Utilizing the hold or mute button
effectively
o Follow-up and follow-through
Service Desk staff

In this context, the Service Desk staff participates in the
incident management and resolution process, and can be
assigned to deliver remote technical support services to end
users. The Service Desk staff identifies, prioritizes and
documents all service requests, and initiates incident
management and resolution activity.
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Service desk staff will execute the outsourced service

providers or internal service managers incident management
and resolution processes as well as utilize the providers
chosen software and hardware management and remediation
tools, processes and procedures during remote technical
service delivery.
technical staff previously mentioned, at a minimum, all Service
Desk staff will need specific training in these areas:

o Change Management
o Risk Management
o IT Service Continuity Management
requests
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requests
request
Customer service
o Phone etiquette
effectively
Service Dispatchers
In this context, the service dispatcher participates in the
incident management and resolution process, and assigns
resources to and schedules all services. The service dispatcher
may also be included in the providers escalation process and
be alerted by their PSA solution should service requests
become in danger of falling out of SLA.
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Service dispatchers will utilize the providers chosen software

management tools, processes and procedures to manage
dispatch functions during technical service delivery.
technical staff previously mentioned, at a minimum, all service
dispatchers will need specific training in these areas:

o Change Management
o Risk Management
o Managing all incident notifications and service
requests
o Monitoring all incidents and service requests
for proper escalation as necessary to maintain
SLA
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o Managing consistent communication with all

request
o Scheduling all maintenance activities
Customer service
o Phone etiquette
effectively
NOC Managers
In this context, the NOC manager is ultimately responsible for
maintaining the outsourced service providers or internal
service managers NOC staffing levels, training and
certification requirements, incident management and
resolution processes and client satisfaction by strict SLA
management, among other responsibilities. NOC managers
will utilize the providers chosen software management tools,
processes and procedures to manage service delivery.
Desk managers will need specific training in these areas:

320

o Change Management
o Risk Management
o Installing agents
o Configuring thresholds
o Configuring alerts
o Developing scripts
o Change Management
o Risk Management
o Service level management
o Communications Management
321


requests
requests
request
Customer service
o Phone etiquette
effectively
Service Desk Managers

In this context, the Service Desk manager is ultimately
responsible for maintaining the outsourced service providers
or internal service managers Service Desk staffing levels,
training and certification requirements, incident management
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and resolution processes and client satisfaction by strict SLA

management, among other responsibilities. Service Desk
managers will utilize the providers chosen software
management tools, processes and procedures to manage
service delivery.
Desk managers will need specific training in these areas:

o Change Management
o Risk Management
o Responsible for managing all technical staff
o Responsible for managing all service delivery
o Responsible for managing all client
expectations
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o Responsible for reporting on all activities

Customer service
o Staff management
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Section 7: NOC and Service Desk Management by the Numbers
Section 7: NOC and Service Desk

Management by the Numbers
In order to reduce costs, improve performance and
efficiencies and drive more profit to the bottom line, best in
class service providers utilize a means to regularly measure
the performance of the NOC and Service Desk. This
measurement must focus on capturing meaningful data and
displaying it in a simple to understand manner. This data will
become the Key Performance Indicators by which
performance will be measured, goals set against and bonuses
and commissions designed and implemented to help realize.
After determining the meaningful data to collect, performance
reports can be created to report on this data. These
performance reports will be produced and reviewed on a
regular basis by the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager and their NOC and Service Desk managers.
The first time this KPI data is reported, it must be analyzed to
determine a baseline what is the NOC and Service Desks
performance today? Through this analysis, a true
understanding of performance can be realized, which may
directly contradict perceived performance up to this point.
There are several areas the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager and their NOC and Service Desk
managers should focus on, but at a minimum should include:
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Financial performance
NOC performance
Service Desk performance
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Measuring Financial Performance

Measuring financial performance will provide the following
information to the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager:
Revenue by product or service sold

Cost of goods sold by product or service
Gross margin by product or service sold
Operating expenses
Pre-tax net income
Many service providers tend to aggregate all services such as

break-fix, time and materials, projects, managed services
(including NOC and Service Desk), hosting and license
renewals and others into one line item in their accounting
systems chart of accounts: service revenue. Setting up the
chart of accounts in this manner hampers the ability to
understand how well or poorly any individual product or
service is financially performing.
Paul Dippell from Service Leadership Inc. (www.serviceleadership.com); an advisory firm that specializes in growth,
performance and M&A strategies for the IT industry,
characterizes this scenario as one of having a relay team of
four runners. In this example, each runner represents one
deliverable such as break-fix services, project services,
managed services, and other services.
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While the relay team finishes the race with a total time of two
minutes and thirty seconds, because the individual split time
for each runner is not being measured, it is impossible to
determine how fast or slow each runner ran their portion of
the race. This prevents the coach from knowing how to
improve each individual runners performance.
The same holds true with outsourced service providers or
internal service managers that cannot determine the
performance of their individual services in terms of cost,
revenue and net profit. The first step in gaining visibility into
these areas is to separate the individual revenue streams,
their costs and gross margins. Only after this has been done
can more meaningful analysis begin.
When evaluating financial performance, special attention
should be paid to the differential between the cost of goods
sold (COGS) and gross margin (GM) for each product or service
sold or delivered; along with their individual contribution to
gross revenue, to determine performance and profitability. In
addition, a careful review of sales, general & administrative
expenses (SG&A), will help identify opportunities to reduce
costs in these areas.
Once the outsourced service providers or internal service
managers financial chart of accounts has been normalized in
this fashion, they can develop strategies to continually
328

improve net profits, utilizing regular financial reporting and

benchmarking to attain this goal by running their organization
by the numbers.
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Measuring NOC Performance

