What is sustainable growth in business?

Let’s get our terms straight first. Inc. defines sustainable growth as “the realistically attainable growth that a company could maintain without running into problems.”

But, in recent times, sustainable growth has taken on a new meaning beyond purely business success.

Nowadays, customers and employees alike expect companies to be more socially and environmentally aware as well as accountable and responsible for their impact in society. This has led to a new definition of sustainable growth. As Forbes now describes it, sustainable growth is growth that’s repeatable, ethical, and responsible to, and for, current and future communities.

What does sustainable growth look like in practice?

These definitions are great, but what does repeatable, ethical, and responsible growth look like in practice? Let’s illustrate this with an example of a company that most definitely does NOT commit to sustainable growth.

You’ve guessed it – we’re talking about Amazon.

Amazon is one of the top companies in the world: it has held the No. 2 spot in Fortune’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies for six consecutive years. While Amazon’s numbers and its focus on customer experience might be impressive, its business model isn’t.

According to Forbes, Amazon’s net profits increased by 84% in 2020, with sales hitting $386 billion. Yes, billion. At the same time, Amazon was systematically shortchanging workers on their paychecks and refused to pay corporate tax. Not to mention its enormous and growing plastic footprint, which increased by a third during the pandemic .

It’s clear that instead of committing to sustainable growth, Amazon simply focuses on maximum growth, with minimal regard for its workers, suppliers, or the planet.

But luckily, there are also a lot of companies that do commit to sustainable growth. To mention a few: Patagonia, which is “in business to save our home planet”; Gravity Payments, whose CEO raised the minimum wage in the company to $70,000; and Intersolve, who started talking about sustainable growth before it was cool – back in 1994.

How TOPdesk approaches sustainable growth

Now that we have a good grasp of what sustainable growth is (and isn’t), let’s hear from TOPdesk’s CFO, Rob Haaring, to find out how TOPdesk approaches sustainable growth.

“Sustainable growth is one of the four guiding principles of TOPdesk. Instead of doing whatever it takes to maximize our profit, we think about the long-term future. This has been the case ever since our CEO Wolter Smit first founded TOPdesk in 1994. We believe we can grow, make a profit, and positively influence our employees, customers, suppliers, and the planet – all at the same time. That’s what sustainable growth means to us,” Rob explains.

But how does this long-term vision translate into daily life? Let’s take a look at what TOPdesk does to commit to sustainable growth.

1. We use our own funds

Most organizations use external investors to maximize growth. TOPdesk doesn’t.

“Ever since TOPdesk was first founded, we’ve used the funds we generate ourselves to grow. We made a conscious decision to do it differently,” Rob shares. “When you’re working with external investors, it can be more difficult to stick to your principles – what if they have a very different approach to growth, for example?”

Of course, we never say never. But one thing’s for sure: if TOPdesk does decide to work with external investors in the future, they have to share our vision on sustainable growth. Rob believes that shouldn’t necessarily be a problem, though:

“Luckily, the market is changing: Corporate Social Responsibility and true sustainable growth are becoming increasingly important, for organizations and external investors alike. I’m very happy with this development,” Rob says.

2. We don’t skimp on research & development

Our software is our baby. Naturally, we want to keep it close. So, while some organizations slowly scale down their investment in research & development after a while to maximize profit, TOPdesk heavily invests in our software – no matter what.

Rob explains: “Our developers are crucial to continuously improve and innovate our software and make it as user-friendly as possible. We value our people and their expertise and never outsource development – even though that’s a lot cheaper.”

We believe we can grow, make a profit, and positively influence our employees, customers, suppliers, and the planet – all at the same time.

3. We invest in our people

At TOPdesk, we value the well-being and happiness of our employees over rapid growth or a quick profit.

Ways in which we focus on employee experience include bringing in temporary reinforcements to lessen the workload of our support heroes during busy periods or giving TOPdeskers the time and money (10% of their gross salaries) to invest in their own personal and professional development – and so much more.

We believe that if our people are happy, our customers are happy. It’s no wonder that some of our customers have been with us for almost 20 years.

Rob shares: “I am proud of how well TOPdesk takes care of both its employees and customers. It’s something we will never compromise on.”

4. We prioritize Corporate Social Responsibility

CSR isn’t just a box to tick off for us.

We know we’re not perfect yet, but we hold ourselves accountable and try to do better. By looking critically at TOPdesk’s footprint and finding ways to make it smaller. And by giving TOPdeskers the freedom to take initiative when it comes to doing things for a good cause.

