Whilst this was the 18th annual Service Desk & IT Support Show, it was the first to be hosted by its new owner Diversified Business Communications.

“We really couldn’t have wished for a better event,” comments Diversified UK’s managing director Carsten Holm.  “Integrating established shows and their teams into a new company is always a huge challenge – or, well, it is supposed to be!  But on this occasion, the integration of Service Desk & IT Support Show has been virtually seamless and actually, rather than a challenging, delicate exercise, it’s been fun and a positive development for the future of this essential industry event.”

“The reaction to the show this year has been incredible,” says event manager Laura Venables.  “Visitors gathered in their thousands and the ‘buzz’ on the show floor was unmistakable!  Seminars were absolutely full-to-the-brim, stands were notably slicker and smarter, and exhibition teams were confident, proactive and always ready to greet our visitors.  The Service Desk & IT Support Show truly is the biggest and best platform for uniting this industry and this year there was a genuine sense of one community coming together to connect, support, share and learn from each other.  From visitors to exhibitors, from sponsors to speakers, everybody gained real value from being involved and we’re delighted that it was a complete success.”

Firmly established as the UK’s leading event for IT service and support professionals, this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show (SITS) was packed with thousands of highly-focused and informed visitors looking to source the latest solutions from some of this industry’s leading specialist vendors, integrators, consultancies and service providers.  Visitor numbers aside, it was also the quality of the visitors that impressed countless exhibitors.  As a result, an incredible 72% of exhibitors have already rebooked for next year’s show.

“We’ve been exhibiting at the Service Desk & IT Support Show for six years but over the last year the event has really come into its own,” says Koby Amedume, marketing director at Kaseya International.  “The quality of the attendees and the conversations we are still having has made the investment worthwhile.”

“It was a fantastic event,” says Tessa Troubridge, managing director of the Service Desk Institute.  “We had a fabulous two days of extremely engaging conversations with both new and existing customers alike.  Everyone we spoke to had visited the show for a specific purpose and there was a real sense of focus and drive from this year’s visitors.  We can’t wait to come back next year!”

Like many exhibitors, Sunrise Software’s on stand trainers were busy throughout the two-day show hosting product demonstrations to a “knowledgeable audience” of attendees:  “We felt there was a real energy at the show this year.  A knowledgeable, informed audience was well served by an enthusiastic vendor community that worked tirelessly to make the event succeed, both individually and collectively,” says sales director Geoff Rees.

Alemba Limited was equally upbeat, having enjoyed a “very successful show”.  Citing “amazing feedback”, Mita Morris, the company’s marketing manager praised the event’s “vibrant, exciting and buzzing atmosphere”.

Given the growing prevalence of social media and the use of user-owned devices (BYOD) within today’s businesses, both ‘mobile’ and ‘social’ featured prominently in conversations throughout the event.  From the event’s first Breakfast Briefing: ‘Empowering People on the Move’, which was based on exclusive White Paper findings by Cherwell Software and the Service Desk Institute (SDI), to the record-breaking 1,000 plus #SDITS12 Tweets being splashed across the Hornbill Service Management sponsored Twitter screens – this year’s show was very much a forum for an exchange of thought-provoking ideas on the future role of the traditional IT service desk.

“New trends are affecting IT service delivery all the time – from users wanting to bring in their own devices through to demands for support over multiple channels, the service desk is faced with challenges and opportunities around delivering value.  Looking at the process layer helps ITSM meet these evolving needs head on both now and in the future,” commented Frederic Richer, EMEA marketing director, Serena Software (sponsor of the event’s three seminar theatres).  “During this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show we have seen a huge amount of interest in how organisations can apply best practices around management and building better processes.  The event itself continues to grow in importance as IT organisations consider how to manage and orchestrate their IT resources across operations, development and support.”

Whilst new products and software applications remained a practical draw for many visitors to the show, the exceptional show content – including six Keynotes (in association with Ovum), 40 seminars, two Breakfast Briefings, and 24 Hot Topic Roundtable discussions – offered a host of aspirational solutions to the key issues and challenges affecting today’s ITSM and IT support community.  With many sessions enjoying standing room only crowds, notable highlights for 2012 included ServiceNow’s Chris Dancy discussing emerging technologies in ‘Cloud, Mobility and the Coming Singularity’; a popular BACK2ITSM presentation and podcast discussion promoting the principle of ‘shared practice’, ‘Lean, mean IT machine’ presented by Roy Illsley from Ovum; and IT support consultant Noel Bruton talking about new support methods for BYOD in ‘Why & how we must support users own tech’.

“The UK’s IT user support industry needs the Service Desk & IT Support Show to be successful, as the annual event has always been at the heart of this industry.  It always delivers and this year was no exception, with the show’s transition to new management passing seamlessly,” comments Bruton.  “As a speaker, I was gratified to see all my presentations packed to the doors, testifying to Diversified’s ability to attract the right audience.  It was also good to see how some of the vendors are now seriously innovating – I suspect that Diversified may have on its hands a show to take the UK’s IT user support industry into a new era.”

“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the industry – you’ll never know everything,” adds visitor Nina Pink, IT service manager at Dairy Crest.  “The show is a great forum to pick up hints and tips on how to continue improving the services our customers expect.”

The Service Desk & IT Support Show (SITS) returns to Earls Court, London, on 23-24 April 2013.  For more information, please visit www.servicedeskshow.com.

###

Media enquiries to:
Emma-Louise Jones, PR Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645134        e: ejones@divcom.co.uk      http://www.twitter.com/DiversifiedUK

http://www.divcom.co.uk

Exhibitor enquiries to:
Laura Venables, Event Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645138        e: lvenables@divcom.co.uk     http://www.twitter.com/SDITS

http://www.servicedeskshow.com

Notes:

• Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd (Diversified UK) is a fast growing trade event organiser and publisher based in Brighton. In addition to the Service Desk & IT Support Show, Diversified UK’s portfolio includes Natural & Organic Products Europe, Natural Products Scandinavia, lunch!, camexpo, office*, office INTERIORS, Natural Products magazine and the Natural Beauty Yearbook.