Measuring NOC performance will provide the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager and their NOC
manager and staff a clear indicator of performance.
Measuring this performance will establish a baseline for
improvement, allowing goals for improvement to be set, and
bonuses and commissions developed to help incent this
improvement.
Key NOC performance indicators that the outsourced service
provider or internal service manager will measure may
include:
Total ticket load per day/week/month/quarter/year

Total ticket load per queue per
day/week/month/quarter/year
Total ticket load per client/location/contract per
Total ticket load per resource per
Average time to resolution per
Average time to resolution per queue per
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Average time to resolution per resource per

Average time to resolution per client/location/contract
per day/week/month/quarter/year
Average time to response per
Average time to response per queue per
Average time to response per resource per
Average time to response per client/location/contract
Total tickets closed per day/week/month/quarter/year
Total tickets closed per queue per
Total tickets closed per resource per
Total tickets closed per client/location/contract per
Total Repeat tickets per
Total Repeat tickets per queue per
Total Repeat tickets per resource per
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Total Repeat tickets per client/location/contract per

Adherence to SLA % per
Adherence to SLA % per queue per
Adherence to SLA % per resource per
Adherence to SLA % per client/location/contract per
Top Clients with the most open tickets per
Total Cost of Service Delivery per
Total Cost of Service Delivery per queue per
client/location/contract per
Total Cost of Service Delivery resource per
Utilization per day/week/month/quarter/year
Utilization per queue per
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Utilization per client/location/contract per

Utilization per resource per
Realization per day/week/month/quarter/year
Realization per queue per
Realization per client/location/contract per
Realization per resource per
Profitability per day/week/month/quarter/year
Profitability per queue day/week/month/quarter/year
Profitability per client/location/contract per
Profitability per resource per
Client satisfaction per day/week/month/quarter/year
End user satisfaction per
Resource satisfaction per
333

Measuring Service Desk Performance

Measuring Service Desk performance will provide the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager and
their Service Desk manager and staff a clear indicator of
performance. Measuring this performance will establish a
baseline for improvement, allowing goals for improvement to
be set, and bonuses and commissions developed to help
incent this improvement.
While similar to key NOC performance indicators, with
additional metrics included for verbal interaction with clients
and end users, key Service Desk performance indicators that
will measure may include:
Average speed of call answer per

Average speed of call answer per queue per
Average speed of call answer per resource per
Average speed of call answer per
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Average call wait time per

Average call wait time per queue per
Average call wait time per resource per
Average call wait time per client/location/contract per
Average first call resolution per
Average first call resolution per queue per
Average first call resolution per resource per
Average first call resolution per
Total ticket load per day/week/month/quarter/year
Total ticket load per queue per
Total ticket load per client/location/contract per
Total ticket load per resource per
335

Average time to resolution per

Average time to resolution per queue per
Average time to resolution per resource per
Average time to resolution per client/location/contract
Average time to response per
Average time to response per queue per
Average time to response per resource per
Average time to response per client/location/contract
Total tickets closed per day/week/month/quarter/year
Total tickets closed per queue per
Total tickets closed per resource per
Total tickets closed per client/location/contract per
Total Repeat tickets per
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Total Repeat tickets per queue per

Total Repeat tickets per resource per
Total Repeat tickets per client/location/contract per
Adherence to SLA % per
Adherence to SLA % per queue per
Adherence to SLA % per resource per
Adherence to SLA % per client/location/contract per
Top Clients with the most open tickets per
Total Cost of Service Delivery per queue per
Total Cost of Service Delivery resource per
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Utilization per day/week/month/quarter/year

Utilization per queue per
Utilization per client/location/contract per
Utilization per resource per
Realization per day/week/month/quarter/year
Realization per queue per
Realization per client/location/contract per
Realization per resource per
Profitability per day/week/month/quarter/year
Profitability per queue day/week/month/quarter/year
Profitability per client/location/contract per
Profitability per resource per
Client satisfaction per day/week/month/quarter/year
End user satisfaction per
Resource satisfaction per
338


managers NOC and Service Desk managers should be able to
pull the data required to report on these metrics from their
Professional Services Automation solution when integrated
with their Remote Monitoring and Management tool, their
Communications solution and the results of customer
satisfaction surveys, in order to identify, evaluate and improve
upon these service delivery KPIs.
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Section 8: Outsourcing NOC and Service Desk Components
Section 8: Outsourcing NOC and Service

Desk Components
With the advent of affordable, 3rd-party back office NOC and
Service Desk organizations, the outsourced service provider or
internal service manager has the opportunity to scale their
services to a much broader range of clients, and prolong the
necessity to hire, train and manage internal full-time staff.
This allows a consistent support experience for clients and end
users and in many cases increases the providers profitability
due to the low cost of these services. In addition, these
organizations can private-label their services, and represent
managers organization throughout all communications and
incident management and resolution activities.
Benefits of Outsourcing
Benefits to engaging with a 3rd-party NOC or Service Desk
provider may include:
The ability to scale services broadly and quickly