Read more on employee experience

Read more about employee experience at TOPdesk to find out what we’ve been doing to become more socially responsible so far – and how we want to do better in the future.

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And it’s not all about adopting the latest tech. In fact, new research from the Service Desk Institute shows that so-called “soft skills” like emotional intelligence and communication are becoming increasingly valuable for today’s IT teams, while previously sought after technical skills are becoming less relevant.

5 soft skills IT departments need

Because technology is now changing at such a rate that technical skills can quickly become outdated and likely won’t retain value in the long term. And with artificial intelligence (AI) changing everything about how we work, it’s worth investing in uniquely human skills that can’t be replicated by machines.

1. Communication

Sure, your service desk employees should have the right technical know-how to understand a customer’s problem and help them find the solution they need. But effectively communicating that solution to them is another skillset entirely. Set yourself up for success by sourcing IT professionals with strong customer communication skills.

2. Emotional intelligence

According to the SDI survey, 73% of IT professionals see emotional intelligence as the most valuable skill for an IT professional to have over the next 2-3 years. And is it any wonder? Working at the IT service desk often means helping customers in stressful, emotionally charged situations. And nobody wants to be treated like a number. Making sure your employees can empathize and ask the right questions to get to the bottom of the problem won’t just save time – it’ll make for a much better customer experience.

3. Failing forward

You can’t innovate without making mistakes. And the same applies at the IT service desk. Your employees should feel empowered to take initiative and try to help customers without fear of failure. Foster a safe corporate culture where experimentation, failing and learning from mistakes is encouraged and you’ll be sure to see results in the long run.

4. Continuous learning

Your employees should always be learning – whether it’s their first week on the job or they’ve been part of the team for years. Encourage and facilitate learning and development opportunities and actively source employees with an intrinsic desire to learn – your organization will only benefit from their continuous growth.

5. Agility

Agile isn’t a buzzword – it’s a mindset. Done right, agile working can make your IT department more flexible, reduce response times and eventually create more value for your customers. When looking for new additions to your team, seek out people with an agile mindset, who actively embrace change and can think on their feet.

Help your IT team reach their full potential

If you want an IT team that consistently delivers great services, you’ve got to start by creating an engaging environment for your employees to work in. Check out these 5 tips for creating a better employee experience for happier customers.

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Here are a few of the funniest requests IT support professionals have received from end-users.

1. The “broken” printer

On the surface, this looks like a normal request to receive while working at the service desk. But when you realize that the caller has failed to take the paper out of the bag it was shipped in, you might struggle to keep a straight face.

2. False sense of security

Everyone knows that having a secure password is crucial in order to keep company data safe and sound. But in practice? Not all users take this as seriously as they should.

When you help an end-user with a request and you discover that their password is the same as their username, you might wonder why you spent all that time educating your colleagues on security best practices. (Bonus points if they’ve added a helpful hint that tells you this).

And when you learn that the device belongs to an IT manager? If you don’t laugh, you’ll probably cry.

Don’t be like this IT manager. Discover 6 ways to boost your organization’s IT security.

3. Incident #212

Subject: “Myspacebarisbroken”

Description: “CanIpleasehaveanewkeyboardsoIcanactuallywork?”

We’ll just leave that there.

4. Where’s the “Any” key?

This is a classic. There’s always at least one end user who calls in a panic when prompted to “Press any key”, unable to locate the mysterious “Any” key on their keyboard. Legend has it they’re still searching for it to this day.

5. The unattended laptop

Who doesn’t enjoy a good office prank now and again? But sometimes they get out of hand.

We heard a story about an end-user complaining that he had been “hacked” because whenever he booted the computer, the theme song from Game of Thrones would play. In fact, he had just left his laptop unattended, giving one of his colleagues the opportunity to adjust his sound settings.

Lesson learned: always lock your laptop before you get up to grab a coffee!

6. You can run but you can’t hide

There’s nothing better than watching a caller – who apparently has “no idea” why their network drive is full – trying to quickly delete all their movie bootlegs and music files.

Helpful hint of the day: If you share your screen with IT, we can see what you are doing.

7. USB driving me crazy

We heard that a user once complained that their USB thumb drive wasn’t working when it was plugged into their laptop (are people still using USBs these days?)

Turns out they had plugged it into the ethernet port instead. Oops.

