Help Desk Software Evaluation Checklist
Table of Contents
Customer Base
Location.
Are they mostly internal or external to your organization?
Tech savvy.
Evaluate the overall technical aptitude of your customers.
Communication.
Decide which modes work best.
Motivation.
Do they seek answers on their own first?
Size.
How many customers do you have?
Current Help Desk Operations
Location.
Do staff work on-site, off-site, or both?
Tech savvy.
Evaluate the overall technical aptitude of your employees.
Workflow.
Are there changes you can make to improve efficiency?
Knowledge Base.
Do you maintain a repository of helpful articles?
Activity.
How many help tickets do you process in an month?
Reporting.
Who needs access to your activity reports?
Current Software System.
What are its strengths and weaknesses?
Software Selection and Implementation Project
Budget.
How much can you spend?
Timeline.
When do you need to finish?
Staff Availability.
How much staff time per week can you dedicate to upgrading your help desk software?
Decision Making.
Who will evaluate potential help desk software systems?
Service Disruption.
Can your business tolerate an interruption in help desk operations during the upgrade?
Potential Help Desk Software Solutions
Initial cost.
How much will the software and licenses cost?
Training.
How much does it cost and how is it delivered?
Expandability.
Can you add users without incurring additional costs?
Technology.
Is the software hosted, or does your company need servers and IT staff?
Update path.
Does the license include all available updates?
Reporting.
Does the software provide the reporting you need?
Integration.
Can the software work with other applications?
Workflow.
Will you need to change the way you do business to fit the software?
Try first.
Will the vendors give you access to trial versions of their software?
Knowledge Base.
Does the software support the development of an article repository?
Migration.
Can you import existing help desk data into the new software?
Statistics.
How granular can you make incident tracking?
Contract.
How long is the contract, and can you opt out at some point?
Download or Print this Help Desk Software Evaluation Checklist
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Presented by:
Adam Hughes
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Introduction
Details
Help Desk Software Evaluation Tips
- Choose a system that meets your needs today and is flexible enough to handle any projected growth, but don't overpay for features that your organization will never use.
- Consult with peers at institutions similar to yours who have recently implemented new Help Desk software systems.
- Use the software selection process as a chance to gain insight into industry standards and be willing to change your workflows accordingly.
- Look for systems that can benefit other areas of your business. Many help desk software packages can be purchased as part of a suite that also addresses facilities management and inventory tracking functionality.
Who it's for
This Help Desk Software Evaluation Checklist is for teams that want consistent execution, less rework, and clear ownership.
- Standardize quality - run the same Help Desk Software Evaluation steps every time, regardless of who executes
- Save time - reuse a proven Help Desk Software Evaluation workflow instead of rebuilding processes from scratch
- Improve accountability - assign owners and see what's done vs. what's pending
- Onboard faster - use the Help Desk Software Evaluation checklist as the SOP and training guide
- Coordinate across roles - handoffs are clear and everyone works from the same source of truth
How to use it
How to use this Help Desk Software Evaluation Checklist:
- Start by saving it - save as a Template if you'll reuse it, or as a Checklist if it's a one-off project.
- Customize it once for your workflow - remove what doesn't apply and add your team-specific steps.
- Assign ownership and execute - set owners/due dates where needed and track completion as work happens.
- Reuse without rebuilding - when Help Desk Software Evaluation comes up again, start from your saved version and run it with clear ownership.