• Diversified UK is part of Diversified Business Communications, a leading international media company with a successful portfolio of sector leading exhibition, conferences, publications and websites.

Laura Venables, Service Desk & IT Support Show’s event manager, comments: “Our exhibitors include some of the most innovative names in the industry, who are constantly evolving and developing their products and services to help improve the way their clients work and do business.  So whether visitors are travelling from a mile away or across Europe to attend, they’ll find plenty here that they simply won’t find at any other UK show.”

The Service Desk & IT Support Show has established a huge following for being the go-to event for IT service and support professionals wishing to utilise the latest tools, technology, and ideas they need to meet the unique challenges of their rapidly evolving industry.  With nearly a quarter of the event’s exhibitors appearing for the first time, and many returning exhibitors having already announced new launches to coincide with the show, visitors to this essential two-day event will benefit from seeing hundreds of the latest innovations and advances from some of this industry’s leading specialist vendors, integrators, consultancies and service providers.

First time exhibitors for 2012 include Celonis, Epaccsys, EXIN, GFI Max, ISL Online, N-able Technologies, panintelligence, Selection, Simplisys, The Open University, Virtuacon, xMatters, Aim Hire Recruitment, IT Training Zone, Visionera AB, plus leading IT and BPO managed services company Intelegencia Analytics.

The most recent new addition to the exhibitor list, Perry Chaturvedi, Intelegencia Analytics’ founder and CEO, is looking forward to meeting and doing business with the 4,000+ ITSM professionals the show annually attracts:

“We are very excited to exhibit and attend the Service Desk & IT Support Show for the first time,” comments Chaturvedi.  “I am looking forward to participating in this event personally, to learn and meet all those representing various vertical and domains in the UK and Europe.”

More show firsts include increased capacity across all three dedicated seminar theatres (sponsored by Serena™), enabling 33% more attendees to benefit from the show’s essential educational content, plus a new boardroom-style Keynote Theatre (in association with Ovum), located upstairs in Earls Court’s executive conference centre.

Visitors arriving at Earls Court for show open tomorrow (9.30am) will also enjoy first pick of this year’s Hot Topic Roundtable Discussions (sponsored by TechExcel).  These include a choice of twelve topic-led sessions – on everything from BACK2ITSM: The Service Catalogue to Key Considerations for Upgrading a Service Desk System – across three Hot Topic Zones each day.

To view the full education programme, which combines six Keynotes, 40 seminars, two Breakfast Briefings, and to register for free show entry, please visit www.servicedeskshow.com/register (quoting priority code SD1033).  Service Desk & IT Support Show attendees will also benefit from free access to Infosecurity Europe 2012, Europe’s No.1 information security event, co-located at Earls Court.

The Service Desk & IT Support Show at Brompton Hall, Earls Court, London, is open from 9.30am to 5pm on Tuesday 24 April and Wednesday 25 April.

Members of relevant trade and consumer media can reserve press passes to the Service Desk & IT Support Show by contacting Emma-Louise Jones at ejones@divcom.co.uk before 5pm today (23 April 2012).

###

Media enquiries & press pass requests to:
Emma-Louise Jones, PR Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645134
e: ejones@divcom.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/DiversifiedUK

SDITS exhibitor enquiries to:
Laura Venables, Event Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645138
e: lvenables@divcom.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/SDITS

http://www.servicedeskshow.com

Notes:

• Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd (Diversified UK) is a fast growing trade event organiser and publisher based in Brighton. In addition to the Service Desk & IT Support Show, Diversified UK’s portfolio includes Natural & Organic Products Europe, Natural Products Scandinavia, lunch!, camexpo, office*, office INTERIORS, Natural Products magazine and the Natural Beauty Yearbook. http://www.divcom.co.uk
• Diversified UK is part of Diversified Business Communications, a leading international media company with a successful portfolio of sector leading exhibition, conferences, publications and websites.

Haslemere, UK – 17 April 2012 – IT services and support specialist Richmond Systems says customers at the Service Desk & IT Support Show should challenge helpdesk software suppliers to prove the value they deliver.

The two-day event will see Richmond (stand 820) continuing its #SDValue campaign, which encourages ITSM professionals and technology suppliers to work together to deliver value and address key IT services and support challenges.  Richmond will explain why its helpdesk and IT support technology is the best-value solution available, referencing its 25 years experience working with customers to ensure ROI is delivered and service desk issues fully addressed.

The #SDvalue campaign encourages customers to demand more from their service desk suppliers, citing research from the Service Desk Institute which shows that 40 per cent of IT support teams utilise less than half the functionality offered by their software.  Using the #SDvalue hashtag, @RichmondSystems is also challenging suppliers to justify their licence fees and work with their customers to ensure that technology is working at maximum efficiency, with all relevant functionality working and contributing to the quality of service delivered.

The primary reason for provoking a challenge is to encourage suppliers and customers to open a dialogue as Eric Wright, managing director of Richmond Systems, explains.  “Many helpdesk and IT support teams are weary of talking to their service desk software suppliers because they expect a hard sell.  This reluctance to speak means that both parties are missing a great opportunity.  The service desk customer can benefit from the wealth of experience the vendor has solving IT services and support issues, and the supplier can learn more about the challenges faced in the real world, to ensure all the functionality their technology offers is utilised and to define future product development.  The key is starting the dialogue and that’s why we have created #SDvalue.”

With IT support teams seeing increased pressure to deliver more for less, and the growing reliance on existing and emerging technologies to power business success, Richmond’s UK-based workforce has 25 years experience delivering the value and functionality needed to ensure IT delivery is ready for today’s challenges.  Businesses, schools and colleges across the UK rely on Richmond Help Desk Software to raise service levels, streamline work flow and maximise productivity.  Learn more about the latest functionality and how Richmond Systems can help you excel and solve your most pressing IT delivery issues.