8. Everyone needs help sometimes

And it’s not only your end-users who are struggling. Every so often, a caller needs help resolving a common issue, so you refer them to a knowledge item… which they actually wrote a few months ago. IT professionals make mistakes, too.

9. “Internet issues”

Another classic. No matter how many emails, intranet updates, and Teams reminders you send out, there’s always at least one person who doesn’t get the memo.

Any time there’s scheduled maintenance, there’s always that one caller whose mysterious “internet issues” turn out to be scheduled network maintenance that everyone else at the company already knows about.

Got a service desk story to rival these?

We’d love to hear about the funny IT support requests you’ve received – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Share your stories in the comments!

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IT professionals are only human. And sometimes, all they want is to be brutally honest.

Here are four things IT professionals really want to say (but, lucky for their end-users, they don’t).

1. “I have better things to do.”

Customer is king. That’s something IT professionals live and breathe by. But let’s be honest: sometimes, your end-users can be kind of demanding. (And no wonder, with customer expectations at an all-time high due to the consumerization of IT.)

So, when end-user X (let’s call her Karen for now) emails you about an issue with her headset as well as logging an incident, calling the service desk and walking by – all within 30 minutes of each other – you kind of want to tell her, “I have better things to do.”

Especially when it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation at the IT department because you’re dealing with major server downtime.

After all, urgency is based on priority – that is, your IT department’s priority, not Karen’s.

When incidents are sprouting up left and right, prioritizing the right incidents can get tricky though. But we have a solution. Download our Priority Matrix to find out how to better prioritize incidents in your organization (and keep Karen happy).

2. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”

Work laptops aren’t just used for work. Every IT professional knows this. They might not be very happy with it – for one, it massively increases the risk of cybersecurity attacks, which are already in overdrive due to remote working – but they know it happens.

So, when an end-user accidentally downloads a Trojan horse virus, you know it’s because they were using a dodgy application to watch the latest HBO series. Even though your end-user swears they didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.

All you really want to ask in this situation is: “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”

IT is always watching. And they prefer it when end-users are honest about what they did or didn’t do, just because it makes maintaining security that much easier.

IT professionals are only human. And sometimes, all they want is to be brutally honest.

3. “If only someone had created a knowledge item about this.”

“How do I request a new laptop?” “How do I connect to WiFi?” “How do I add a shared mailbox?”

IT professionals get these questions on a daily basis. And, if your IT department uses a knowledge base, you’ve probably already answered these questions in a knowledge item.

So, when one of your end-users walks up to the IT service desk with a question like this, you just want to say, “If only someone had created a knowledge item about this”, in your most sarcastic voice.

Of course, you don’t – you politely refer them to the knowledge item instead.

The reason you create knowledge items in the first place is to make your end-users’ life easier. But how do you make sure your end-users actually use them?

Remember: your end-users aren’t going to magically start using knowledge items – especially if they don’t even know they exist. Read this blog to find out how to write better knowledge items – and how to promote them.

4. “Am I being Punk’d?”

Sometimes, keeping a straight face at the IT service desk is pretty difficult. Some end-users are just so clueless when it comes to IT.

They “just aren’t good with computers” so they ask IT to investigate a “suspicious” pop-up, which turns out to be a Windows update. They think their desktop has died and gone to heaven, but simply forgot to turn the monitor on. Or they call the IT service desk to ask where the “any key” is, because the computer said to “press any key”.

When this happens, you kind of want to ask: “Am I being Punk’d?”

But then you remember that not everyone is as tech-savvy as you – and that’s also okay.

Sounds familiar?

We’re really curious about your experiences at the IT service desk. This is a safe space, so share your true feelings in the comments!

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So, in no particular order, here are 5 stressful moments that anyone working in ITSM will recognize.

1. Security scare

This is every IT professional’s nightmare. Whether it’s an employee who has taken “working from home” to mean “using a work device to stream the latest HBO show on dodgy websites” or an ex-colleague holding onto their old laptop as a souvenir, any kind of data breach is bound to send the service desk into disarray. (Of course, you’d like to educate your end-users to prevent breaches from happening in the future, but where would you find the time?)

2. Groundhog Day

Working at the IT service desk can feel repetitive, especially when you’re on your 12th password reset before you’ve even managed to grab a cup of coffee. And dull, recurring tasks like these aren’t just annoying when you’ve got more important work to focus on; they’re expensive, too.

