LEGAL SERVICE DESK SUPPORT

Transcription

1 3rd Edition August 212 THE GURU S GUIDE FOR LEGAL SERVICE DESK SUPPORT LAW FIRM SPECIFIC METRICS & KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

2 WELCOME TO THE GURU S GUIDE, 3 RD EDITION I have been involved with the law firm service desk, also often referred to as the help desk, in some form or fashion for the past 23 years. While my role has evolved, from Am Law 2 firm I.T. Director, to CIO, to now President of a service desk outsourcing provider, I ve consistently had access to service desk data. Being able to analyse it, and make use of it in order to improve desk performance, has always been extremely important to me. Thus, we at Intelliteach have spent decades compiling law firm metrics of varying scale and size. Today, we share our findings with the law firm community in the form of this Guru s Guide. The original Guru s Guide, launched in August 21, included 6, analysed tickets and was followed up in January 211 with a 3 city Become a Helpdesk and Deskside Support Guru roadshow co-sponsored by the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). The data and statistics in this 3 rd Edition Guru s Guide represent over 2.2 million service desk tickets across a variety of law firm sizes, locations, and hardware and software configurations during the period of January 1, 21 to June 3, 212. If you have ideas or suggestions on what you would like to see in future Guru s Guides, please contact us at guru@intelliteach.com or me directly at lwaagner@intelliteach.com.

3 GURU S GUIDE: DATA & SYSTEM ASSUMPTIONS As was the case with the previous versions of the Guru s Guide released in August 21 and August 211, the 3 rd Edition is an evolving work in progress report and will continue to be updated with fresh data, as well as new metrics and performance indicators. The data and findings presented in the complementary 3 rd Edition Guru s Guide are based on specific technology infrastructure and service level assumptions. The report aggregates independent law firm user support and service desk statistics and metrics. It is based on 2.2 million service desk tickets (an increase of 1 million from the Guru 2 nd Edition last fall) collected and analysed from January 21 through June 212 across a variety of law firm sizes, locations and hardware/ software configurations. Items of note... The data presented in the 3 rd Edition Guru s Guide is based on the following: Analysis of more than 2.2 million law firm tickets 2+ major software rollouts and upgrades supported by Intelliteach service desk analysts within the past five years An Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system receiving, distributing and reporting the results of all phone and support requests is in place A ticketing system automatically recording each customer interaction and soliciting end-user satisfaction is in place (IQTrack) Any changes to the above systems or assumptions will alter the corresponding data. 1

4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Intelliteach, the largest law firm-specific outsourced service desk company, has released the 3 rd Edition of the Guru s Guide, a comprehensive report aggregating independent law firm user support and service desk statistics and metrics. The updated Guru s Guide provides unique benchmark data relating to the most supported legal applications, service desk staffing, service quality ratios pre and post-software conversions, Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD), and analysis of support ticket origins and day of service. The data presented in the 3 rd Edition is based on 2.2 million service desk tickets collected and analysed from January 21 through June 212 across a variety of law firm sizes, locations and hardware/software configurations. 3 RD EDITION GURU S GUIDE FINDINGS INCLUDE: TOP TICKET CATEGORIES 41% of the 2.2 million service desk tickets closed are specific to various versions of Microsoft Office, including 22% for Microsoft Outlook. The 4 th most frequent user support ticket handled by the firm service desk is Remote Access at 7%. READ MORE ON PAGE 4 THE CHANGING PROFILE OF MICROSOFT OFFICE TICKETS Intelliteach has supported over 2 Microsoft Office rollouts over the past 18 months which has lead to a steady increase in the proportion of Microsoft Outlook tickets. Microsoft Office 21 calls make up 19% of the total Microsoft Office calls, compared to 2% for the same period 12 months earlier. READ MORE ON PAGE 5-7 CONVERSION & UPGRADE IMPACT ON THE SERVICE DESK Conversions cause a significant increase in volume and add additional strain to existing resources, systems, and service quality. Ticket volumes increased by 42% during firm-wide upgrades and took an average of 9 days to return to pre-conversion levels. READ MORE ON PAGE 8-9 2

5 3rd Edition August BRING YOUR OWN DEVICES TICKETS BY ORIGIN TICKETS BY WEEKDAY There is a growing trend for law firms to introduce BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). We see a growing trend in the first half of 212, and we can only predict that this increase will continue to rise more sharply during the rest of 212 and into 213 and beyond. READ MORE ON PAGE 1 Data indicates that, on average, tickets created via have a lifespan 6 times longer than those originated by telephone. is far less efficient for both the user and the service desk: 78% of live (phoned-in) service desk tickets are resolved in that first contact whereas only 11% of tickets can be resolved in a single contact. READ MORE ON PAGE 11 Based on 2.2 million analysed tickets, Tuesday sees the highest call volume (2.3%) and Friday (17.1%) the lowest. It should be noted that all firms analysed in the Guru s Guide provide 24/7 support and therefore urgent issues that occur over a weekend can be dealt with on the Saturday or Sunday. Firms not providing 24/7 support typically see Mondays as the most demanding service desk call days. READ MORE ON PAGE 12 3

