Virtual Desktop Infrastructure could see the end of 2nd line support says Plan-Net

London, 26 February 2009: The increasing move to a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) could result in the disappearance of traditional 2nd line IT support  and force 3rd line teams – probably the last bastion of ‘old fashioned’ attitudes to IT support – to embrace an increasingly customer-centric environment. This is the view of IT transformation specialist, Plan-Net.

“It seems that the advent of VDI will triumph where best practice bibles and service management disciplines have failed and offer a path to the evolution of the Service Desk,” says Paul Whitlock, technical services director at Plan-Net. “Proper implementation of a virtual desktop infrastructure means the vast majority of calls that previously required a desktop visit will be fixable remotely.”

Industry experience and statistics suggest that eighty percent of the contacts that the typical service desk receives are desktop related. Sixty percent are already managed remotely with the remaining twenty percent requiring a deskside visit – yet most organisations continue to allocate resources equally across service desk and deskside support. 

While this is usually down to a lack of management reporting or time spent analysing and understanding the nature of the incidents, VDI will force organisations to examine the way their IT support is structured with more focus on the service desk. However, the evolution of the service desk is not as simple as moving a few people around; there are real challenges to be met, both in terms of the technology and the people that support it.

“One of the major changes driven by VDI will be the creation of a new highly-skilled, two-tiered 1st line support centre,” says Paul Whitlock. “Furthermore, the 3rd line support teams will have to come to terms with dealing directly with their customers. But implemented correctly, VDI promises a radical change in IT support that will deliver real benefits.”