3. Demanding end-users

You love your customers – after all, who else do you do it for? But they can be a teeny bit demanding sometimes. (And with the consumerization of IT leading to a rise in customer expectations, it’s no wonder).

While you’d love to be able to resolve every issue for every caller straight away, sometimes that just isn’t doable, especially when you’ve got more pressing incidents to manage first. (Sorry, David from Marketing, but your broken headset issue might have to wait a few moments while we deal with this data breach.)

4. The dreaded walk-up

Let’s set the scene: You’ve got a flawless service desk system in place. Employees lodge requests via incidents and your team diligently works through them. Well, most of them do. Some colleagues are a little more difficult to convince when it comes to using new technology – they’d prefer to speak to a “real person” to help them solve their issue. And, while it’s understandable, there’s nothing more stressful than dealing with a walk-up when you’re already snowed under with incidents.

5. Firefighting

Okay, so this one isn’t exactly a moment, per se. But working reactively and dealing with incidents as they come, without being able to prevent “fires” from happening in the first place, is a major cause of service desk stress. Constantly preparing for the next emergency can take a real toll on your wellbeing and even lead to burnout if left unchecked.

Does this all sound a bit too familiar?

You’re not alone. To keep up with increasing demands, IT departments need to find a new, smarter way of working. But how do you find your first step when you’re working reactively?

Our suggestion: switch to smart. Adapting your way of working to meet customers’ rising expectations won’t happen overnight. But there are small switches you can make tomorrow to help you maximize your time and work more efficiently.

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Find out why customers expect more from services and what it means for your IT department.

Why should you worry about service desk stress?

Before we dive into what you should be doing to combat service desk stress, let’s look at why you should be concerned about service desk stress in the first place.

The fall-out from service desk stress is what should worry you: it leads to high employee turnover, more costs to find and train replacements, and lower performance levels – all of which have a negative impact on both your employee experience and your customer experience.

According to GFI’s IT stress survey, insufficient budget, not enough staff, and unrealistic time frames are the main culprits that cause service desk stress. But the good news is you can do something about it! Follow these five tips and say goodbye to service desk stress forever.

1. Start a knowledge base

Storing the collective knowledge of your service desk in a knowledge base has nothing but advantages for your service desk. Most importantly, it’ll relieve some – if not most – of the pressure on your service desk employees. Not only will a knowledge base help your service desk employees spend 20% less time on recurring incidents, but your customer satisfaction levels will go up as well.

With more time and a complete knowledge base at their disposal, your service desk employees will now also be able to solve complex incidents themselves – which makes for more of a challenge than simple, repetitive work. Ta-da! Working at your service desk has become more fun – and less stressful.

2. Use a chatbot to handle straightforward incidents

We’ve talked about your service desk employees handling complex incidents with help of an active knowledge base. But wait – if your employees are using their magic to solve complex incidents, who’s helping your customers with more straightforward incidents? This is where a chatbot comes in.

Chatbots can make life so much easier for your service desk employees. How? Chatbots use your knowledge base (and its FAQs) to handle simple incidents. A chatbot analyzes the text of an incident and interprets its meaning. Based on this interpretation, the chatbot knows exactly what to ask or say to your customer.

Chatbots can take a load off your service desk employees’ backs by tackling simple, recurring incidents such as requests for password resets. Chatbots are the perfect solution here. They solve the incident; your customer is happy, and your service desk employees have more time to focus on more rewarding work.

The fall-out from service desk stress leads to high employee turnover, more costs to find and train replacements, and lower performance levels.

3. Empower your customers with a self-service portal

Free up even more of your service desk employees’ valuable time by setting up a self-service portal. With self-service, you give your customers the power to find their own answers – in their own time. This makes life easier for your customers and encourages them to take ownership of their service experience.

And why is a self-service portal good for your employees? Well – having a self-service portal in place will free up a big chunk of their time. Time that your service desk employees can now spend on solving bigger, more complex incidents, or gathering customer feedback to find out how to increase your customer satisfaction levels. Ultimately, it simply makes working at your service desk less stressful, and more fun and diverse. And remember: happy employees make happy customers.

4. Implement problem management

Have your service desk employees become pro firefighters? If your service desk is constantly overrun with new incidents and you never really have time to fix bigger underlying issues, it’s time to start looking at problem management.

Focus on improving your service desk by looking for the root causes of incidents and trying to prevent them before they occur. Problem management relieves the constant pressure that the firefighting of incident management puts on your service desk employees. And it makes for less frustrating, more challenging work.