6 TOP TICKET CATEGORIES This chart shows the top categories of all law firm user support tickets closed by Intelliteach s service desk from January 21 to June 212. The total, including requests handled by internal legal I.T., exceeded 2.2 million tickets during that time frame. Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Word Document Management Remote Access PDF Tools Other Software Internet Explorer Document Production Tools Operating System Timekeeping Network Other Microsoft Office Administration Anti-virus, Spyware, etc. Printer Server Telephone PDA Desktop Litigation Support Hardware Laptop Equipment Request 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 4% 4% 4% 5% 7% 6% Printer Network Server Document Management Server Desktop PDA Procurement Hardware Telephone Laptop Exchange Server 1% 1% OF SERVICE DESK TICKETS relate to various versions of document management systems. REMOTE ACCESS is the 4th most frequent user support ticket handled by the firm service desk. How does your firm handle it s after-hours support? 4% 5% 5% 4% 6% 5% 6% 6% 8% 19% 43% OF SERVICE DESK TICKETS relate to various versions of Microsoft Office. 22% are specific to Microsoft Outlook. 1% 22% The next largest category is Microsoft Word at 19%. INTERNAL I.T. DEPARTMENT TOP 1 TICKET CATEGORIES 4

7 CHANGING PROFILE OF MICROSOFT OFFICE TICKETS The number of Microsoft Office rollouts and Office specific call volumes have increased steadily since late Q2 211: from 22, in Q1 211 rising sharply in the second half of 211 as many law firms rolled out both Office 27 and 21. Rollouts halted over the holiday period at the end of 211. Then came the wave of Office 21 rollouts with incident volumes increasingly steadily through early 212 and reaching more than 57, calls in Q [ TOTAL MICROSOFT OFFICE CALLS RECEIVED ] ,627 52,271 51,572 54,397 56,136 57,29 Distribution of calls by Office version as % of total XP Q1 211 Q2 211 Q3 211 Q4 211 Q1 212 Q2 212 Items of Note In Q2 212 we see Microsoft Office 27 calls start to decrease to 43% of total Microsoft Office calls as Microsoft 21 rises. Microsoft Office 21 calls make up 19% of the total Microsoft Office calls compared to 2% for the same period 12 months earlier (Q2 211 vs Q2 212). 5 By Q2 212, Microsoft Word accounted for 34% of all tickets for, while Excel generates 7% of all tickets. 2 4 As predicted in the 2 nd Guru s Guide, Microsoft Office 21 ticket volumes increased through the second half of 211 and into 212 as several client firms completed their rollout to Office 21 with Windows 7. Microsoft Office XP calls have decreased to just 5% of total Microsoft Office calls; Intelliteach continues to support some client firms who are using earlier versions though call volumes are not enough for significant data impact or analysis. 5

8 MICROSOFT OFFICE, A CLOSER LOOK Based on the 2.2 million service desk incidents collected and analysed by Intelliteach, Microsoft Outlook related questions are the most frequent. HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO YOUR FIRM? When we explore more deeply, the majority of these are how-to questions, e.g. how to set up Out-of-Office, how to edit a distribution group, how to change the Inbox view, etc. Service Requests 12% Create a distribution list, public folders, etc. Break/Fix 11% Performance issues, error messages, etc. How-To 77% Specific functionality questions Intelliteach has supported over 2 Microsoft Office rollouts over the past 18 months and this has lead to a steady increase in the proportion of Microsoft Office tickets which specifically relate to Microsoft Outlook. [ MICROSOFT OFFICE TICKETS BY APPLICATION ] Q1 211 Q2 211 Q3 211 Q4 211 Q1 212 Q Outlook Word Excel PPT Our data suggests that during conversion periods, the increase in Microsoft Office tickets is not evenly distributed. Microsoft Outlook is used by all end-users in a firm, no matter their position, from Document Production Specialist to Chairman. Earlier this year, we published our Office 21: Top 2 Service Desk Rollout FAQs, and it is clear from this that many Outlook how-to questions asked during conversion periods will be repeated until the next rollout. For example: how to create a signature, customising Inbox settings, etc. 6

