The use of benchmarking in academic helpdesk service provision

As the English Higher Education system responds to changes in funding and student choice, there is increased expectation on universities to provide higher quality services to students and to function more efficiently and effectively. One of the key areas where universities need to rise to these challenges is in their internal helpdesk service provision (Palaneeswaran and Kumaraswamy, 2000), where lessons can be learnt from private sector service provision. This paper therefore discusses the commonalities and differences of service provision between the public and private sectors, the particular distinct circumstances and difficulties associated with operating helpdesks in academic environments (Middleton and Marcella, 1996), and finally the paper identifies best practice and benchmarking standards within private sector helpdesk provision which can be applied to university helpdesks and potentially to other public sector organisations. The best practice standards and frameworks referred to in this paper are SDI (Service Desk Institute) standards, ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Service Management, and COBIT (Control OBjectives for Information and related Technologies), and provide opportunities for benchmarking to be applied within academic helpdesks.