Sword IT Solutions

How this Managed Service Provider empowers their service users with a helpdesk tool

Managed Service Providers (MSP) are the backbone of technology and IT within many organisations. They deliver services in partnership with providers for infrastructure, applications, security, and digital transformation. UK-based MSP, Sword IT Solutions, specialise in delivering services to the oil and gas industry and public sector.

Diane Ogston, Senior Service Delivery Manager, shared their story about how they are supporting and empowering their customers with TOPdesk.

Finding the right helpdesk tool

Utilising a helpdesk tool within an MSP is a little different than the norm. Not only will the tool be used internally, but also by their external customers. Therefore, the requirements list tends to be specific.

“What really stands out about TOPdesk are its multi-tenancy and uncomplicated licensing,” says Diane.

Multi-tenancy is key for MSPs as each of their customers will need access to their own personalised environment.

The journey of onboarding their customers

Having brought in TOPdesk, the next challenge for Sword IT Solutions came with onboarding their customers. “To make the onboarding easier, Diane implemented a three-month transition journey: providing each customer with the essential features, delivering transparency and the opportunity for future bespoke work.

“It’s important to take small steps and do the basics well, rather than dive in headfirst. This way we can get to understand our customers’ priorities by working closely with them for a few months. Then, depending on their needs we can tailor the solution to each individual organisation.”

Customising the tool for happy users and end users

Not only have Sword IT Solutions achieved a 4.8/5 feedback score from users since bringing in TOPdesk, but Diane has also received fantastic feedback from her team on the tool’s ease of use, customisable features in the back-end, and being able to directly communicate with end users.

Jamie More, Operations Lead, said: “The adoption of TOPdesk has enabled Sword to empower our service users by providing functionality such as self-service, knowledge base and the ability to check the progress of requests using the customer portal.”

“As our service continues to grow, and more clients benefit from our service, I’m confident that TOPdesk is the right solution for us.”

Moving forward: Launching a powerful Self-Service Portal

Having mastered the basics of TOPdesk, Diane and her team have put an improvement plan in place, focusing on the Self-Service Portal (SSP). “This summer we are launching a new and improved SSP. We want to be able to offer our customers more transparency and the ability to view their own data and statistics. Both Power BI and reporting will be available, along with an improved knowledge base enriched with items to empower both the operator and user.”

“Each SSP is tailored to colour schemes and branding. As an MSP, we want to encourage more self-service use within our customer base in order to add value as a provider, and ultimately, offer a cost-effective solution.”

Continual service improvement, a mentality for MSPs

As an MSP, a helpdesk tool can help improve your service delivery, offering a single point of contact and a solution you can share with other departments.

For Sword IT Solutions, their journey with TOPdesk is always developing as they find new ways to support their customers: “Continual service improvement is what underpins the service we deliver. TOPdesk has allowed us to grow at our own pace and has helped us to continually improve our level of service delivery to our customers.”