Improve performance metrics
Utilize highly-skilled and costly internal resources for
more profitable tasks and activities
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Increase customer satisfaction through improved,

consistent KPIs
Increase net profits by lowering costs
Considerations Prior to Outsourcing

When exploring outsourcing components of the NOC or
Service Desk to a 3rd-party provider, among other concerns,
the outsourced service provider or internal services manager
may consider:
The 3rd-party providers location

The 3rd-party providers qualifications and experience
The 3rd-party providers business structure and time in
business
The 3rd-party providers solvency
The 3rd-party providers tools and technology and
ability to integrate with the providers existing
solutions
The 3rd-party providers NOC and Service Desk delivery
and management processes
The 3rd-party providers training and support offerings
The 3rd-party providers customer service philosophy
The 3rd-party providers privacy policy
The 3rd-party providers culture and native language
The 3rd-party providers SLA and KPIs
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The 3rd-party providers customer satisfaction rating

The 3rd-party providers pricing and payment model
The 3rd-party providers ability to private label their
services and represent themselves as the provider
The 3rd-party providers perception in the industry
In addition, the outsourced service provider or internal service

manager may request an NDA from the 3rd-party provider
prior to negotiating at a deep level where internal and clientspecific information may be shared.
What to Outsource
Industry statistics reflect that best in class Service Desks close
90% of service requests with Tier 1 resolution in less than an
hour. That means that only 10% of all service requests are
escalated to Tier 2 and beyond. Lets assume that 7% of all
service requests are escalated to Tier 2, with the remaining 3%
ending up in Tier 3.
This means that if the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager outsourced their Tier 1 and Tier 2 service
requests to a 3rd-party Service Desk, they may potentially
reduce their incoming ticket load by up to 97%.
Imagine the potential impact that this has on the ability to
repurpose or eliminate internal staff as a result. If highlyskilled, costly internal staff can be reassigned to focus on
342

higher-value, higher-visibility and more profitable services,

this is a beneficial outcome. And if some costly internal staff
can be released, this can also improve net profits.
Outsourcing NOC services to a 3rd-party organization can have
similar positive outcomes for the outsourced service provider
or internal service manager, and when both Service Desk and
NOC services are outsourced to the same 3rd-party provider,
this reduces complexity and costs over time, as all NOC and
Tier 1 and Tier 2 service delivery activity is conducted by a sole
provider. This eases integration, escalation, reporting,
communication between, and overall management of the
relationship and service outcomes.
may outsource:
Tier 1 and 2 NOC and Service Desk functions
What to Keep
When outsourcing components of the NOC and Service Desk
and transferring the role of the single point of contact to a 3rdparty provider, the outsourced service provider or internal
service manager would be well advised to monitor and
manage the Professional Services Automation solution to
insure all service requests are prioritized, assigned and
escalated by the 3rd-party provider in adherence with SLAs.
343


should also keep all Tier 3 service requests; as these are
normally the most visible, high-value incidents from a client
perspective, allowing the appropriate sensitivity and attention
to be directed to these incidents as quickly as possible by the
outsourced service provider or internal service manager. In
this scenario, all Tier 3 escalations will be assigned to the
staff by the 3rd-party provider.
will also want to retain management of all vendors supporting
their clients or end users and their activity. This again is a
highly-visible, high-value activity that requires sensitivity and
direct attention.
may keep:
Monitoring and management of the service

board/dispatch portal
Tier 3 escalations
Vendor management
Integration
The more tightly integrated the 3rd-party NOC and Service
Desk providers systems and solutions are with the outsourced
344

service providers or internal service managers, the more

efficient and effective service delivery, visibility and reporting
will be. Since reporting is so important in terms of KPI
management and utilized to reflect service value to end
clients by the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager, the tighter the integration between these systems,
the easier it will be to aggregate the necessary performance
data to generate these critical reports.
Transitioning Clients
It will be simpler to on-board new clients or end users to the
3rd-party NOC and Service Desk provider as the single point of
contact than it will existing clients and end users. The reason
for this is simple new clients and end users expectations
can be set appropriately during pre-sales, on-boarding and
service turn-up, or go-live to understand and accept the
integrated service delivery process. Existing clients and end
users; however, are a different story, as they are being asked
to accept a change to an unknown experience, and are
comfortable with the existing outsourced service providers or
internal service managers processes, staff and deliverables.
When transitioning existing end users or clients to a 3rd-party
provider, it is imperative for the outsourced service provider
or internal service manager to reflect a better experience for
them to the decision maker. Some points to impress to the
345

client or end user by the outsourced service provider or

internal service manager may include:
The relationship, management and monitoring of all

service delivery processes and KPIs will be retained by
the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager
Tier 3 escalations will be retained by the outsourced
service provider or internal service manager
Vendor management responsibilities will be retained
by the outsourced service provider or internal service
manager
A more consistent service delivery experience will be
delivered to the end users or client
Speedier call response will be delivered to the end
users or client
Increased first call closure will be delivered to the end
users or client
Increased customer satisfaction will be delivered to the
end users or client
The outsourced service provider or internal service
manager will be free to focus on more high-value
services for end users or clients that help them achieve
their business goals
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A final consideration for the outsourced service provider or

internal service manager to keep in mind when engaging with
a 3rd-party provider is that their NOC and Service Desk
Managers roles will shift from managing internal resources to
managing external ones, along with the relationship with the
3rd-party provider. This added responsibility will add
substantially to the NOC or Service Desk Managers duties, as
it is always challenging to manage an outsourced,
geographically displaced group of people. In order to achieve
success in this endeavor, the NOC or Service Desk Manager
must over-communicate with the 3rd-party provider and their
staff, and continuously monitor their PSA solutions service
board or management portal to insure the 3rd-party providers
staff is delivering services competently and adhering to SLAs.
A heavy emphasis on customer satisfaction activity is
recommended when using a 3rd-party NOC and Service Desk
provider, including conducting face-to-face and anonymous
electronic surveying, as well as outsourced 3rd-party telephone
survey activities.
347

