Our Blog

Looking to learn about all things ITSM, ESM, Self-Service, Knowledge Management, AI, and more? We've got you covered.

Resource Center

We’re committed to providing resources that help you address all of your ITSM software needs.

Webinars & Events

Stay up to date on our latest ITSM, ITOM or ESM webinars and events now

EV Blog

Kevin Coppins | October 07, 2015

Pitbull, Facilities or the IT Help Desk? Who gets the call?

It's going to happen.  Your executive briefing center has been upgraded to the latest in LED technology, with the room lights automatically shifting to match the presenter/time of day/customer logo/the carpet - whatever might make the sale.  It's super cool, customers are impressed, partners are wowed and the electric bill is down. Then, on the day your biggest prospect has booked the room, rather than setting the mood, your LED's go "Studio 54".  You panic and start hitting every button on the iPad remote, and while that seemed to make the blinds go up and down, your lights have now gone into hyper-drive. Not to mention, is it getting hot in here?  You check the thermostat, and you're approaching 80!  So while it adds to the South Beach vibe, it definitely detracts from the "we truly have our act together" impression you're trying leave your prospect with.

So, you need help.  Your prospect is getting nauseous and time is money.  Do you call IT?  Well - they didn't put the bulbs in, Facilities did.  And the AC is handled by the property management people, right?

Now, take the above example, and apply it to your factory floor.  It's not LED's any more, it's the warehouse packing line who can't ship goods because their RFID scanners are malfunctioning.  Is it the device? The WiFi ? Could it interference from the inventory picking robots?

What about the American Airlines planes that were grounded when iPads with flight plans didn't update correctly. Who gets that call?  What was the back-up plan?

You get the point.  

IDC recently stated that over 60% of the money spent on IT happens outside of the CIO's budget.  Well, that money is being spent on "things" - like conference room lighting upgrades and in-cockpit iPads.   At the end of the day, something inside those digital service chains is going to break, and someone will have to fix it (usually very very quickly).

The next big challenge for your Service Desk is going will be to rapidly respond to an ever growing number of IT related inquiries, many of which they never had original involvement in.  Call it "Shadow IT" or "The Internet of Things" or "Consumerization" - it matters not.  What matters is that just like iPhones and AppStores have swept through organizations, the Internet of Things will as well.  All well intended, all good people focused on continuous improvement in their specific domains.   Those good intentions will require rethinking not only IT process, but tools like IT Asset Management, CMDB's and Self Service as well as center-of-excellence level expertise in incident management.   As futurist Daniel Burrus puts it "it's not just upgrading legacy technology, you have to change legacy thinking".

So remember, when your conference room turns into a steamy discotheque and you have no where else to turn, order up some Dr. Pepper and invite Pitbull, because the Internet of Things party is just getting started.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Kevin Coppins

Kevin Coppins is a sought after sales and marketing leader. He is passionate about his family, his team and his clients and focuses his time and energy around serving their long-term success. A tech industry veteran, Coppins has held senior executive roles in enterprise networking, software and hardware companies including Novell, Meru Networks and NEC. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Penn State, a Masters of Business Administration from Loyola University New Orleans and a Certificate of Professional Development from The Wharton School of Business. Originally hailing from Rochester, New York, Kevin, his wife CeCe and his two children Cash & Macie now call sunny Tampa, Florida home.