5. Invest in your employees’ well-being

If you follow the tips above, your employees won’t be stretched so thin by the sheer amount of work anymore. But obviously, your service desk will still have to deal with lots of incidents at times – that’s just the way it is. In these cases especially, it’s important that you focus on your employees’ well-being.

Investing in your employees’ mental and physical health increases their concentration and boosts their productivity. So how can you make your employees’ well-being your number one priority? Invest in a massage chair and standing desks. You can also organize walking meetings or introduce a daily one-minute plank, perhaps during your stand-up. And don’t forget to provide snacks! Your service desk employees can’t function on an empty stomach. And they’ll love you for indulging their sweet tooth.

Stress no more

With these tips, you can make sure your service desk is running smoothly. But when things do get crazy at your service desk again, just remember to relax and take it easy. What are your tried-and-tested ways to deal with service desk stress? Let us know in the comments!

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Technology’s gender gap

Women in tech are scarce. In 2021, only 25% of the US tech workforce were women, even though women overall represented nearly half of the total US workforce. Women of color make up even less of the tech workforce: just 3% of computing-related jobs are held by Black women, for example.

Trans women and non-binary people in tech are even harder to find: in fact, a 2021 TrustRadius Women In Tech report didn’t even have enough non-binary respondents to make any definitive conclusions about their representation in tech.

The few women who do work in tech face obstacles daily: according to TrustRadius, 72% of women in tech are regularly outnumbered by men in business meetings, with some women reporting being outnumbered by a 5:1 ratio. And even more women, a staggering 78% percent, feel they have to work harder than their male coworkers to prove their worth.

But women in tech have to deal with more than “glass ceilings”: their main concern seems to be “the broken rung” on their career ladder. This term, coined following a five-year study by McKinsey & Company and Sheryl Sandberg through LeanIn.org, explains how women in entry-level tech jobs are less likely to be promoted to the first level of management.

This, in turn, limits the number of women available for promotion into higher levels of management – and is why most tech executive teams are still made up of the same white men. Unsurprisingly, women of color, trans women and non-binary people are even less likely to be promoted in tech.

Gender diversity at TOPdesk

Obviously, TOPdesk is no exception when it comes to these issues. So, let’s hear from the women at TOPdesk: how do they experience gender diversity at TOPdesk?

Marloes Meijer works at the TOPdesk headquarters in Delft, the Netherlands. Although her development team is equally made up of men and women, the department that Marloes works in is less diverse:

“When I tell people 50% of the developers in my team are women, they are usually shocked. At TOPdesk, such balance isn’t that unusual, although some departments do lag behind when it comes to gender diversity. Take our product development department: I’m one of only two female product owners among sixteen male product owners. That does feel weird sometimes,” Marloes says.

And the glass ceiling isn’t fully shattered yet either. Women at TOPdesk often need to prove their worth when interacting with customers while their male coworkers don’t. Everdien Kolk, now a member of the executive team, has seen it happen way too often in her sixteen years at TOPdesk:

“Customers often assumed female support employees couldn’t answer technically complex questions. Similarly, some customers would only take female consultants seriously if they had a technical background, while male consultants were taken seriously from the get-go, regardless of their title,” Everdien shares.

Representation matters

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Although the broken rung phenomenon affects TOPdesk as well, our current executive team consists of three women and two men. Marloes finds such representation really makes a difference:

“I look up to these women in senior management because they motivate me to think big and follow my dreams. Watching these women thrive in such a masculine environment is especially inspiring,” she says.

Laura Domingo Guillen, marketer at TOPdesk Australia, agrees with Marloes: “Seeing female representation in the executive team makes me confident about TOPdesk’s promise to improve gender diversity.”

And things are looking up for working moms as well. Kim Suzanne Stumpf, who leads the support team at TOPdesk Germany, found she was able to advance her career despite having children – which isn’t always a given, especially not in Germany. “I went from being a support employee to leading the entire support team, all the while working parttime to take care of my children,” Kim explains.

Companies can develop blind spots. That’s why we should always prioritize gender diversity and make sure we keep an open mind to our own shortcomings.

Bridging the gap

Still, we have a long way to go. And the onus is on tech companies to bridge the gender gap. So, how can TOPdesk commit to lasting change?

Sofie Drijver, executive team member in charge of global marketing, sales and consultancy, thinks we shouldn’t become complacent: “Companies can develop blind spots. That’s why we should always prioritize gender diversity and make sure we keep an open mind to our own shortcomings.”