348

Certified Network Checklist
Section 9: Forms, Tools and Collateral

Servers
All Servers with Microsoft Operating Systems running
Windows Server 2008 or later
All Servers with Microsoft Operating Systems have all of
the latest Microsoft Service Packs and Critical Updates
installed.
All Server Software must be Genuine, Licensed and VendorSupported
The environment must have a currently licensed, up-todate and Vendor-Supported Server-based Antivirus
Solution protecting all Servers, Desktops,
Notebooks/Laptops, and Email.
Desktop PCs and Notebooks/Laptops
All Desktop PCs and Notebooks/Laptops with Microsoft
Operating Systems running Windows 7 or later.
349

All Desktop PCs and Notebooks/Laptops with Microsoft

Operating Systems have all of the latest Microsoft Service
Packs and Critical Updates installed.
All Non-Microsoft PCs and Notebooks/Laptops must meet
similar OS-Specific requirements
All Desktop PC and Notebook/Laptop Software must be
Genuine, Licensed and Vendor-Supported
Environment
The environment must have a currently licensed, up-to-date
and Vendor-Supported Anti-Spam Solution.
The environment must have a currently licensed, up-to-date
and Vendor-Supported Anti-Spyware Solution.
The environment must have a currently licensed, VendorSupported Server or Network-based Backup Solution.
The environment must have a currently licensed, VendorSupported Firewall between the Internal Network and the
Internet.
All Wireless data traffic in the environment must be securely
encrypted.
The environment must have a T1 or other form of High-Speed
Internet Access with Static IPs.
The environment must contain Spare PC(s) per location
Comments:
350

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
351

Client Information On-Boarding Form

Client Info
Contact Person
Office Phone
Cell Phone
Home Phone
E-mail Address
Address
Domain Name Info
Domain Name
Registrar Name
Domain Created
Domain Expires
DNS Servers
User Account
Password
352

MX Record(s)
A Record(s)
Other
Misc
ISP Info
ISP
Internet type ( DSL/T-1)
Bandwidth
Dynamic or Static
Usable IP Range
Subnet
Gateway
ISP Tech Support Phone Number
ISP Tech Support E-mail
User Account
Password
Misc
353

Web & E-mail Hosting

Web Site Hosted on
Email Hosted on
User Account
Password
Misc
Server Info
Make & Model
Serial Number
CPU
RAM
RAID Configuration
SCSI
Battery Backup
Server Name
Administrator Account
Administrator Password
354

Domain name
Server LAN IP
Servers OS
Servers Role
Hard Disk Size
Number of hard drives
Fault Tolerance
FireWall
Hardware/Software
Make/ Model
LAN IP Address
WAN IP Address
User Account
Password
Remote Management (Enabled/Disabled)
Ping ( on /off)
VPN(s)
355

Open Ports
NATing Outside/Inside
LAN info
LAN Subnet
Servers IP
Gateway
Anti-Spam
Anti-Spam Solution
Version
User Account
Password
Backup
Backup Software and Version
356

Backup Schedule
Backup Device (Type & Model)
Number of back up tapes
Remote Backup/Vendor Name
User Account
Password
AntiVirus/ Anti-Spyware
Virus Protection Software
Version
User Account
Password
Spy Aware Protection Software
Version
User Account
Password
357

User Accounts
User Name
Password
358

Workstation Inventory
Computer
name
User
CPU
359
Memory
Hard drive

Network Inventory
Device Name
Make & Model
360
IP Address

Printers & Peripherals

Type & Model
Share Name
Physical Location
Point of Sale
Software or Hardware
Vendor
Version
Compatibility
361
IP address

Managed Services Agreement Example

This sample managed service agreement is included for instructional and
informational purposes only, and is not recommended, nor warranted for
use.
Always have legal counsel review any and all agreements or documents
that you utilize in your IT practice, or distribute to your clients prior to
doing so.
Local laws and liabilities can never be fully covered by any type of generic
document, including this sample managed service agreement.
362

10.
Term of Agreement
11.
This Agreement between

_______________________________, herein referred to
as Client, and _______________________________,
hereinafter referred to as Service Provider, is effective
upon the date signed, shall remain in force for a period of
three years, and be reviewed annually to address any
necessary adjustments or modifications. Should
adjustments or modifications be required that increase
the monthly fees paid for the services rendered under
this Agreement, these increases will not exceed ______%
of the value of the existing monthly fees due under this
Agreement. The Service Agreement automatically
renews for a subsequent three year term beginning on
the day immediately following the end of the Initial Term,
unless either party gives the other ninety (90) days prior
written notice of its intent not to renew this Agreement.
d) This Agreement may be terminated by either Party
upon ninety (90) days written notice if the other
Party:
363