Editorial contact
Ben Yeates
07780539348
ben@perfectmotionmedia.com

About Richmond Systems
The best value, hassle-free route to great technology and customer support from Richmond Systems, the leading and most trusted provider of helpdesk, asset management and IT services software for the past 25 years.  The perfect solutions for businesses demanding more than simple incident logging, Richmond Help Desk and Asset Management Software are ITIL and FITS compatible and offered with flexible licensing terms.

richmondsys.com
Richmond Systems’ blog
@RichmondSystems

Cherwell Software Ltd (stand 800) ushers in a new era in ITSM with the newest release of its award winning Cherwell Service ManagementTM solution. This game changing solution for internal IT and external support offers a ground-breaking web portal experience that revolutionises the end-user experience.

ISL Online (stand 324) will be exhibiting its new mobile applications (http://v6.islonline.com/remote-support/mobile), which allow users to access and control remote computers from iPhone, iPad, and Android phone and tablet. Offering fast, reliable and secure service, applications are designed for business use.

New to the show this year, panintelligence (stand 103) will be showcasing its real time management information dashboard. The dashboard can help prevent SLA breaches by providing alerts in real time from multiple sources, allowing users to act promptly.

Alemba (stand 706) will unveil the next generation of ITSM software. Using innovative technology, that takes cues from the world of touch devices and visuals associated with modern gaming applications, Alemba’s vFire application is a first for the IT Service Management market.

LogMeIn (stand 920) will be demonstrating not only its core support product LogMeIn Rescue, but also its newly acquired solution for live chat – BoldChat. With BoldChat LogMeIn is expanding its portfolio of web-based services aimed at customer care organisations – call centres, external help desks, and customer service teams.

Vivantio Ltd (stand 520) will showcase its flagship product Vivantio Service Desk, which was recently voted Service Management Product of the Year 2012 by readers of Network Computing magazine. Greg Rich, co-founder of Vivantio, thanked everyone who voted and said that the win “reflected the loyalty created by high levels of customer service”.

LANDesk Software’s Service Desk 7.5 focuses on making life easier for support staff through touch optimised access via smart phones or tablet devices to the service desk (stand 500). Support staff can maintain the same level of availability and support end users expect while away from their desks and management can see service reports or provide authorisations on the go.

ICCM Solutions (stand 610) is set to launch its Deploy & Improve methodology at this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show, to maximise the business value realised by customers when replacing legacy service management systems.

Certero (stand 710) will be launching its all new AssetStudio® Suite, which provides comprehensive functionality as and when needed. With 10 plug-in modules users still get a single holistic view to manage their assets. Unique powerful reporting transforms endless asset information into actionable business intelligence.

License Dashboard (stand 338) will be demonstrating License Manager 5, its latest licensing and audit reconciliation tool, which gives organisations a dashboard view of the software installed across their network, helping them stay compliant and ensuring they only pay for the licenses they actually need.

Biomni (stand 314) will unveil new API additions that enable integration between their Independent IT Service Catalog and other leading ITSM ServiceDesk solutions, empowering IT to consumerise any IT service – physical, virtual, or cloud.

House-on-the-Hill Software Ltd (stand 316) has recently launched the latest version of SupportDesk – SupportDesk 2012. New functionality including Touch UI, Graphical Workflow Designer, Automated Change Authorisation, Case Based Reasoning and Availability Management will be demonstrated at this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show.

SimpliSys will be launching Citrus Service Desk at the show (stand 540). Citrus is built using the latest technology with input from real end users. A combination of intelligent design and rich functionality delivers an intoxicating user experience.

ServiceNow (stand 410) will highlight the intuitive capabilities of its ITSM tools, making it easier to deliver service automation through Social IT, project portfolio management, ITGRC and managed documents, along with runbook automation. This follows the recent news that international car rental group Enterprise Holdings is migrating to ServiceNow to help run its business.

Marval will be holding live, one-to-one demonstrations on stand 842 for the newly-released build of MSM, its 100% web-based service management software that more and more is being adopted ‘beyond IT’ into other organisational areas, including HR.

Service Desk Institute (SDI) will be handing out carefully curated ‘hugs in a box’ at The SDI Knowledge Centre this year. With two hundred boxes to give away to visitors each day and five hidden golden tickets worth up to £1000 it could turn out to be a very big hug indeed.

STI Ltd (stand 426) will be distributing its 2012 IT Service Desk Survey results at the Service Desk & IT Support Show. Over 350 organisations have taken part and the results give a fascinating insight into the Service Desk world.

TOPdesk UK Ltd’s new Reservations management module will be on show at stand 310. With ease users can organise available rooms and catering for meetings. They can also avoid double bookings and overlapping appointments whilst scheduling irregularly recurring sessions, with this advanced technology. Explore the possiblities of a cost saving and streamlined shared service centre.

The Open University in partnership with Global Knowledge (stand 940) will be launching its Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Professional Practice. With full tutor support, the Certificate covers all aspects of IT Service Management and takes into consideration prior ITIL® expert learning.

Visit BMC Software UK Ltd on stand 810 to discover how the recent acquisition of Numara Software creates the industry’s most comprehensive set of SaaS and on-premise IT management solutions for the Global 100 to the smallest businesses.

Bomgar 12.1, the newest version of Bomgar Corporation’s remote support solution, expands technicians’ ability to provide support to and from mobile devices, offers advanced smart card-based security controls, and enables remote control of Intel vPro powered devices below the operating system (stand 432).

Following the success at last year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show and the considerable interest shown in versaSRS, VersaDev opened a UK office in January 2012. The company has also launched a new product version called versaSRS v 5 (stand 738).

This year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show will see the re-launch of the ITSM, ITIL® & ISO/IEC 20000 Implementation Toolkit from IT Governance Ltd (stand 936). Now completely up-to-date with ITIL 2011, it has been awarded official ITIL® licensed product status, approved by APMG, the official ITIL Accreditor.

Nimsoft (stand 326) will exhibit its simplified ITIL®-based service management and end to end real-time monitoring of modern IT environments in one single ITMaaS solution. This will include newly-added energy management and web experience monitoring capabilities.

OMNINET GmbH’s OMNITRACKER is able to map and automate all business processes continuously on one integrated software platform. Users can use one of the standard modules or create new workflows. OMNINET customers appreciate easy adaptation and customising by simple configuration, flexible expandability, as well as professional support (stand 438).

