TOPdesk on Tour: Meeting Customers troughout the Netherlands
From 27 May to 19 June, TOPdesk travelled throughout the Netherlands with TOPdesk on Tour. Approximately 450 customers and visitors attended one of the afternoon sessions, and 75 people visited the facilities-themed TOPdesk on Tour in Amersfoort, making this the most popular day of the tour. In contrast to the first TOPdesk on Tour, there was also a special day in Rotterdam, which included presentations from external experts.
Co-organizer Kirsten Crown explains the origin of the TOPdesk on Tour idea: “In 2006, we organized a symposium in Rotterdam. Days like these give us the opportunity to show new functionalities and the benefit they can be to our customers. We want to organize a symposium every eighteen months, but in 2007 we chose a different approach. Although the symposium was rather large-scale, we wanted to operate at a more regional level. TOPdesk on Tour was the ideal solution. 250 people attended the first TOPdesk on Tour, which was spread over several days.”
Kirsten: “Because of the success in 2007, TOPdesk on Tour was organized for a second time. However, we went about a few things differently than before. For instance, every day was given a theme and we also organized an exclusive day with guest speakers.” TOPdesk employees presented the latest trends in the field of service and facilities management and explained the implications of these for businesses. Each speaker also presented examples on how TOPdesk can be used to achieve these. Presentations on ITIL3, Configuration management and practical experience from customers were the most well-received. All presentations can be found on the TOPdesk Extranet.
The presentation ‘TOPdesk in practice’ discussed two customer cases. Sabrina de Baets of NIBC Bank explained the importance of Change management and its set-up in TOPdesk. In 2006, after a negative outcome of an audit on the use of Change management, she made every effort to better organize and utilize the module. During her presentation, she gave an account of the success of her efforts. In addition, Evert de Rijke of the District Water Board explained how knowledge is secured using the Knowledge base in TOPdesk. He described how the Knowledge base is set-up and how the procedures have been drawn up.
Kirsten: “This year we introduced a special TOPdesk on Tour day, which included nine presentations from guest speakers within the four themes: Business IT Alignment, Compliancy, Management sourcing and Organizational design of the service.
One of the most valued presentations was from Glenn Timmins of Smurfit Kappa Group. Under the theme Compliancy he explained how Change management has helped his organization to comply with the strict requirements of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. Using very clear examples, he shared a number of useful experiences with the audience.
Another popular presentation concerned Management sourcing. Frank Willems of Twijnstra Gudde explained the changing role of the IT organization and how a change approach helps to control management sourcing. Kirsten: “The exclusive day was a first and I am very pleased with the outcome. The speakers were definitely the crème de la crème of their field and discussed very important themes. The subjects were unrelated to TOPdesk, so for us it was also a surprise as to how it would turn out.”
The days concluded with network groups. These discussion groups offered visitors the opportunity to exchange ideas on the theme of the day and share experiences from the field. Kirsten: “We deliberately chose not to assign themes or participants to a group. However, the survey that was sent to all visitors revealed that some customers did feel the need to sit down with clients from similar organizations. Therefore we will look into other organizational possibilities at the next TOPdesk on Tour.”
Individual discussions with clients also provided input. Kirsten: “I have spoken to a number of customers whose companies use Professional and they expected that most of the presentations would be regarding this version of TOPdesk. This was not the case, however. The Enterprise version is our finest product and allows us to show the latest developments and possibilities. Professional is still very important to us, but it is simply less suitable for presentations on the latest trends.”
Next year, Kirsten and her colleagues will organize another symposium, followed by a TOPdesk on Tour in 2010. Kirsten: “Just like this year, we will assign themes to each day as this worked out very well. I expect the TOPdesk on Tour to grow even more. It’s a great opportunity for us to inform our customers of new possibilities and tips for their modules. And for us it is a good way of getting to know our customers and their needs.”
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