INTRODUCTION
This paper presents the results of a survey prior to the CUG in Stuttgart Germany held in June 1998. A request to complete the survey was mailed to 187 email addresses in early May with responses requested by the end of the month. Where possible, the survey was sent directly to the CUG User services Contact for the site. The User Services Contact listing in the CUG database is not well populated. When no contact was named or no email address provided, the email was sent in order of preference to the CUG Site Liaison, an other official liaison (operations or operating systems), to someone I knew at the site, or to a user who had attended a previous CUG and had an email address available in the database.
A total of 38 surveys were returned and are included in these results. Four of the responses answered only the first question and are therefor included only in the graph for that question. Beginning with the second question there is a maximum of 34 surveys included in the results. In multiple part questions, if a survey doesn't respond to any of the parts, those results are removed from the report. In a series of questions, surveys that answer "None" or "Does Not Apply" to the first question are excluded from results for the remainder of the series. Each question provides information on the number of surveys included in the results and the number of non-responses for each question or each part of the question.
Each question in the survey is presented below as it was presented in the survey except that the total number of respondents is shown in [ ] following the question and the number of respondents selecting a particular option is shown in [ ] following the option. For example, in question one, 37 responded to the question in the current timeframe (Now) and 36 responded for the future (In 2 Years). Of the 37 who responded to the first part of the question (Now), 19 had a single, centralized HelpDesk; 16 had two or more HelpDesks and 2 reported that they currently have no HelpDesk function.
SURVEY RESULTS
1. In your organization (e.g., company, university), who currently provides technical support? Who do you anticipate will handle technical support 2 years from now?[37,36]
NowIn 2 Years A single, centralized HelpDesk [19,17] Two or More HelpDesks, specialized by system or business function [16,16] No HelpDesk Function (Staff help each other or contact vendors directly)[2,3]
STRUCTURE OF HELP DESK (HelpDesk)
For the remainder of this paper, the four surveys which responded only to the first question have been removed from the results. Therefore a maximum of 34 responses will be shown for all question from this point forward. Note that the number in brackets behind the question represents the number of responses rather than the number of potential responses.
2. How is your HelpDesk organized?[32] All staff rotate through HelpDesk or share HelpDesk responsibilities[8] Traditional hierarchy: staff and supervisor(s)[13] Self-directed teams[5] Mixture of traditional & self-directed teams[4] Other, specify [2] Computer manager provides help[1] Different sites staff HelpDesk at different times[1]
3. How many internal levels (tiers) of support exist within your HelpDesk?[34] Single level of support [19] 2 or more levels of support[15]
4. How many days per week is your HelpDesk open?[32] < 5[1] 5[29] 6[0] 7[2]
5. How many hours/day (0-24) is your HelpDesk open?[33] Weekdays Saturdays Sundays
6. How many users does your HelpDesk support (# of users with valid login ids)? [32]
7. Are most of your users local or remote?[34] Local[14] Remote[13] About even[7]
8. How do users submit problems to your HelpDesk? (Mark all that apply.)[34] Phone[29] FAX[6] Email [34]Voice Response Unit [3] Walk-in [21] Call Logging Software[2] Other (Specify)[3] Web forms[2] Voice Mail[1]
9. How many people (individuals) take at least one shift on your HelpDesk each month (Part-time staff & full-time staff each count as one)?[30]
10. Of the individuals in Question 9, what number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff support your HelpDesk activities (2 half-time employees count as one FTE; an individual whose work duties are 100% in support of HelpDesk-related activities counts as one FTE even if he/she sits on the HelpDesk only 4 hours each week; an individual who works in another group but sits on the HelpDesk fours hours each week counts as .1 FTE, e.g., 4/40=.1)?[27]
11. How many individuals are simultaneously on the HelpDesk during prime shift on Monday through Friday?[31]
12. Does your organization currently outsource any HelpDesk services?[30] All[0] Some[6] None[23] Not outsourced but task is performed by contractor employees (government sites)[1] Currently making plans for outsourcing HelpDesk[0]
PERSONNEL 13. What are the most important qualities for HelpDesk staff? (Mark up to 5 choices)[32] Communication skills[24] Customer service skills[19] Technical skills[26] Patience[9] Quickness to learn new technologies[11] Analytical skills[22] Team skills[7] Adaptablity[3] Persistence[2] Organization skills[3] Responsibleness[17]