ManageEngine will be exhibiting its ITIL-ready service management software ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus (stand 938). It provides incident, problem and change management with CMDB, Auto asset discovery and lifecycle management, Knowledge base and self-service portal. The latest enhancement includes iPhone application, which eases the request management process.

Global Technology Solutions Ltd (stand 934) is continuing to take ‘the headache out of recruitment’ by opening new, additional offices at Basepoint Business Centre in Andover. The new location is easily accessible to London, the M4 corridor, and the South.

Celonis (stand 739) will be demonstrating its Celonis Orchestra software, which uses Process Business Intelligence, a new, cutting-edge technology that enables users to extract, visualise and understand actual service workflows in real-time. Celonis Orchestra users achieve an excellent service quality whilst optimising their costs (up to 30% savings).

ITIL Training Zone Ltd (stand 718) will be introducing its range of ITIL Online Training courses, programs and customised ITIL Training portals, which are currently being used by more than 6,000 organisations worldwide.

LiveTime Software (stand 720) will be launching Service Manager version 7. Certified for 11 ITILv3 processes, it includes new features such as relationship impact mapping; enhanced workflow editor; multisource LDAP; report scheduling; and knowledge import. It will use the existing HTML-5-based interface and open standards architecture that ensures quick deployment and unlimited scalability.

Ovum (stand 650) will demonstrate its Knowledge Center information service, which helps enterprises with the formulation of their IT strategy, product and service selection, and IT portfolio management, and also helps software vendors understand the demands of enterprises.

RealVNC (stand 730) will showcase its VNC Viewer Plus, a solution aimed at IT professionals wanting to remotely solve complex IT issues such as OS failures and boot problems. It enables users to connect directly to the VNC Server from supported computers with Intel® Core™ vPro™ technology, with no additional software required for full graphical KVM out-of band access.

N-able Technologies (stand 336) will be exhibiting its new IT Automation tools in the latest release of N-central, a remote monitoring and management (RMM) automation platform. Available from within the N-central dashboard, the Technical Runbook is used by technicians to define best practice operating procedures and configuration standards for delivering remote IT services.

NetSupport Software Ltd (stand 824) will be showcasing updates to its range of products, including NetSupport ServiceDesk, a fully web-based incident, change and problem management solution built on ITIL guidelines; a new mobile console app for the NetSupport DNA IT asset management suite; NetSupport Notify; and the latest version of NetSupport Manager.

Sysmosis, reactive software for proactive support, will have its European launch at this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show. The product which enables users to manage, configure, fix and control remote Windows devices has been developed by VirtuaCon (stand 652) in partnership with SPAR.

FGI Ltd (stand 634) will introduce its new 4-day Agile training programme, which covers APMG International Agile Foundation and Practitioner qualifications. Agile is flexible, and can be used either on its own or in conjunction with more traditional approaches such as ITIL, PRINCE2 and MSP.

Unipress will be introducing updates to Web Help Desk, its service desk software solution (stand 700). Feature additions include Dashboards, which track performance in real-time; dynamic Action Rules allowing virtually unlimited routing and ticket update automation capabilities; and Look & Feel, which enables custom style sheet application to the customer facing user interface.

TechExcel (stand 216) will be unveiling ServiceWise 9.0 and CustomerWise 9.0 at the show. New features include web-based IT asset management, enhanced CMDB support, open source options, and a new AssetWise web client, which features asset link discovery integrations with both commercial and open-source asset discovery tools.

RMS Services Ltd (stand 420) will be showcasing RMS Vision – a self-service ‘google like’ search tool for dashboarding, KPIs at a glance and data visualisation. The next generation of Business Intelligence software from RMS, this tool allows organisations to fully understand, in real time, exactly what is happening in IT with any ITSM system.

Training provider EXIN (stand 334) will be using the event to demonstrate its approach to IT service management. Based on the ISO/IEC 20000 standard, this cost effective and practical approach captures the essence of ITIL and role-based elements such as assignments and real life examples as part of the qualification.

To celebrate the launch of UMRA 2 – the latest version of Tools4ever’s flagship product – User Management Resource Administrator – the company are hosting a prize draw for a Blackberry PlayBook on stand 320 at the show. UMRA 2 is designed to help streamline the user management account process as organisations grow in size.

Once again for 2012, Hornbill Service Management Ltd (stand 300) will be sponsoring the show’s multiple Twitter screens. They, and the show’s organiser Diversified Business Communications UK, are encouraging all visitors, exhibitors, speakers and supporters to get involved in the conversation via the official hashtag #SDITS12.

Standing alongside the show’s central exhibition is a comprehensive two-day free education programme, which combines eight Keynotes, 40 seminars, essential Breakfast Briefings, and in-depth roundtable discussions, which provide a broad spectrum of perspectives across a host of hot industry topics.

For more information and to register for free show entry, please visit www.servicedeskshow.com/register (quoting priority code SD1033). Service Desk & IT Support Show attendees will also benefit from free access to Infosecurity Europe 2012, Europe’s No.1 information security event, co-located at Earls Court.

Members of relevant trade and consumer media can reserve press passes to Service Desk & IT Support Show by contacting Emma-Louise Jones at ejones@divcom.co.uk.

###

Media enquiries & press pass requests to:
Emma-Louise Jones, PR Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645134
e: ejones@divcom.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/DiversifiedUK

SDITS exhibitor enquiries to:
Laura Venables, Event Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645138
e: lvenables@divcom.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/SDITS

Notes:

• Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd (Diversified UK) is a fast growing trade event organiser and publisher based in Brighton. In addition to the Service Desk & IT Support Show, Diversified UK’s portfolio includes Natural & Organic Products Europe, Natural Products Scandinavia, lunch!, camexpo, office*, office INTERIORS, Natural Products magazine and the Natural Beauty Yearbook. http://www.divcom.co.uk

• Diversified UK is part of Diversified Business Communications, a leading international media company with a successful portfolio of sector leading exhibition, conferences, publications and websites.

