Future of help desk support

As has always been the case with help desks, it will be shaped by upcoming technologies and the needs of technicians and end users.

Based on the challenges discussed earlier, including business, user needs, and technological changes, there are a few different ways IT help desk can evolve:

Personalized self-service across multiple platforms

With the advent of consumer-centric practices in the business-to-consumer (B2C) arena, the end users of tomorrow will expect equal quality of service from their IT teams.

As a response, IT teams can leverage technologies like gamification and artificial intelligence to create a personalized self-service experience that is consistent across all channels.

Cognitive automation of help desks

Going a step further from simple process automation, the help desks of the future can use advancements in machine learning technology to implement cognitive automation in their help desks. Cognitive automation will speed up the time it takes to identify and solve issues.

Proactive identification and resolution

Another upcoming technology is the Internet of Things (IoT). It can link any and all IoT-enabled "things," creating a virtually limitless network.

With the help of IoT sensors, IT teams can monitor device performance, and automatically report impending issues. These issues can then be solved proactively, mitigating the risk of downtime.

Intuitive insights into help desk performance

Reporting and analytics are a crucial part of ITSM as it exists today. Looking forward, help desk software will try to leverage big data technology to capture more data points and analyze them for better efficiency.

The ability to study a higher volume of data generated in IT operations will empower IT teams to make more informed decisions and achieve optimum performance levels.