Laura agrees. According to her, “living in such a fast-paced society means that there is always room for improvement when it comes to gender diversity.”

Although our recruitment departments go through unconscious bias training and TOPdesk’s hiring process focuses on a candidate’s potential and not on their background, one blind spot may be our focus on culture fit. Since tech is such a male-dominated sector, it’s more than likely that recruiters will unconsciously view other men as having a better culture fit for certain teams than (trans) women, women of color or non-binary candidates.

Marloes recognizes this: “We need to make sure no bias sneaks into the hiring process. I hope to welcome more female product owners to the department soon!”

Diversity with inclusion

Everdien thinks we should focus on hiring more women of color: “Our Dutch branches lack color, especially when you compare it to the demographics of the cities our offices are based in. This is something we should improve.”

But without inclusion, diversity means nothing. Diversity advocate Vernā Myers explains that “diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” Yes, we need to hire (trans) women, women of color and non-binary people. But the next step is making sure the environment is inclusive enough for such diverse talent to thrive.

Evidently, the tech industry has a lot of work to do to bridge the gender gap. TOPdesk takes this very seriously. Find out how we’re committed to creating and maintaining a workplace that encourages diversity, inclusion and belonging for all in this blog about Corporate Social Responsibility at TOPdesk.

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With that in mind, here’s a few things you should know about what it’s like working with TOPdesk.

We don’t take ourselves too seriously

We’d much rather be approachable than intimidating. That’s why we prefer to keep things informal. This is reflected in our flat hierarchy and the way we work together internally. We don’t believe in micromanagement; employees are trusted to come up with ideas and work independently.

It’s also built into how we form partnerships with customers; we give our people the freedom to take initiative and help you in the best way possible. That means our in-house consultants don’t get stuck waiting for a manager’s sign-off before they can get to work streamlining your services.

But we’re serious about our company culture

From experience, we find that our most successful partnerships are built with organizations who also place an emphasis on freedom, trust, and responsibility. We care more about creating viable, long-lasting relationships with our customers than making a sale. This means we’re happy to work with organizations who are a good fit, and we don’t mind saying no to those who aren’t.

We’re honest about what we can offer and what you can achieve

Maybe it has something to do with our Dutch roots, but we prefer to tell it like it is. In the end, we care most about helping people to do the work they love and do best. And, sometimes, we know that what a customer wants to achieve won’t be doable. So, if we don’t think we can help you get to where you want to go, we’ll be up front about it. We care more about creating viable, long-lasting relationships with our customers than making a sale.

And we’ve learnt from our mistakes

Over 25 years’ worth of implementations has taught us this much. And we’ve learnt a lot, especially from when things haven’t gone according to plan.

Some years ago, we were managing an implementation for one of our customers, an electronics company. When we first started working together, they were a relatively small account. They had always been pretty strict and hierarchical and, at least early on, this wasn’t a big issue. But as they grew larger and gained more international clients, the cultural differences became more evident. And our consultants, who were used to the open and informal TOPdesk culture, were having a hard time dealing with the gaps in communication and differing expectations.

It was clear that we weren’t on the same page, and it wasn’t a surprise when we eventually parted ways. Moral of the story? Company culture matters.

Read about what our customers have achieved with TOPdesk.

We’re out-of-the-box

Quite literally. We offer an out-of-the-box solution that’s easy to implement. And even though our software is standardized, it can still grow with your organization’s needs. After all, standardized doesn’t mean static. We keep improving our software with the knowledge, experience and best practices we’ve gathered over the years.

We believe a tool isn’t the answer, but rather a means to achieve your goals. Why spend so much time – and money – on tailoring your own version when you could achieve better results with standardized software?

Find your ITSM match

Finding the right supplier for your organization can be a real challenge. Not sure where to start? Try stepping back and looking at your own organization: What’s your company culture like? How do you prefer to work with suppliers?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll be able to quickly separate the stopgap solutions from the potential business partners when you start shortlisting.

Learn more about TOPdesk

Want to learn more about who we are and what we do? Here’s 10 things you might not know about TOPdesk.

The post What a partnership with TOPdesk looks like appeared first on MCG - EN.

1. Our CEO Wolter started his career as a programmer

Some CEOs are CEOs in name only. Not our Wolter Smit. He knows exactly what it’s like to work in IT service management. And no, not just from reading about it.