9 INCREASE IN MICROSOFT OFFICE 27 & 21 As you would expect with so many law firms completing their Office 27 or 21 rollouts, the proportion of these two versions is steadily increasing. We expect this to continue as several clients upgrade to Office 21 during the second half of , [ MICROSOFT OFFICE TOTAL INCIDENTS ] 35, 3, 25, 2, 15, 1, MICROSOFT OFFICE 21 has increased significantly since last year and now represents 19% of all Microsoft Office tickets. Microsoft Office 27 5, Microsoft Office 21 Q1 211 Q2 211 Q3 211 Q4 211 Q1 212 Q , 25, 2, 15, 1, 5, Q1 211 MICROSOFT OFFICE 23 sees a steady drop in ticket volume: from 49% in Q1 211 to 33% 18 months later (Q2 212). Q2 211 Q3 211 Microsoft Office 23 Microsoft Office XP Q4 211 Q1 212 Q2 212 Microsoft Office tickets as a percentage of overall ticket volume remains constant - the last 4 quarters have seen this remain steady at 22% of total volume. More than half (54%) of the Microsoft Office suite calls relate specifically to Microsoft Outlook. When firms upgrade to a new version of Microsoft Office, the impact hits the attorneys, particularly with the new ribbon interface. 7

10 THE IMPACT OF CONVERSIONS ON FIRMS AND THE SERVICE DESK [ AVERAGE TICKETS PER USER PER MONTH ] % INCREASE IN VOLUME during firm-wide software updates. Pre-conversion Conversion 3 days post conversion 6 days post conversion 9 days post conversion CONVERSIONS CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN VOLUME AND ADD ADDITIONAL STRAIN TO EXISTING RESOURCES AND SYSTEMS. Most firms prudently staff to maintenance levels, not project levels, and require additional support to properly service the user community during upgrades. Using recent data from law firm service desks (average firm size 7 employees), volumes increased by 42% during firm-wide software upgrades. Analysis of a limited number of Intelliteach s full-time clients suggests that, on average, it takes three months for call volumes to return to pre-conversion levels. month 1 month 2 month 3! The impact to staffing is significant. The difficulties a firm faces in recruiting and training a team familiar with the new software while maintaining existing support for the old software is only magnified by the recent cost-cutting measures most firms have instituted. 8

11 RETURNING TO PRE-CONVERSION CALL VOLUMES INTELLITEACH HAS SUPPORTED OVER 2 MAJOR ROLLOUTS FOR MANY LAW FIRMS OF VARYING SIZES. HERE ARE TWO SAMPLE SCENARIOS TO DEMONSTRATE BACK TO NORMAL TICKET VOLUMES. Firm A Firm A implemented an aggressive rollout, or big bang approach across multiple offices, including international. Call volumes took five months to return to normal after the last user was converted. 1, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Average pre-conversion call volume: 4,574/month Pre-conversion Conversion Post-Conversion Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Volume returned to normal after five months Firm B 1, 9, Firm B implemented a slower rollout across its multiple offices. In this case, call volume took one month to return to normal after the last user was converted. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, Average pre-conversion call volume: 2,656/month Volume returned to normal after one month 2, 1, Pre- Conversion Post-Conversion Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

12 BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE: HOW IT IMPACTS THE SERVICE DESK There is a growing trend for law firms to introduce BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) as well as tablets (ipads and the like). In the ILTA 211 Purchasing Survey, 25% of firms responded that they had purchased tablets in the past 12 months and 25% planned to buy tablets or similar devices over the next 12 months. The introduction of BYOD policies such as ipads, iphones, Android devices, etc. and the associated technologies are starting to impact the number of service desk incidents. Overall, these are not significant numbers, however it is a growing trend, particularly in the first half of 212, and we can only predict that this increase will continue to rise more sharply during the rest of 212 and 213. The data below also includes incidents relating to cloud technologies such as icloud, Dropbox, WatchDox, etc. The use of such technologies does not come without risks. A study released by SkyDox in June 212 suggests that while many law firm users have embraced easier file-sharing platforms, many have done so without informing their I.T. department, which brings into question issues around security and version control. 1, [ THE RISING TREND IN BYOD INCIDENTS ] 8, 6, 4, 2, Q1 211 Q2 211 Q3 211 Q4 211 Q1 212 (Includes incidents relating to ipads, iphones, Dropbox, icloud, Skydrive, etc.) Q