I.
Fails to fulfill in any material respect its

obligations under this Agreement and
does not cure such failure within thirty
(30) days of receipt of such written
notice.
II.
Breaches any material term or condition

of this Agreement and fails to remedy
such breach within thirty (30) days of
receipt of such written notice.
III.
Terminates or suspends its business

operations, unless it is succeeded by a
permitted assignee under this
Agreement.
e) If either party terminates this Agreement, Service

Provider will assist Client in the orderly
termination of services, including timely transfer
of the services to another designated provider.
Client agrees to pay Service Provider the actual
costs of rendering such assistance.
12.
Fees and Payment Schedule

Fees will be $_______________ per month, invoiced to
Client on a Monthly basis, and will become due and
364

payable on the first day of each month. Services will be

suspended if payment is not received within 5 days
following date due. Refer to Appendix B for services
covered by the monthly fee under the terms of this
Agreement.
It is understood that any and all Services requested by
Client that fall outside of the terms of this Agreement
will be considered Projects, and will be quoted and
billed as separate, individual Services.
13.
Taxes
It is understood that any Federal, State or Local Taxes
applicable shall be added to each invoice for services
or materials rendered under this Agreement. Client
shall pay any such taxes unless a valid exemption
certificate is furnished to Service Provider for the state
of use.
14.
Coverage
Remote Helpdesk and Vendor Management of Clients
IT networks will be provided to the Client by Service
Provider through remote means between the hours of
public holidays. Network Monitoring Services will be
provided 24/7/365. All services qualifying under these
365

conditions, as well as Services that fall outside this

scope will fall under the provisions of Appendix B.
Hardware costs of any kind are not covered under the
terms of this Agreement.
Support and Escalation
Service Provider will respond to Clients Trouble Tickets
under the provisions of Appendix A, and with best effort
after hours or on holidays. Trouble Tickets must be
opened by Clients designated I.T. Contact Person, by
email to our Help Desk, or by phone if email is
unavailable. Each call will be assigned a Trouble Ticket
number for tracking. Our escalation process is detailed
in Appendix A.
Service outside Normal Working Hours
Emergency services performed outside of the hours of
public holidays, shall be subject to provisions of
Appendix B.
Service Calls Where No Trouble is found
If Client requests onsite service and no problem is
found or reproduced, Client shall be billed at the
current applicable rates as indicated in Appendix B.
366

Limitation of Liability
In no event shall Service Provider be held liable for
indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages
arising out of service provided hereunder, including
but not limited to loss of profits or revenue, loss of use
of equipment, lost data, costs of substitute equipment,
or other costs.
15.
Additional Maintenance Services
Hardware/System Support
Service Provider shall provide support of all hardware
and systems specified in Appendix B, provided that all
Hardware is covered under a currently active Vendor
Support Contract; or replaceable parts be readily
available, and all Software be Genuine, Currently
Licensed and Vendor-Supported. Should any hardware or
systems fail to meet these provisions, they will be
excluded from this Service Agreement. Should 3rd Party
Vendor Support Charges be required in order to resolve
any issues, these will be passed on to the Client after first
receiving the Clients authorization to incur them.
367

Virus Recovery for

protected systems
Current,
Licensed
Antivirus
Damages caused by, and recovery from, virus infection

not detected and quarantined by the latest Antivirus
definitions are covered under the terms of this
Agreement. This Service is limited to those systems
protected with a Currently Licensed, VendorSupported Antivirus Solution.
Monitoring Services
Service Provider will provide ongoing monitoring and
security services of all critical devices as indicated in
Appendix B. Service Provider will provide monthly reports
as well as document critical alerts, scans and event
resolutions to Client. Should a problem be discovered
during monitoring, Service Provider shall make every
attempt to rectify the condition in a timely manner
through remote means.
16.
Suitability of Existing Environment

Minimum Standards Required for Services
368

In order for Clients existing environment to qualify for

Service Providers Managed Services, the following
requirements must be met:
1. All Servers with Microsoft Windows Operating
Systems must be running Windows 2008 Server
or later, and have all of the latest Microsoft
Service Packs and Critical Updates installed.
2. All Desktop PCs and notebooks/laptops with
Microsoft Windows operating systems must be
running Windows 7 or later, and have all of the
latest Microsoft service packs and critical
updates installed.
3. All Server and Desktop Software must be
genuine, licensed and vendor-supported.
licensed, up-to-date and vendor-supported
server-based antivirus solution protecting all
servers, desktops, notebooks/laptops, and
email.
5. The environment must have a currently licensed,
vendor-supported server-based backup solution.
licensed, vendor-supported hardware firewall
between the internal network and the Internet.
369

7. Any Wireless data traffic in the environment

must be secured with a minimum of 128bit
data encryption.
Costs required to bring Clients environment up to

these Minimum Standards are not included in this
Agreement.
17.
Excluded Services
Service rendered under this Agreement does not

include:
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
Parts, equipment or software not covered by

vendor/manufacturer warranty or support.
The cost of any parts, equipment, or shipping
charges of any kind.
The cost of any Software, Licensing, or Software
Renewal or Upgrade Fees of any kind.
The cost of any 3rd Party Vendor or
Manufacturer Support or Incident Fees of any
kind.
The cost to bring Clients environment up to
minimum standards required for Services.
370