At 17 years old, he worked his way through university as a programmer at a small IT business. His friend Frank Droogsma, co-founder of TOPdesk, worked there as a help desk operator.

At this IT business, both Wolter and Frank experienced the problems help desk operators still face today first-hand. And from those problems, the idea for TOPdesk was born.

2. And he created TOPdesk’s first version in an attic

As a programmer, Wolter saw a lot of things happening that he felt could be done more effectively using software. Operators spending weeks on a single task, answering the same questions over and over and unable to keep track of important information.

So, he rolled up his sleeves and started coding in an attic in Delft. His goal? Helping other companies make their services better, simpler and smarter.

Over 25 years later, Wolter is still a geek at heart. Although he doesn’t code much anymore, he’s still actively involved in the development of our software.

3. TOPdesk has been around for over 25 years

When people hear the name TOPdesk, they often think we’re a young start-up company. We take that as a compliment. But we’re actually quite experienced: Wolter started developing the very first TOPdesk version in 1993, which then launched in 1994. By 1997, the TOPdesk journey had gained so many new customers and employees that they had to move out of their makeshift office in the attic because it just wasn’t big enough anymore.

4. We operate in 11 countries

Although TOPdesk was born in the Netherlands, customers across the globe use our software to streamline their IT service delivery. To offer the best possible service, we have to be where our customers are.

With that in mind, we opened our first international office in Germany in 2004. After that, other countries were quick to follow: the UK, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Norway. In 2013, we set up shop in Brazil. Then the USA, Canada, and in 2019, Australia.

Today, TOPdesk has 14 offices in 11 countries. This also means we can offer 24/5 global support, no matter where our customers are.

5. We prefer Playmobil over Lego

And no, this isn’t really about building things. Just think of service management software as Lego or Playmobil. It can either be tailored to your exact wishes like Lego or standardized like Playmobil.

With Lego, you need to find out what you want to build first and spend a lot of time finding the right parts before you can actually start building something. But once you’re ready to start building, Lego does allow you to build exactly the structure you want.

Playmobil, on the other hand, allows you to start building immediately. It has a more modular approach, and every piece has a specific place in the whole structure.

We’re like Playmobil in that sense. We offer an out-of-the-box solution that’s easy to implement. And although our software is standardized, it can still grow along with the needs of your organization. After all, standardized doesn’t mean static. We keep improving our software with the knowledge, experience and best practices we’ve gathered over the years.

We believe a tool isn’t the answer, but rather the means to achieve your goals. So why go for Lego and spend so much time – and money – on tailoring your own version when you can also opt for Playmobil and achieve better results?

We care more about building a strong partnership than making a sale

6. We don’t mind saying no

Even when it comes to potential customers. We care more about building a strong partnership than making a sale. And we find that our most successful partnerships are built with organizations who, like us, value freedom, trust, and responsibility.

Part of our promise to our customers is that we’ll be honest and straightforward about what we can offer and what you can achieve – even if it means occasionally saying ‘no’ to companies who aren’t the best fit.

7. We started TOPdesk offering a simple ticketing tool

But we’ve come a long way since then. We might have grown, but we never stopped believing in our purpose: helping people do the work they love and do best.

We still have everything in store to get your Incident Management up to standard, but we’re a match no matter your level of service delivery. Whether your organization has 20 or 2000 customers. And whether you want to streamline your IT service department only or want to branch out to Facility Management or HR as well.

8. We score a 4.6 on Gartner Peer Insights

Our customers like us. A lot. But don’t take our word for it. TOPdesk scores of 4.7 out of 5 on Gartner Peer Insights. Over 750 customers praise our fast implementation, user-friendly interface and the quality of our service and support.

9. We don’t believe in following ITIL (or other frameworks) to the letter

Obviously, ITIL makes some great recommendations about IT service management. But ITIL is a framework, not a rigid set of rules. Still, organizations often try to force ITIL guidelines on their processes without any regard for how their own organization actually works – and if it will benefit from ITIL.

Ultimately, like any other framework, ITIL is all about adopt and adapt. You have to make its guidelines work for the unique requirements of your own organization. After all, no two organizations are alike, so why should their processes be?

10. Our people set us apart

At TOPdesk, we believe that if our people are happy, our customers are happy. Yes – our software does the trick, is incredibly easy to use and integrates seamlessly with many other tools. But our people really stand out. They will always have your back. And that’s what customers notice. And what creates a loyal customer base.