14. What formal training is given to HelpDesk staff? (Mark all that apply)[31] Cray technical classes[18] Other vendor classes[14] Communication classes (oral/written)[3] Conference attendance/Tutorials[14] Time/Stress management classes[1] Company's internal classes[12] None[8]
15. How many computer-related training hours are targeted per HelpDesk staff member per year?[18; 8 surveys did not provide any training and 8 others surveys did not respond to any of the four parts to this question] Off-Site classroom training (include conference tutorials)[9] On-Site classroom training[12] Self study[9] On the job training[15]
16. How many years has the average HelpDesk staff member worked on the HelpDesk? [27]
17. To hire new staff for your HelpDesk, with "average" capabilities, what qualifications would you advertise for [30]
a. Education level? No university degree required Bachelors degree or equivalent Masters degree or equivalent Doctorate or equivalent
b. Professional computing experience level? No experience required 1-2 years experience 3-4 years experience 5-8 years experience >8 years experience
18. What sources are used to recruit your HelpDesk staff? (Mark all that apply)[25] Internal company announcements[20] Newspapers, local[14] Newspapers, major cities[9] On-Line sources (web, maillists, etc.)[16] Professional journals[2] College campus recruitment[12]
INCOMING CALL COMPOSITION
19. What is the approximate number of contacts (calls, emails, etc.) per month?[29]
20. What trend has been seen regarding the number of contacts received over the last 2 years?[31] Increasing number of contacts[8] Decreasing number of contacts[7] Constant number of contacts[16]
21. If you chose "increasing" or "decreasing" in Question 20, what do you see as the 2 primary reasons for that trend (the reason associated with an increasing trend is given first in each pairing below)?[7 for increasing; 8 for decreasing] Platform maturity (new computer or older computer)[5,3] Number of Users (increasing or decreasing)[5,0] Stability of users (high or low turnover rate)[3,4] Users demand more services or users get services elsewhere[1,0] HelpDesk responsibilities (additional or reduced)[3,0] Poor user training or proactive activities by HelpDesk[1,1] User questions more sophisticated or recurring problems solved[2,2] Other, please specify[1,2] Increasing: Diversity of Architectures[1] Decreasing: Use of Web[2]
22. What is the incoming contact volume by resolution source? (Please total 100%):[26] % HelpDesk staff resolve the problem % Other organizational staff resolve the problem % Vendors/others outside of your organization resolve the problem
23. What is the incoming contact volume by solution time? (Please total 100%):[26] % On initial contact % Within 2 hours % Within 1 day % Within 2 days % Within 1 week % Longer than 1 week
24. What is the incoming contact volume by problem type? (Please total 100%):[27] % Hardware (all platforms) % Data Communications/Networking % Use of commercial applications % Debugging assistance or error analysis % Status questions % Administrative (e.g., forgotten passwords) % Other Two surveys reported "other" area usage, for the first it was 5% and for the the second it was 32%; neither specified the area designated as "other". This may be indicative of a problem with the return of the survey data.
PRACTICES/TOOLS 25. What responsibility does the HelpDesk staff have for each of the following activities? [9 less additional non-responses for each activity] Full Partial* None*Share responsibility or provide input Change control/management Maintenance contracts User liaison activities User training Documentation Newsletter support Software upgrade/installation Network support User account maintenance System resource accounting Monitoring support contract response time Other, specify
26. What hardware platforms are supported by your HelpDesk?[33] Cray MPP platforms[18] Cray PVP platforms[27] Cray/SGI Origin platforms[12] Other supercomputer platforms[15] Mainframe computers[5] PCs/Workstations/Laptops[13] Application servers[11] Other[3] SGI Visualization Computers[2]; NOW Systems; IBM; HP
27. Does your HelpDesk have a formal escalation policy?[30] Yes No
28. Does your HelpDesk have Service Level Agreements with any of the following?[28 less additional non-responses for individual service agreements[29] with SGI/Cray? yes no[28] with other vendors? yes no[24] with customers? yes no[25]
29. Besides escalation policies & service agreements, does your HelpDesk have formally documented procedures?[29] Yes[16] No[13]
30. When your HelpDesk is not staffed, how are user questions handled?[30] Forwarded to operations staff[5] Forwarded to HelpDesk staff at home[1] Forwarded to HelpDesk staff by pager[5] Held (phone recorder, email, etc.) for response during normal operational hours[17] Does not apply (7x24 HelpDesk coverage)[2] No specified procedure
31. Does your HelpDesk log user contacts?[32] Yes[25] No[8]
If contacts are not logged, go to Question 40. Since 8 sites responsed "No" to Question 31, there is a maximun of 26 sites that can respond to this remaining questions in this series (Questions 32-39).