“The support from the industry this year, as always, has been fantastic.  Our 2012 line-up of big name exhibitors and illustrious expert speakers has already generated a lot of positive feedback from pre-registered visitors,” commented event manger Laura Venables.  “I’ve been working on the show for five years now and it’s a testament to its continuing success that, with less than two weeks to go, we’re still getting significant exhibitor interest from some top ITSM providers.”

Firmly established as the premier event for the UK’s IT Service Management and IT support industry, the show has garnered a reputation for providing real solutions for ITSM professionals looking to improve the way they work and do business.  The IT Training Zone, IT and business training suppliers Global Knowledge, worldwide BMC and ITSM resourcing specialist Aim Hire Recruitment, Autotask – the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, and Visionera AB, an innovative agile software company based in Stockholm, Sweden, are the latest exhibitors to have confirmed their presence at this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show.

Confirmed international participants to date include Celonis and OMNINET GmbH from Germany, USA-based ConnectWise/LabTech Software, EXIN from The Netherlands, and South African VirtuaCon.  Whilst from the UK, exhibitors offering specialist training include APMG-International; FGI; itSMF UK; IT Governance; Purple Griffon; Service Desk Institute, and The Grey Matters.  Global Technology Solutions, the new recruitment partner for ServiceDesk360.com, will be demonstrating its skills in service management and technical permanent/contract recruitment.  Whilst systems and solutions providers showcasing their services at the show include Axios Systems; Biomni; ICCM; LANDesk Software; RMS; ServiceNow; Web Help Desk; and, one of the Service Desk & IT Support Show’s founding exhibitors, Marval.

“Marval has been exhibiting its ITSM solutions at this event every year since it started 18 years ago and we are constantly surprised at the enthusiasm and desire of visitors to learn more about service management in order to improve themselves and their organisations – and find a great tool!” says Dr Don Page, Marval’s CEO.

It’s a view shared by many returning exhibitors, including LANDesk Software:  “We always look forward to exhibiting at the Service Desk & IT Support Show,” says LANDesk Software’s Melanie Karunaratne.  “It’s ‘the’ must go to tier one show for the ITSM industry and we appreciate being part of it.  It’s such a great event at which to meet, hear and help attendees facing a number of challenges within the support world.  Each year we take staff from every department – sales, support, services, and development – to promote LANDesk Service Desk on our stand.  But we also actively encourage other employees to visit the event and learn from others, as well as attend some of the informative and entertaining keynotes, debates and roundtables.  Whether an attendee or an exhibitor, it’s well worth the investment in time and money!”

“The Service Desk & IT Support Show is an exciting event in the Certero calendar.  This year’s seminars provide added value for visitors who are looking for fresh ideas and advice for tackling today’s challenges,” adds John Lunt, managing director of leading software vendor Certero Limited.

Whilst ISL Online, SimpliSys, panintelligence, Selection, and many other first time exhibitors are looking forward to meeting and doing business with the 4,000+ ITSM professionals the show annually attracts.

“ISL Online has been going to the Service Desk & IT Support Show as visitors since 2009.  We are always impressed by the volume of people and the buzz at the show,” says ISL Online’s director Warren Hawkins.  “This year, we have decided to go full out and have our own stand and present remote desktop software.  Our team are gearing up now for what is going to be a really exciting show and we are very much looking forward to seeing our customers and finding new business opportunities.”

Today’s announcement by Diversified UK follows news earlier this week (on 10 April 2012) that ‘Service Catalogue’ has been selected as this year’s BACK2ITSM session for the popular Hot Topic Roundtable Discussions. Inspired by the BACK2ITSM initiative, which was introduced by Forrester analyst Stephen Mann in 2011 to encourage collaborative problem solving within the ITSM community – pre-registered visitors and the readers of ServiceDesk360.com were invited to nominate their preferred choice of BACK2ITSM topic.  Taking place at 10.45am in the Hot Topic Zone on both days of the show, the two sessions will focus on the intricacies – and business benefits – of building a service catalogue.

BACK2ITSM is also the theme of an exclusive panel debate at 12.30pm on Tuesday 24 April, the first day of show.  In ‘The impact of emerging technologies on ITSM’, panellists Stephen Mann (Forrester), Patrick Bolger (Hornbill Service Management), Howard Kendall (SDI), Rosh Hosany (AllianceBernstein) and Stuart Barkworth (The University of Sheffield), will discuss how new technologies, such as mobile devices, and social collaboration are re-shaping IT service management.

The Service Desk & IT Support Show’s breadth of appeal is demonstrated by its incredible range and high calibre of prospective attendees from right across the UK’s ITSM sector.  The following is just a small sample of the type of organisations who have already pre-registered to visit this year: Arcadia Group Limited; Associated Newspapers; Aviva; Bank of England; Bank Of New York Mellon; BBC; BGC Partners; BNP Paribas; BP; British Airways; BT; Cable & Wireless Worldwide; Camelot UK Lotteries; Centrica; City Of London Corporation; European Investment Bank; Eurostar; Ford Motor Company; FTSE International; GCHQ; General Electric; Goldman Sachs; Gucci Group; Hewlett Packard; HSBC; IPC Media; Lastminute.com; London Stock Exchange; MET Office; NHS; Parliamentary ICT; Serco Group; Shell; Skanska UK; Skype; Société Générale; Sony Computer Entertainment; The Crown Estate; Thomson Reuters; U.S Dept Of The Treasury – IRS; WM Morrisons; Wolters Kluwer; and many UK government departments.

To view the full education programme and to register for free show entry, please visit www.servicedeskshow.com/register (quoting priority code SD1033).  Service Desk & IT Support Show attendees will also benefit from free access to Infosecurity Europe 2012, Europe’s No.1 information security event, co-located at Earls Court.

Members of relevant trade and consumer media can reserve press passes to Service Desk & IT Support Show by contacting Emma-Louise Jones at ejones@divcom.co.uk.