13 TICKETS BY ORIGIN THE TICKETS BY ORIGIN CHART SHOWS HOW THE END-USER CONTACTED THE SERVICE DESK. 69% of contacts were made via the telephone, while produced 27% of total contacts. 2% other include phone and contacts made to other members of the I.T. staff. IS THE FASTEST GROWING CONTACT METHOD with most firms averaging less than 1% just five years ago. More law firms are also trying new channels for support including self-service and instant messaging. 8% % Voic 1% 1 Other 2% Walk-up 1% Incidents logged by Live Call Live calls by telephone 69% Number of contacts per service desk ticket Items of Note... While continues to grow in usage, are employees actually receiving better service? 1 2 A sample of 14+ tickets across a range of law firms were analysed and this reflected that, on average, most live calls can be resolved in the first contact (78%) whereas only 11% of incidents can be resolved in the initial contact. Data indicates that, on average, tickets created via have a lifespan six times longer than those originated by telephone. This is typically due to the user s inability to troubleshoot their situation or clearly describe the need they have in their original request, often requiring an additional exchange or callback. 3% 2 1 8% [ PERCENT OF ALL SERVICE DESK INCIDENTS LOGGED BY ] * 22* (*estimates based on IQTrack data) 1 [ EFFICIENCY OF LIVE CALLS VS ED INCIDENTS ] 6X longer lifespan Incidents logged by Live calls by telephone Number of contacts per service desk ticket 11 3%

14 TICKETS BY WEEKDAY THE TICKETS BY WEEKDAY CHART SHOWS ON WHICH DAY OF THE WEEK THE END-USER CONTACTED THE SERVICE DESK. 5, Perhaps surprisingly, Tuesday typically sees the highest weekday volume while Friday sees the lowest. 4, 18.8% 2.3% 19.9% 19.2% 17.1% 3, 2 1, Tickets on the weekend are slightly higher on Saturday compared to Sunday. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 2.6% 2.1% One might expect Mondays to have the highest call volume, however most public holidays are 3 on a Monday and if people take a long weekend, this may have some impact on call volumes. It should be noted that the firms analysed provide 24/7 support and therefore urgent issues that occur over a weekend can be dealt with on the Saturday or Sunday. If a firm does not provide 24/7 support, Mondays may be more demanding. Typically, firms not providing 24/7 support receive 1% of incidents over a weekend or weeknights after hours. In firms that do provide formal 24/7 support, that volume is likely to increase to 5% of total call volume, typically servicing timekeepers or fee-earners. 12

15 SURVEYS Measuring user satisfaction may be the most important measurement of all. If users aren t happy with the service they receive they will find an alternative for support in the form of a co-worker or possibly discover the answer or unsupported solution for themselves. Providing your end-user community the opportunity to rate each and every interaction with your service desk is critical in effective management of that function. Having ticket-specific reporting vs. annual or occasional surveys allow for action to be taken whether the issue might be specific to a particular analyst, a lack of team-wide training, training from which the entire firm might benefit, or sometimes an adjustment to user expectations. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATINGS.7%.8% 6.7%.7%.6% 6.6%.4%.3% 6.2%.8%.8% 6.8% 91.8% 92.1% 93.1% 91.6% QUALITY OF SERVICE TIMELINESS FRIENDLINESS OVERALL EXPERIENCE EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR NEEDS IMPROVEMENT Above are survey results from January 1, 21 to June 3, 212 based on satisfaction surveys completed by 125, random and voluntary end-users. While this benchmark might not be a realistic target for all law firms, it is equally imperative that once survey information is collected, any negative items are addressed immediately. In our environment, poor surveys automatically reopen, the priority changes to emergency status, and the ticket is escalated to a member of management. Regardless of how you handle your workflow, never allow a complaint to go unanswered. AN AVERAGE OF 98.7% excellent or good ratings 13

16 Intelliteach provides 24/7/365 support to over 1, law firm employees in 5 countries spanning 1,25 locations and including more than 35% of the AmLaw 2. Our focus on technical/software support for the legal industry and award winning customer service performance will continue to remain industry leading. It is our privilege to develop and provide the products and services that allow firms to manage, grow, and protect their businesses. Intelliteach offers need-based support options including: Complete service desk outsourcing (live user support 24/7/365) After-hours support (extends the internal law firm service desk with additional coverage at night and on weekends) Overflow support (provides call assistance on an as-needed basis) 1% customisable support options to work with your firms Service Desk needs Intelliteach opened a dedicated London/UK office in December 29. Over the past 15 years, Charles Street has evolved to become a leading provider of outsourced IT infrastructure and software services, building a strong, reputable client base through technical innovation and service excellence. Based in the heart of the City of London, Charles Street Solutions significant investments into its UK ISO 271 certified data centres and the onshore/offshore software development team allow it to align closely to clients working practices to deliver world-class, secure data hosting.