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Next Service Desk Manager course 8-11 September 2025, virtual from anywhere See course details

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Service Desk Excellence: Unleashing the Fun in Continuous Improvement!

Pendulum Hotel Manchester City Centre, Sackville Street, Manchester, UK

12th November 2025 (1Day)
9:00 AM - 4:35 PM GMT

£75 each (exc. VAT) Price
Free for premium members

Join Us In Person to Transform Your Service Desk: Let’s Improve Together!

Get ready for “Service Desk Excellence: Unleashing the Fun in Continuous Improvement!” This exciting in-person event is tailored for service desk professionals eager to elevate their skills and processes while enjoying a day of collaboration and innovation! Join us for a lively atmosphere filled with networking opportunities, hands-on workshops, and inspiring presentations that will spark new ideas for enhancing service delivery. 

Throughout the day, industry experts will share their insights on effective strategies for continuous improvement, focusing on practical applications that can be implemented immediately in your own service desk. Attendees will engage in interactive sessions that promote collaboration and creativity, allowing you to learn from peers and share best practices. With a focus on making improvement enjoyable, this event aims to foster a community of enthusiastic service desk professionals dedicated to excellence. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to come together, learn, and transform your service desk experience—let’s make improvement fun! 

 

 

Agenda

12th November 2025

09:00-09:45

Arrive & register

Tea, coffee, networking and expo

09:55-09:55

Welcome address

Welcome to today’s event with SDI’s host John Noctor.

09:55-10:20

Better Every Day: How We Made CSI Stick

Alex Harding, Head of IT Services, Runshaw College

This session explores how a small, focused service desk team in the public sector embedded continual service improvement into the fabric of daily operations. Rather than treating CSI as a project or phase, the team made it a mindset—driven by user feedback, frontline ownership, and a commitment to refining what works. From small tweaks to major shifts, every improvement was intentional, measurable, and sustainable. Attendees will learn how to build momentum, foster a culture of curiosity, and make CSI stick—regardless of team size or resources.

10:20-10:45

CInception (Better at Every Level)

Rob Simms, Customer Service and Support Manager, Linney

What happens when you improve the way you improve… while improving? Rob reveals how Linney’s digital signage team transformation journey grew team skills and service quality in one seamless loop

10:45-11:05

Sunrise Software session to be confirmed

David Bullivant, Senior Solutions Consultant, Sunrise Software and Andy Jones, ITSM System Developer, Mid Mersey Digital Alliance

Session to be confirmed

 

11:05-11:35

Tea, coffee, networking & expo

11:35-12:00

HappySignals speaker to be confirmed

Session to be confirmed

12:00-13:00

Roundtable session

Small group discussions on aspects of continuous improvement

13:00-14:00

Lunch, networking & expo

14:00-14:25

Beyond SLAs: Evolving to persona- based XLAs and a culture of continuous improvement

Amin Tavakoli, Managing Director – Digital Workplace EMEA, SCC

Traditional SLAs focus on numbers. But in a world driven by digital experience, are response times and uptime still the best indicators of success? In this session, we’ll explore the journey from SLA-centric IT service models to persona-based XLAs that measure and act on real user experience, supported by a culture of continuous improvement. We then take it even further with Productivity Level Agreements (PLAs) that connects service desk with what truly matters: user productivity.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Understanding why SLAs are no longer sufficient
  2. How to approach persona-based XLAs that reflect diverse user expectations
  3. Journey towards PLAs
14:25-14:50

From Apprentice to Leader: How Continuous Improvement Shaped My Journey

Laura Drury, IT Service Desk Manager, Evolve

In 2021, Laura began her career as an IT Apprentice. Since then, she has embraced continuous improvement, learning from peers, challenges, and experiences to grow into the leader she is today. Now, as Service Desk Manager, Laura will share her journey from apprentice to manager and highlight the value of always focusing on continual improvement.

 

 

14:50-15:10

AI for Service desk: unleashing the fun without losing control

Dmitry Isaychenko, Partner Programmes Portfolio Director, PeopleCert and Roman Zhuravlev, Senior Architect ITIL, PeopleCert

Everyone is adopting AI, and of course IT service providers do it. Sometimes we adopt it faster than we learn how to control it. How to not miss out on AI benefits and at the same time ensure effective management of AI risks? We might have an answer. In this presentation, Dmitry Isaychenko and Roman Zhuravlev will share a practical and tailorable approach to identification, assessment and control of the most common AI risks with examples for service desk teams and applications.

15:10-15:40

Tea, coffee, networking & expo

15:40-16:05

Sponsor to be confirmed

Sponsor session to be confirmed

16:05-16:30

Speaker to be confirmed

Session to be confirmed

16:30-16:35

Closing address

Closing address with SDI’s John Noctor

Speakers

Short Bio

Dedicated to driving customer success and delivering exceptional customer experiences, John is an evangelist for continual improvement, well known for his...

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Alex Harding, Head of IT Services, Runshaw College

Rob Simms, Customer Service and Support Manager, Linney

Laura Drury, IT Service Desk Manager, Evolve

Roman Zhuravlev, Senior Architect ITIL, PeopleCert

Dmitry Isaychenko, Partner Programmes Portfolio Director, PeopleCert

- David Bullivant, Senior Solutions Consultant, Sunrise Software

Amin Tavakoli, Managing Director - Digital Workplace EMEA, SCC

Location

Pendulum Conference Hotel

Address

Pendulum Conference Hotel,
Sackville St, Manchester M1 3BB,
M1 3BB

Telephone

0161 955 8000

Website

http://www.pendulumhotel.co.uk/

Pendulum Hotel Manchester City Centre, Sackville Street, Manchester, UK
12th November 2025 (1 Day)
9:00 AM - 4:35 PM GMT
Price: £75
each (exc. VAT)

£75 each (exc. VAT)

£75 (exc. VAT)
- +
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