###

Media enquiries & press pass requests to:
Emma-Louise Jones, PR Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645134
e: ejones@divcom.co.uk

http://www.twitter.com/DiversifiedUK

SDITS exhibitor enquiries to:
Laura Venables, Event Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645138
e: lvenables@divcom.co.uk

http://www.twitter.com/SDITS

http://www.servicedeskshow.com

Notes:

• Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd (Diversified UK) is a fast growing trade event organiser and publisher based in Brighton. In addition to the Service Desk & IT Support Show, Diversified UK’s portfolio includes Natural & Organic Products Europe, Natural Products Scandinavia, lunch!, camexpo, office*, office INTERIORS, Natural Products magazine and the Natural Beauty Yearbook. http://www.divcom.co.uk
• Diversified UK is part of Diversified Business Communications, a leading international media company with a successful portfolio of sector leading exhibition, conferences, publications and websites

Upgrading the rich set of existing remote support and access features, improving significantly its performance and supporting the new iPad’s Retina Display, ISL Light iOS 2.0 offers a great user experience. Besides technical improvements that guarantee really fast and reliable desktop sharing, controlling a remote computer from an iPad or iPhone has become much easier with the new intuitive graphical interface.

“System administrators who have adopted the benefits of accessing remote computers from mobile devices such as iPad and iPhone, will welcome the implementation of a fully functional remote keyboard which now includes all the keys of a traditional keyboard and allows enhanced remote work to most demanding users,” explains a member of ISL Online’s development team.

What is new in the ISL Light iOS 2.0:

• Redesigned user experience
• Retina display support
• Improved performance
• Mouse modes (locked mouse, free mouse)
• Full remote keyboard
• SMS invitations to a remote session start
• Active/inactive session detection

All iPad and iPhone owners can download ISL Light iOS 2.0 from the App Store for free and access or support any remote computer from wherever they are.

New ISL Online users

After downloading and starting the app, new users should click on the action button in the right upper corner of the iOS device and sign up for an ISL Online free trial (please see the picture above). The sign-up procedure is simple and fast, the user needs to provide his/her email address and choose a password. No credit card is required.

Additional information about ISL Light iOS 2.0:

Availability: App Store

Video: ISL Light iOS 2.0
Complete release info

About ISL Online
ISL Online (www.islonline.com) provides SaaS-based remote access, remote desktop, live chat and web conferencing solutions to connect quickly, simply and securely millions of internet-enabled devices across the globe – Windows, Mac or Linux computers and mobile devices. Designed for consumers, mobile professionals and IT organisations, ISL Online’s solutions empower over 120,000 business users like Konica Minolta, IBM and IDEXX to create more than 6 million sessions yearly.

Momentum continues to build for the UK’s leading IT Service Management and IT support event next month, with the announcement that the booking process is now live for the Service Desk & IT Support Show’s annual executive Breakfast Briefings and Keynotes. These highly-anticipated sessions take place across both days of the show at London’s Earls Court (24-25 April), which is expected to draw thousands of top-level ITSM professionals from some of the UK’s biggest organisations.

Accompanied by complimentary refreshments, the Breakfast Briefings provide a motivating start to each show day, and are designed to leave attendees with plenty of food for thought. The first of this year’s briefings, on Tuesday 24 April at 8.30am, reveals the findings of an exclusive, new industry white paper – ‘Empowering people on the move: how embracing mobile can help transform the delivery of business services’. Hosted by an expert panel, including representatives from The Service Desk Institute (SDI), Cherwell Software and Forrester, the session will explore how new technologies can positively transform the way that IT services are delivered, and take an in-depth look at the challenges of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and mobility. Complimentary copies of this year’s white paper will also be available from Cherwell Software (stand 800) and The SDI Knowledge Centre after the briefing.

For day two of the show, Wednesday’s Breakfast Briefing (8.30am on 25 April) shifts the spotlight to optimising the end-to-end service delivery process in ‘Stop thinking like an IT Department: Start delivering services like a business’. Led by expert panellists from FrontRange Solutions, AllianceBernstein, and Ovum, the session explores how to make effective use of people, process and technology, the key steps involved in the journey to integrated service and IT asset management, and how organisations can improve the quality of services that they offer.

New initiatives for 2012 include increased capacity across all three dedicated seminar theatres (sponsored by Serena™), plus an exciting new boardroom-style Keynote Theatre (in association with Ovum), which is now located upstairs in Earls Court’s executive conference centre. Prompted by 2011’s robust seminar turnout, which saw many sessions generously oversubscribed, these new capacity increases will enable 33% more attendees than last year to benefit from the show’s educational content (which includes eight Keynotes and 40 seminars).

Whilst the show’s seminars can be booked on the day, the two Breakfast Briefings and the Keynote Theatre are pre-bookable in advance. Due to their expected popularity, event organiser Diversified Business Communications UK is urging prospective visitors wishing to attend any of the briefings or Keynotes to confirm their attendance as soon as possible at http://www.servicedeskshow.com/briefings or http://www.servicedeskshow.com/keynotes. (Please note, all places for briefings, Keynotes, and seminars are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.)

Visitors arriving at Earls Court for show open (9.30am) will also benefit from first pick of this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show’s Hot Topic Roundtable Discussions (sponsored by TechExcel). A central hub for sharing experiences and expertise between industry peers, the Hot Topic Zone features expert facilitators leading topical discussions on a host of subjects; including Problem and incident management; Collaborative, social and peer-to-peer support; Using ITIL 2011; Self-service, knowledge management and measuring ROI; Key considerations for upgrading a service desk system; Governance, compliance and security; Metrics – finding the numbers that matter; and Creating a service culture. With a choice of twelve small group sessions, across three Hot Topic Zones each day, visitors can sign up to the session(s) of their choice (space permitting) and fine-tune their show agenda to suit their individual responsibilities and needs.

This year, for the first time in the history of the Service Desk & IT Support Show, visitors have been invited to nominate their choice of two BACK2ITSM hot topics. The BACK2ITSM initiative was introduced last summer by Forrester analyst Stephen Mann to encourage ITSM professionals to give back to their professional community. Collaborative problem solving – one of the core concepts of BACK2ITSM, which encourages practitioners and experts to work together to find solutions for common ITSM issues and challenges – has been a key element in the Service Desk & IT Support Show’s education programme since its Hot Topic Roundtable Discussions were launched in 2010.