16)
17)
18)
19)
20)
18.
Failure due to acts of God, building

modifications, power failures or other adverse
environmental conditions or factors.
Service and repair made necessary by the
alteration or modification of equipment other
than that authorized by Service Provider,
modifications of equipment made by Clients
employees or anyone other than Service
Provider.
Maintenance
of
Applications
software
packages, whether acquired from Service
Provider or any other source unless as specified
in Appendix B.
Programming (modification of software code)
and program (software) maintenance unless as
specified in Appendix B.
Training Services of any kind.
Miscellaneous
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the
State of __________. It constitutes the entire
Agreement between Client and Service Provider for
monitoring/maintenance/service of all equipment
listed in Appendix B. Its terms and conditions shall
371

prevail should there be any variance with the terms

and conditions of any order submitted by Client.
Service Provider is not responsible for failure to render
services due to circumstances beyond its control
including, but not limited to, acts of God.
19.
Acceptance of Service Agreement

This Service Agreement covers only those services and
equipment listed in Appendix B. Service Provider
must deem any equipment/services Client may want to
add to this Agreement after the effective date
acceptable. The addition of equipment/services not
listed in Appendix B at the signing of this Agreement,
if acceptable to Service Provider, shall result in an
adjustment to the Clients monthly charges.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this
Service Agreement to be signed by their duly authorized
representatives as of the date set forth below.
Accepted by:
Service Provider
372
Date

Client
373
Date


Appendix A
Response and Resolution Times
The following table shows the targets of response and

resolution times for each priority level:
374

Support Tiers
The following details and describes our Support Tier levels:
375


Appendix A (cont)
Service Request Escalation Procedure

system
resolution
system
376


Tier 2 Support
resolution
system
377


resolution
system

resolution
378


system
379

380

381

382

Sample Managed Services Welcome Letter

Congratulations and Welcome to (Your Company Name) the
Premier Managed I.T. Solution Provider.
Since (Inception Date), (Your Company Name) has been
developing and implementing Information Technology
Solutions that improve our Clients Business Processes, adding
value to their Bottom Line.
Our new Managed Services Plan is a direct result of our
continual effort to identify our Clients needs, and alleviate
their business pain.
We are pleased and excited to introduce this valuable Service
to you and your Organization. We are now your I.T.
Department, and will provide Technical Support for each User
and Device on your Network, as detailed in your Managed
Services Agreement.
Your Managed Services Plan provides you with Unlimited Help
Desk/Remote Support during the hours of 8am and 5pm
Monday through Friday, excluding Holidays. Should your
Support need fall outside of these hours; you will be billed as
indicated in Appendix B of your Managed Services
Agreement.
383

In addition to providing you with Unlimited Help Desk/Remote

Support, we will also monitor your Servers and their Critical
Services such as Exchange, SQL Databases, and other specific
Line-Of-Business Applications installed on them, along with
your Internet Connection and Firewall/Routers 24 hours a day,
7 days a week.
Should any of these Services fail, our Network Monitoring
Systems will attempt to restart them. Should these attempts
fail, a Trouble Ticket will be created immediately, and an
Engineer will be alerted to begin troubleshooting. Our goal is
to minimize your downtime, and this is just one tool that we
rely on to achieve this objective.
Weve made it simple to request Support just send an Email
to:
(Your Helpdesk Email Address)
Or, just ask for the Help Desk at (Your Helpdesk Phone
Number).
If calling after hours with an Emergency, please dial extension
(Your After-Hours Extension), and an On-Call Engineer will be
paged immediately.
Vendor Management is also included in your Managed
Services Plan. We relieve you of the burden of having to
384

manage all of your Vendors, and allow you the ability to focus
on running your business.
You will be contacted shortly by a Customer Service
Representative who will gather the information we will need
in order to begin providing this valuable Service to you, and to
schedule a visit from our Technical Team so that we can begin
configuring your Network for Managed Services.
Thank you again for allowing us the opportunity to earn your
business. In a short time, Im sure youll agree that youre
adding tremendous value to your Organization through our
Managed Services.
Sincerely,
385

Incident Management and Resolution Process Example
Incident Management and Resolution Process

Example
system
resolution
system
386


Tier 2 Support
resolution
system
387


resolution
system

resolution
388


system
389

Employment Ad for a Service Desk Engineer

Service Desk Engineer
Company: Name
Location: Full address
Job Category: Service Desk
We are currently seeking a highly skilled Service Desk engineer
with the drive and determination to help us support our client
base. This position reports to our Service Manager. We are
looking for an individual who is a problem-solver and has a
proven track record of working within a team environment to
successfully address challenging user computing issues, and is
accustomed to leveraging technical training opportunities to
improve their skills. If you have the experience and the desire,
we'd like to talk to you.
Our Service Desk engineers are responsible for maintaining
user uptime and improving their computing experiences
through effective remote monitoring, maintenance and
problem identification and resolution activities, as well as
390

growing and developing the organizations perception with

existing clients through exceptional customer service.
Candidates must be energetic and focused with a strong
motivation to learn new technologies and management and
maintenance processes. This position requires dedication,
This position will include identifying user problems and
working within a structured problem management and
resolution process to remediate them within established SLAs,
and involves working with other resources and vendors to
deliver effective support services. Responsibilities include
identifying, documenting and troubleshooting user computing
issues to resolution and maintaining client satisfaction.
technologies to deliver remote user support services and
update service request information, answer technical support
calls, assign ticket severity, prioritize work accordingly, and
collaborate and work with other staff and vendor support
resources to resolve issues. Overall relationship management
and the ability to coordinate required resources to respond to
complex IT requirements are desired. Other requirements
391

include participating in ongoing training and attainment of

manufacturer certifications, developing and maintaining
relationships with user and vendor contacts, and preparing
and presenting service and monitoring reports to
management regularly.
Minimum Skills Required:
Minimum three years Service Desk experience