32. How are contacts logged?[25] Tick marks on paper[1] Questions recorded on paper[1] Email messages/responses archived (not using a call tracking system)[7] Questions recorded in call tracking system[16] 33. When are contacts normally logged?[25] During the contact[20] Immediately following the contact[4] In batches as time allows[1] 34. What percent of user contacts are logged?[22] 35. For sites that are using call tracking software, please enter product name if it is a commercial product, enter "home grown" for locally written software. [16] The "other" Logging Tool was listed as "service center" but no other information was provided to identify the product. I am not aware of this product. 36. Where does your call tracking software run?[21] Cray[1] Mainframe[3] Mini[9] PC or Mac[1] PC or Mac on a LAN[4] Not computerized[3] 37. How often are HelpDesk statistics produced? (Mark all that apply)[21] Daily Semi-Annually Weekly Annually Bi-Weekly Upon request Monthly Not produced Quarterly If HelpDesk statistics are not produced, please go to Question 40. Since 4 sites do not produce statistics, a maximum of 22 surveys are left in the pool for the next two questions. 38. How are statistics generated?[17] Exported from call tracking software Automatically using computer software other than call tracking system Manually 39. Who sees the statistics? (Mark all that apply)[17] Customers[2] HelpDesk staff[16] Management[13] Vendors[0] Published or posted for all to see[2] Nobody[0] Other[1] Advisory Board
32. How are contacts logged?[25] Tick marks on paper[1] Questions recorded on paper[1] Email messages/responses archived (not using a call tracking system)[7] Questions recorded in call tracking system[16]
33. When are contacts normally logged?[25] During the contact[20] Immediately following the contact[4] In batches as time allows[1]
34. What percent of user contacts are logged?[22]
35. For sites that are using call tracking software, please enter product name if it is a commercial product, enter "home grown" for locally written software. [16]
The "other" Logging Tool was listed as "service center" but no other information was provided to identify the product. I am not aware of this product.
36. Where does your call tracking software run?[21] Cray[1] Mainframe[3] Mini[9] PC or Mac[1] PC or Mac on a LAN[4] Not computerized[3]
37. How often are HelpDesk statistics produced? (Mark all that apply)[21] Daily Semi-Annually Weekly Annually Bi-Weekly Upon request Monthly Not produced Quarterly
If HelpDesk statistics are not produced, please go to Question 40. Since 4 sites do not produce statistics, a maximum of 22 surveys are left in the pool for the next two questions. 38. How are statistics generated?[17] Exported from call tracking software Automatically using computer software other than call tracking system Manually 39. Who sees the statistics? (Mark all that apply)[17] Customers[2] HelpDesk staff[16] Management[13] Vendors[0] Published or posted for all to see[2] Nobody[0] Other[1] Advisory Board
If HelpDesk statistics are not produced, please go to Question 40. Since 4 sites do not produce statistics, a maximum of 22 surveys are left in the pool for the next two questions.
38. How are statistics generated?[17] Exported from call tracking software Automatically using computer software other than call tracking system Manually
39. Who sees the statistics? (Mark all that apply)[17] Customers[2] HelpDesk staff[16] Management[13] Vendors[0] Published or posted for all to see[2] Nobody[0] Other[1] Advisory Board
40. Does your telephone system produce statistics?[33] Yes[5] No[28]
41. Which of the following activities does your HelpDesk do? (Mark all that apply and give frequency)[??; 4 surveys did not respond to any of the parts of this question] Applies Frequency Distribute a HelpDesk Reference Card? Pull Down Menu To new users Semi-Annually Annually Bi-Annually As needed Distribute a HelpDesk User Guide (paper)? Pull Down Menu To new users Semi-Annually Annually Bi-Annually As needed Follow-up survey to individual service contacts? Pull Down Menu Daily Weekly Monthly As needed Conduct periodic Customer Satisfaction Surveys Pull Down Menu Monthly Quarterly Semi-Annually Annually Bi-Annually As needed
42. Which of the following technologies does your HelpDesk use? (Mark all that apply)[19] Expert systems/AI[2] Text retrieval[8] Alert & display systems[9] Remote monitoring tools[10] Change control software[5] Project management software [1] Customer survey software[2] FAX machine[12] Telephone headsets[8] Automatic call distributor[3] Voice response units[3] Voice recognition[0] Multimedia (single station)[0] Multimedia (all staff)[2] Other, please specify[1] WWW for long term documentation; news groups for short term issues
43. How does your site use Dynaweb ? (Mark all that apply)[29] Not Used[10] With Password protection[7] Behind a fire wall[0] All Cray Dynaweb documents available to users[5] Some Cray Dynaweb documents restricted to Center staff usage[15]
44. If Dynaweb is used, does your site extend it to do any of the following? (Mark all that apply)[8] Include local documents[0] Link Dynaweb documents into other web-based documentation[7] Provide better security[1] Other, please specify[0]
Some responses in the last two questions were modified slightly to remove the site name or other identifying information.
45. Just for fun, what is the funniest or strangest question/comment you can recall from a user?[9]
46. Additional Comments.[7]
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