“Our Hot Topic Roundtables offer an invaluable resource to our attendees and are often one of the first areas of the show they visit,” says event manager Laura Venables. “ITSM professionals – whatever their role – can use them to share knowledge and ideas, get different viewpoints, and discover solutions that they may not otherwise have considered on the issues that affect their everyday roles. Since participants only sign up on the day, these discussions are definitely an inspirational hot spot of the show.”

To nominate BACK2ITSM topics for the Service Desk & IT Support Show 2012, send a message to @SDITS on Twitter. The deadline for nominations is 30 March 2012.

To view the full education programme and to register for free show entry, please visit www.servicedeskshow.com/register (quoting priority code SD1033). Service Desk & IT Support Show attendees will also benefit from free access to Infosecurity Europe 2012, Europe’s No.1 information security event, co-located at Earls Court.

###

Media enquiries & press pass requests to:
Emma-Louise Jones, PR Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645134 e: ejones@divcom.co.uk @DiversifiedUK

SDITS exhibitor enquiries to:
Laura Venables, Event Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645138 e: lvenables@divcom.co.uk @SDITS

Notes:

Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd (Diversified UK) is a fast growing trade event organiser and publisher based in Brighton. In addition to the Service Desk & IT Support Show, Diversified UK’s portfolio includes Natural & Organic Products Europe, Natural Products Scandinavia, lunch!, camexpo, office*, office INTERIORS, Natural Products magazine and the Natural Beauty Yearbook. http://www.divcom.co.uk

Diversified UK is part of Diversified Business Communications, a leading international media company with a successful portfolio of sector leading exhibition, conferences, publications and websites.

Aristotle taught that people are by nature social beings. As a result of this ‘human nature’ and the tools of technology, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have seen exponential growth over the past five years. This consumer market growth has led employees to expect this same level of convenient and effective communication from within their corporate world of work, including communications with IT.

In turn, IT departments are finding themselves reacting to this demand. As organisations welcome more of Generation Y into their staff, there is an expectation that such methods of communication will be available to them.

Service desks can improve communications with the use of social networks
IT service managers are increasingly aware of the benefits that adopting a social media strategy for the IT service desk offers, but there is also a perception that employees may not use social networks effectively and may abuse the use of such platforms. This is an outdated mentality. Restricting access to such platforms should be a bygone approach in an organisation’s strategy to controlling social network access. Employees should be managed to use and not abuse social networks in the same way that they are managed in regards to other corporate policies.

Service desks commonly use email and instant messaging as a means to communicate with their customers and internal employees. Implementing social network tools will not only expand the means by which they can be contacted, but also provide greater opportunities for data capture.

For example, the user base of Facebook is continually growing. Although not a specific corporate social network solution, the platform is one that many people supported by the service desk will actively be using. The number of active users at the time of writing stands at 800 million and, of this figure, 50 per cent log in to the site on any given day. A service desk Facebook page, with regular bulletins on service outages and new services available, is sure to attract attention from end users and reduce calls to the service desk. Aside from the improved communication with customers, end users have the opportunity to refer to information contained within a feed and gain insight on a service outage or known issue without the need to call the service desk. This reduces service desk queue times and the amount of abandoned calls – especially important when there is an open high priority incident.

The value of social networks
Social networks offer the service desk channels not only provision of service insight, but can also encourage customer feedback that can assist in helping an organisation following the ITIL framework discipline of continuous service improvement. Indeed, one of the key drivers of the ITIL framework is that of better aligning IT to the business and its goals. Effective communication with the business is therefore imperative, and how better to communicate with the business than through platforms users will be accustomed to and are comfortable using?

But a social service desk need not only depend on technologies such as Twitter and Facebook. It is important at this juncture to differentiate between social media and social networks. Social media is the content created (information or opinions intended for the insight of others) whereas social networks are the platforms that this content is delivered on. It is therefore important to have an infrastructure that supports social content. Examples of this could be a SharePoint site, instant messaging solution, or a community forum. IT service managers should harness resource and information where possible from these platforms and use them to build a community with users.

Content and culture will determine the success of a service desk social strategy
The technology is important, but regardless of how feature rich a social platform is, its benefits will not be realised unless people embrace it. Building a successful social service desk is reliant on establishing a culture that embraces it. The success of an enterprise social network platform, regardless of which is adopted, will ultimately be dependent on the value it offers. People are the providers of such value, so recruiting as many to contribute as possible is vital. Begin with reaching out to people within IT and the wider business who can act as catalysts for encouraging adoption. These catalysts will ideally be line managers who can communicate the value of the social platform, contributing to it themselves and raising awareness amongst their respective teams of the value it offers.

Collaboration and conversation between employees that is open and deemed to offer repeat value to others should take place over a social platform. When communication takes place over a social network, no longer is the user and agent communication a one-to-one conversation, it becomes a one-to-many conversation that more people than those directly involved in the conversation can take value from. A community feed update, whether public, semi-public or private, provides a good example of this: a user posts a support request, issue, or query on the service desk’s “social page” and then a service desk agent then posts a response with advice or guidance to address the issue. This information is now readily available for other users to view, ‘like’, share or discover, regardless of whether they have the same issue or not. Moreover, through the use of search, analytics, social graph and trending algorithms, both the users and service desk agent can have a more useful, linked view of issues that need to be resolved.

Ovum has produced a video to accompany this article which you can view here.

Adam Hotly is analyst, IT service management, for Ovum, (Twitter: @adam_holtby. Richard Edwards is principal analyst, IT consumerisation for Ovum (Twitter: @REdwards)

www.ovum.com
@OvumICT

View more of OVUM’s ITSM research on YouTube.

Free registration is available now for the Service Desk & IT Support show.

Lifestyle Services Group is the leading provider of lifestyle services and products, partnering with many major UK High Street banks and mobile networks. It is the biggest single provider of packaged account products and services to the retail banking sector and manages the largest active mobile phone insurance base in the UK. Lifestyle Services Group assists over 10 million customer interactions every year, supporting its client’s customers in their mobile life.

“We were experiencing a high volume of password reset calls. Greater than 20% of enquiries to the service desk were password reset related. We are always striving to improve the customer journey and we were looking for a solution that would help us do this.” commented Dave Boulton, Service Desk Manager at Lifestyle Services Group.