TOPdesk may not be the only IT service management software on earth. But we sure have the best people. And that makes all the difference.

The post 10 things you might not know about TOPdesk appeared first on MCG - EN.

Starting Enterprise Service Management

Starting a new project is a challenge in all organizations and across all departments. Enterprise Service Management (ESM) sounds especially daunting. Total collaboration? Right. Easy!

Let me reveal a secret: ESM isn’t about following an all or nothing approach. Yes, ESM is often seen as a complete package, but who says you have to stick to that? You don’t need a complete overhaul of your department to get started with ESM: you can get excellent results with a few small changes.

We share three different routes that help you start your ESM journey. Just pick one that suits you and your organization best and go with it.

Before take-off

Before you start traveling, you have to make some preparations. The first and most important step towards ESM is making first contact and learning to speak each other’s language.

Let’s be honest: you can’t just merge a bunch of departments tomorrow and expect everybody to be on board and ready for take-off. The reality is different departments have different ways of working. Calls go through different processes, and even terms like ‘incident’ don’t mean the same to IT, FM, and HR. If you don’t even speak the same language, how will you work together on calls and projects?

So how do you make first contact?

Start simple: get together. Find out who’s who and discuss how you work. How do your different departments perceive each other? What problems do you run into when communicating?

If you’re not sure how to set up a meeting like this, use a practical example. How can you improve your collaboration for a specific process, like getting a new employee up and running? Come up with solutions for the problems you run into. Make a plan, stick to it, and get together again after some time to see if your collaboration is improving.

Once you’ve established first contact, you’re ready for take-off!

Route 1: move into the same space

Which direction do you take to planet ESM? One possible course is to try sitting together with multiple departments. While it’s a slightly larger investment (you’d have to at least find a space and move some desks), moving your departments to a shared space has a huge hidden benefit.

Moving workstations conveniently requires the expertise of different departments. You’ll need FM to find a suitable space and set everything up for the actual move. IT is usually responsible for making sure all workstations have the right equipment. Finance might have something to say about costs, and perhaps even HR will weigh in on the right conditions to work in after your move. It’s a great opportunity to see how your different departments work together.

Want to take another step towards ESM once you’re seated together? Try aligning specific processes across your departments to improve your customer experience.

ESM isn’t about doing it all or doing nothing. You don’t have to make huge changes to reap the benefits of ESM – small steps count too.

Route 2: start mapping a shared customer journey

Maybe sitting together isn’t the best option for your organization right now. Or perhaps you sit together already and want to move on to the next step.

What else can you do?

Take a look at one of your shared customer journeys. Map how your customers traverse space and time when they use a service you provide. When your customers need service from different departments, do they get a smooth ride or is there a lot of turbulence? That’s what a customer journey map will tell you.

Pick a relevant journey that involves multiple departments and interview customers who have experience with that particular journey. From the moment they first contacted the service desk, what was their experience like, and how can you make it better together? Was it easy for them to contact the right department? What happened after they submitted their request?

Perhaps the biggest question when you’re working towards ESM is: what happens when a call changes departments? Do you see a drop in customer satisfaction? An increase in wait time? A customer journey map will show you the quickest and most pressing improvements to your collaboration.

Route 3: invest in digital collaboration

Have you started working together and are you ready to process calls even more efficiently? Or did your customer journey map show that sending calls to another department causes delays?

There is another way to work together more closely besides physically sitting in the same space: sharing a digital space. Chances are each department has a tool to keep track of their work. While this is useful for individual departments, it can be a hassle to share calls and information for processes that involve multiple departments. This is why a single point of contact is essential for enterprise service management.

If you want to embrace ESM, try working together in a single digital environment where you can share calls and information easily. Of course, you could opt to simply share calls via email or other media you already have in place. But a dedicated tool does have additional benefits. Obviously, having all information on your assets in a single place makes solving issues related to any object easier. You no longer waste time documenting solutions multiple times.

Sharing a digital space also opens up the possibility for a single digital point of contact, where customers can register all their calls and where your departments can even share solutions directly with customers. The result? Better customer experience, and more time for your departments to focus on complicated issues and innovation.

Ready for more ESM?

Remember: ESM isn’t about doing it all or doing nothing. You don’t have to make huge changes to reap the benefits of ESM – small steps count too.

Feeling inspired? Download our ESM e-book to get the entire ESM low-down and start benefiting from working together!

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