Excellent knowledge of our supported software and
technologies
plus
This Position Entails:
392

Troubleshooting user problems over the phone and

with remote control technologies
services
requirements
The Successful Candidate must be:

A problem solver

with salary history.
393

394

Employment Ad for a NOC Engineer

Network Operations Center (NOC) Engineer
Company: Name
Location: Full address
Job Category: Network Operations
We are currently seeking a highly skilled NOC engineer with
the drive and determination to help us support our client
successfully address challenging network computing issues,
and is accustomed to leveraging technical training
opportunities to improve their skills. If you have the
experience and the desire, we'd like to talk to you.
Our NOC engineers are responsible for maintaining user
uptime and improving their computing experiences through
proactive remote monitoring, maintenance and problem
identification and resolution activities, as well as growing and
395

developing the organizations perception with existing clients

through exceptional customer service. Candidates must be
energetic and focused with a strong motivation to learn new
technologies and management and maintenance processes.
This position requires dedication, persistence, follow-up,
effective utilization of provided resources and unbeatable
customer service.
This position will include identifying hardware, network and
service problems and working within a structured problem
management and resolution process to remediate them
within established SLAs, and involves working with other
resources and vendors to deliver effective support services.
Responsibilities include identifying, documenting and
troubleshooting client network and computing issues to
resolution and maintaining client satisfaction.
technologies to deliver remote network environment support
services and update service request information, answer
technical support calls, assign ticket severity, prioritize work
accordingly, and collaborate and work with other staff and
vendor support resources to resolve issues. Overall
relationship management and the ability to coordinate
396

required resources to respond to complex IT requirements are

desired. Other requirements include participating in ongoing
training and attainment of manufacturer certifications,
developing and maintaining relationships with user and
vendor contacts, and preparing and presenting service and
monitoring reports to management regularly.
Minimum three years NOC experience

technologies
plus

397

Troubleshooting network, equipment and servicerelated problems with remote control technologies
Analyzing remote monitoring reports to identify
capacity and performance issues and remediate them
services
requirements

A problem solver

398


399

Employment Ad for a Service Dispatcher

Service Dispatcher
Company: Name
Location: Full Address
Job Category: Dispatcher
We are currently seeking a highly skilled service dispatcher
with the drive and determination to help us support our client
successfully address remote user issues requiring onsite
dispatch. If you have the experience and the desire, we'd like
to talk to you.
Our service dispatchers participate in our problem
management and resolution process, and assign resources to
and schedule all remote, onsite or bench services, as well as
growing and developing the organizations perception with
existing clients through exceptional customer service.
400

Candidates must be energetic and focused with a strong

motivation to learn new technologies and management and
scheduling processes. This position requires dedication,
This position will include coordinating efficient and timely
client installation and repair assignments through effective
management of our field engineering staff and working within
a structured problem management and resolution process to
complete them within established SLAs, and involves working
with other resources and vendors to deliver effective support
services. Responsibilities include continuously monitoring and
adjusting work assignments to insure optimum tech
productivity through efficient routing and maintaining client
satisfaction.
Job duties include utilizing our professional services
automation (PSA) solution to monitor remote user support
services and update service request information, answer
technical support calls, assign ticket severity, prioritize and
schedule work accordingly, and collaborate and work with
other staff and vendor support resources to resolve issues.
Overall relationship management skills and the ability to
coordinate required resources to respond to complex IT
requirements are desired. Other requirements include
401

participating in ongoing training and preparing and presenting

service reports to management regularly.
Minimum three years service dispatch experience

technologies
communicate with users, staff and vendors
Heavy scheduling and management of human

resources
Efficient and effective routing of each days scheduled
work to the appropriate field engineer
Heavy follow-up and follow-through
requirements
402


A problem solver

403

404

Employment Ad for a Service Manager

Service Manager
Company: Name
Location: Full Address
Job Category: Service Management
Career Level: Experienced (Manager)
We are currently seeking a highly skilled service manager with
the drive and determination to help us support our client
base. This position reports to our Director of Technical
Services. We are looking for an individual who is a problemsolver and has a proven track record of managing a technical
team to successfully address challenging user computing
issues, and is accustomed to maintaining technical staffing
levels, training and certification requirements, problem
management and resolution processes and client satisfaction
via strict SLA management. If you have the experience and the
desire, we'd like to talk to you.
Our service manager is responsible for maintaining client
uptime and improving their computing experiences through
405

managing our technical staffs effective remote monitoring,

maintenance and problem identification and resolution
activities, as well as growing and developing the organizations
perception with existing clients through exceptional customer
service. This position will directly supervise our Service Desk
and staff, provide customer service support, analyze trends in
client inquiries/requests for assistance, recommend
improvements in overall service levels and monitor staff
performance. Candidates must be energetic and focused with
a strong motivation to learn new technologies and
management and maintenance processes. This position
requires dedication, persistence, follow-up, effective
utilization of provided resources and unbeatable customer
service.
This position will include managing a structured problem
management and resolution process to remediate client
problems within established SLAs, and involves working with
other resources and vendors to deliver effective support
services.
Job duties include utilizing our professional services
automation (PSA) solution to manage technical support
services and collaborate and work with other management,
staff and vendor support resources to insure effective,
efficient service delivery to clients. Overall relationship
406

management skills and the ability to coordinate required

resources to respond to complex IT requirements are desired.
Other requirements include participating in ongoing
management and strategy meetings and preparing and
presenting service reports to management regularly.
Minimum three years service dispatch experience

technologies
communicate with clients, staff and vendors
Passion for teamwork, problem solving and
exceptional customer service
Management of human resources to meet

organizational goals for service excellence
Administrator of established company policies
407