Tools4ever’s SSRPM solution has been implemented with the aim of eradicating these issues, as well as improving productivity and efficiency amongst the helpdesk & end-users, and improving network security procedure. Dave Boulton commented “SSRPM is going to have significant results for the Service Desk with regards to time-management. Rather than having to spend the majority of our time dealing with enquiries, we will now be free to focus on more complex issues.”

Robert Doswell, Managing Director of Tools4ever, Ltd, commented “ Lifestyle Services Group is a fantastic addition to our diverse database of clients, helping to demonstrate how our products can offer Identity management solutions to a wide and varied range of industry sectors.”

Click here to read the case study in full.

Click on the link below to read more about SSRPM:

http://www.tools4ever.com/products/self-service-reset-password-management/

About Tools4ever
Tools4ever distinguishes itself with a no-nonsense approach and a low Total Cost of Ownership. In contrast to comparable Identity & Access Management solutions, Tools4ever provides a complete solution in several days rather than weeks or months. Partly thanks to this approach, Tools4ever is the undisputed Identity & Access Management market leader, with more than one million managed user accounts.

Tools4ever supplies a variety of software products and integrated consultancy services involving Identity Management, such as User Provisioning, RBAC, Password Management, SSO and Access Management. For more information, please visit http://www.tools4ever.com.

For all UK Communications enquiries please contact:
Hannah Randle
Tools4ever Ltd
+44 (0) 1684 274 845
h.randle@tools4ever.com

The business principle of ‘lean’ originates in Japanese manufacturing, coined to describe Toyota’s business during the late 1980s by a research team headed by Jim Womack, Ph.D. at MIT’s International Motor Vehicle Program. ‘Lean’ is defined by the Lean Enterprise Institute as:

“A lean organisation understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste.”

Today it is becoming a vogue term for how organisations can look to ensure the operational aspects of business functions are made more efficient; hence the term operational efficiency (OE) is now more widely understood. However, moving a function like IT to be a ‘lean’ operation requires organisational change as well as a shift in thinking by the IT department. Critical to this is defining the role of IT within the enterprise and getting both business leaders and IT to agree on the key aspects of responsibility and accountability.

Lean IT is more than just a standard, it’s a culture

Most IT departments either have begun, or are part way through, adopting a standard process and procedure model for operational activities, with ITIL being the most widely used. However, lean IT is more than just adopting standard, repeatable processes; it is embedding those processes in the culture and people of an organisation: like the roots of trees the culture is difficult to see, and therefore difficult for competitors to copy, yet provides the foundations of stability for future growth. The purpose of lean IT is not just OE, but using OE to create a strategy that provides a clear sustainable competitive advantage between an enterprise and its competition.

Ovum believes that very few organisations will be ready and able to adopt ‘lean’ IT principles without going through a standardisation/consolidation stage first. The need to consolidate the services offered as well as understand the services consumed is a foundation-layer of any move to lean IT. Some advanced ITIL-based organisations will have the maturity to adopt ‘lean’, but while ITIL provides the starting standardised platform it is not a given assurance of ‘lean’ success. The take-away from any discussion on adopting lean IT is it is a journey and its path must be navigated based on a vision for the organisation.

Recognise the role of IT differs within and between organisations

The role of IT in many organisations is viewed as an adjunct to the main business, which has created the perception of the IT ‘ivory tower’. While many management gurus and analysts have argued that IT is now a core element in any business, changing people’s perceptions will not happen overnight. For many organisations a prime decision needs to be exactly what role does IT have within a company’s theatre of operations? This question does not have a simple answer, as the choice depends on many different factors.

The Ovum model considers two main dimensions

Firstly, where is the organisation in terms of its business cycle? The cycle of business performance can depend on many factors, but for clarity we have used a declining market or a growing market. While the nuances of business can mean opportunities exist in both, the typical business approach has been used to represent the role of IT. Secondly, the degree to which the industry is reliant, or places significance, on IT to ensure continued business operations. This may appear a very counter intuitive measure given IT’s view of its own importance, but some operations do remain manual, despite IT automated solutions. For example warehouse operations can rely on manual procedures such as chalkboards or use a fully integrated warehouse management system.

By using these two different dimensions it is possible to identify key requirements from IT. That is not stating elements such as cost are not an issue for all, it is identifying the primary business requirements from its CIO. However, within each organisation, different business units will have specific requirements, which may be in agreement with the overall view as to the role of IT, or may be contradictory. Therefore, the role of IT must operate on at least two different levels.

First is the corporate strategic level, which drives the overall purpose of IT and defines the architecture. This must be the dominant role of IT and must reflect, or be ready, for any change in business/market conditions. The key elements at this level should focus on the need for speed of change. For example, if IT is seen as a cost saver, but is in a volatile market, IT must be capable of rapid expansion/contraction to maintain its key objective. Whereas, in a stable/declining market, IT may not need to respond with such speed.

Second is the Business Unit (BU) level, which may require IT to accommodate a different set of priorities, but within its primary objective. Conundrums such as this are one of the driving forces behind cloud computing. IT can effectively operate as per its primary objective, but offer BU level choice.

The objective of lean IT

The biggest lesson for any IT department is that lean IT is not about the tools that are used; it is about the processes and procedures deployed. Every journey has to start somewhere, and for lean IT the journey begins with understanding what assets an organisation has and how they are used. For most organisations, usage will be measured on a cost and value basis, but they should measure anything that is meaningful to the enterprise.

The objective of lean IT is to eliminate waste and to make IT as efficient as possible, but efficiency is only one dimension that organisations must consider. Risk is a second dimension, which can influence decisions on where a certain activity is performed. The final dimension is sustainability, which should allow the CIO to ensure that IT services will be delivered to match the organisation’s future demands.

Roy Illsley is principal analyst, infrastructure management for Ovum, follow him on Twitter @royillsley
www.ovum.com
@OvumICT

Ovum has produced a video to accompany this article which you can view here.

View more of OVUM’s ITSM research on YouTube: www.youtube.com/OvumITSM

Free registration is available now for the Service Desk & IT Support show.