Analysis of service delivery business unit data to seek

improvements in efficiency and productivity
Heavy follow-up and follow-through
requirements

A problem solver

408

409

Hiring Checklist for a New Technical Person
HR Hiring Checklist for a New Technical Person

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Run ad for technical person

Completed
Receive and review resume
Conduct telephone interview
Use standard interview questions
Email candidate DISC behavioral profile link
Email candidate PTSI profile link
Email candidate results of profiles
before live interview
Schedule live interview in office
Complete job application and typing
test
Review DISC behavioral profile
Review PTSI profile
Give candidate technical test
Review position requirements
Review training process and
timeline
Schedule second interview with upper
management
Establish start date for candidate (at least 1
week out to check references)
Email offer letter to candidate
Conduct criminal background check and
reference check
410

Hiring Checklist for a New Technical Person
11.
12.
Schedule appointment for drug screen

New hire orientation
Issue employee handbook
Schedule company training
Company tour and introduction to
staff
411

Whats on the Download?
HR Interview Questions for a New Technical

Person
Primary Questions*
What do you know about our company?

What we are looking for is do they know us or have
they at least looked at the web site. (we fill them in if
they dont know)
Tell me a little bit about yourself. If needed clarify (tell
me about your previous jobs)
What are some of your strengths .. Weaknesses?
What do you see yourself doing in 3 years? . how
about in 5 years?
Tell me a time when you made a mistake and what
steps did you take to resolve the issue?
What do you get excited about? . What upsets you?
What situations make you lose your temper?
What was one of your greatest successes?
What are 3 things you do extremely well?
What are 3 things you need to work on?
In a group or team what position do you take on?
Tell us about a team you have worked in.
What are three positive things your last boss would say
about you?
How much guidance and management do you like?
How much do you feel you need?
What type of people do you work best with?
412

If budgets were of no concern, what would be the first

thing you would spend money on and why?
What are your compensation requirements?
Can we have references?
Can you send us an example of something youve
written?
Do you have any questions for us?
Additional Questions*
Is there anything that would interfere with your

regular attendance?
What would your perfect job look like?
Why should we hire you?
What makes you more qualified than the other
applicants?
What are the skills that you think would benefit our
company?
How do you see yourself fitting in to our organization?
Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, Outlook and Vista
What type of work environment do you like?
How do you work under pressures & deadlines?
If you could start your career again, what would you do
differently?
How would you describe your personality? What is
your favorite movie of all time? Why?
413

Describe a time when you made a client/client

extremely happy?
Do you mind if we call your former employer?
Why are you considering a career change at this time
or leaving your current position?
What do you like and dislike about your current
position?
What about this position do you find the most
attractive? .... Least attractive?
In your present position, what problems have you
identified that had previously been overlooked?
What kind of feedback have you received from past
clients and clients?
How have you handled negative feedback from clients,
clients, or team members?
Give us an example of a time where there was a
conflict in a team/group that you were involved in and
how it was resolved.
Information Systems Questions*
Describe your documentation skills

Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on, Windows Server,
Backup Exec, Visio, Trend/Norton AV.
How comfortable are you working with various
hardware?
What important trends do you see in our industry?
Do you hold any certifications?
414

How do you feel about attaining certifications?

Do you own a car and have a drivers license?
Do you mind using your personal vehicle for work?
What are your hours of availability?
How do you feel about working some nights and
weekends?
What are the seven layers of the OSI model?
What sort of cabling is suitable for Fast Ethernet
protocols?
What is the difference between a hub, switch, and
router?
What is a default route?
What is the difference between TCP and UDP?
How would you optimize Exchange memory usage on a
Windows Server server with more than 1Gb of
memory?
What are the standard port numbers for SMTP, POP3,
IMAP4, RPC, LDAP and Global Catalog?
What are the IP address ranges for class A-E? 5.
What items of information would you request from a
user to effectively address a technical problem?
What command do you use to force the client to give
up the DHCP lease if you have access to the client PC?
Whats the difference between forward lookup and
reverse lookup zones in DNS?
How do you breakup a broadcast domain?
415

If you were setting up a new PC for an existing user

with and existing a PC what steps would you go
through?
Name key files or directories on a Windows system
that should always be backed up.
What are some things to troubleshoot for an I/O error
reported in your backup logs?
Scenario Questions*
A call comes in to the help desk from a user stating

that no one in his or her building can get logged on.
The PCs in that building are plugged into a switch and
then connected to your building with routers over a T1 line. What do you do?
Fifty new PCs are to arrive within two weeks, and
you're tasked with installing them. You have a staff of
five people. Describe how you would take this project
from beginning to end.
A call comes in from a client that is irate because it has
been 3 hours and his/her problem hasnt been fixed
yet. Describe how you would deal with this situation
step by step.
What is DHCP and how does it work? What is it used
for?
What is DNS and how does it work? What is it used
for?
Describe what a netmask is. How does it work?
416

*Special thanks to Kurt Sippel from Applied Tech Solutions
417

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