SDC
The SDI Service Desk Certification (SDC) is the only industry standard based accreditation designed to assess and Certify Service Desk quality. Achieving Certification requires auditing against the Global Best Practice Standard, evaluating performance across key operational areas. SDI’s expert auditors verify compliance, awarding one of four statuses: Reactive, Proactive, Customer-led, or Business-led. To achieve ‘World-Class 5 Star’ status organisations must have successfully achieved 4 Star status in two consecutive Audits, without a drop in Audit Score.
In March 2025 Runshaw College become the first educational organisation to achieve this prestigious award.
Alex Harding, Head of IT Services at Runshaw talks us through the SDC journey from scores resulting in ‘Uncertified’ right through to 5 Star ‘World Class’ status.
About Runshaw College
Runshaw College has delivered high-quality education for over 50 years. It is recognised nationally in the UK for outstanding results, a supportive culture and a strong focus on learners’ needs.
The IT Services Team supports this mission by providing technical expertise and digital solutions across the college. Our team includes Service Desk Analysts, Infrastructure Engineers, Software Developers and Cyber Security Specialists, all working to ensure the smooth running of systems that underpin teaching, learning and operations.
Our customers are the students and staff who rely on our technology to succeed. Whether they are school leavers or adult learners, students deserve intuitive, reliable and secure digital experiences that enhance their learning. Staff depend on effective IT systems to support teaching, administration and pastoral care — and we’re here to help make that happen.
The Service Desk is the front line & first point of contact of IT Services at Runshaw. Based on campus, the team consists of 18 dedicated professionals who provide first-line support to students and staff. We handle an average of 1,400 tickets each month, with volumes peaking at around 2,500 during the start of the academic year.
Joining SDI’s Service Desk Certification (SDC) programme
We joined the programme in 2019 and received an ‘uncertifiable’ score at our initial review. The primary reason for joining was that we’d identified that the Best Practice Standard felt like an excellent fit for what we were trying to achieve. It’s extremely quality focused and being based on EFQM it was easily identified as being built on strong foundations.
The 1.82 score we reached, though low, was well received by the team. The report highlighted our strong capability but also recognised that we lacked the maturity in process and procedure needed to score higher. It gave us a clear direction for improvement and validated that we were on the right path.
Challenges and Highlights
Our first full audit in 2020 earned us a 3-Star rating, which confirmed we’d made the right decision in choosing SDC as our improvement framework.
It gave the team confidence and a clear sense of direction.
That same year, we were finalists in the SDI’s Best Service Desk Awards — a recognition that reflected our growing maturity. By 2023, after reaching a 4-Star level, we went on to win the award, a proud and pivotal moment that celebrated the team’s dedication and progress.
Aiming for the stars helped us focus on what makes our service desk stand out. Many of our strengths had become so embedded in our day-to-day life that we hadn’t fully appreciated their value. For example, our in-house development team builds many of our line-of-business tools and integrates them with our ITSM platform. This seamless approach simplifies processes for staff and students and has become a key differentiator in how we deliver service.
Working with SDI
Our experience with SDI has definitely been positive. The auditors and awards judges are true experts, not just skilled in assessment but also grounded in real-world service desk experience. They bring a sharp auditing eye, but more importantly, they’ve worked at the coal face and are always keen to share their insight.
Dare we say it — we enjoy the audit. There’s pressure, of course, but it’s all about getting the best out of the process. Every audit has been a learning experience, helping us grow and refine how we work. The SDI team has also done a brilliant job of connecting us with other organisations. They’ve signposted teams we can learn from, and just as importantly, introduced us to others who can learn from us.
The effect of SDC on your team and the wider organisation
SDC helped us understand our place in the wider college mission:
“We believe exceptional education changes lives, so we put teaching, learning and the needs of our students first.”
Engaging with the Certification process — alongside frameworks like ITIL’s Vision-to-Measurement trail and the CSI model — helped us realise that to succeed, our services needed to align directly with that mission. That meant prioritising teaching and learning, and ensuring our ITSM platform supported that goal. For example, key automations now allow us to respond to classroom-impacting issues faster than ever before.
For the team, the journey has been a real confidence boost. Several of our colleagues have either only ever worked at the college or have been here for over 20 years. The SDC framework has helped us validate that what we’re doing is not only effective but aligned with industry best practice. It’s shown us that our skills are current, relevant and making a real difference.
Stand-out measurable outcomes
Hands down, the biggest improvement has been overall satisfaction with our service. IT Services is now celebrated as a pillar of the college — a model of best practice that other departments look to and learn from.
Our impact is visible from the very start of the student journey. Prospective learners experience the quality of our service before they even enrol, using tools we’ve developed such as our in-house application portal. These early touchpoints set the tone for a seamless digital experience throughout their time at Runshaw.
Return on investment from Certification
As an internal service provider, ROI isn’t as straightforward for us as it might be for a large managed service provider. Our ROI is represented in the saving the College makes for the fact that we are here internally. We operate as both a service integrator and a provider, managing everything from day-to-day support to complex project delivery. Because of this, we’re able to quantify the potential cost of outsourcing the same level of service and expertise. The savings are significant, and the quality is consistently high!
Specific achievements from SDC programme
One of the clearest outcomes of our involvement with SDC has been the steady, year-on-year improvement in our service performance. Since joining, we’ve seen consistent growth across key metrics from resolution times and customer satisfaction to service availability and responsiveness. These improvements reflect not just better numbers, but a more mature, user-focused approach to service delivery.
The SDC framework has also helped us embed a culture of continuous improvement. It’s encouraged us to reflect on how we work, challenge assumptions and adopt best practice across the team. Our internal development capability — particularly the way we extend our ITSM platform with custom-built tools — has become a real strength and a hallmark of how we deliver value.
We’ve also seen a shift in mindset across the team. This year’s improvements show our commitment to doing the right things — not just doing things right. Every change, from simplifying processes to improving communication, has been made with our staff and students in mind, keeping the teaching and learning experience at the forefront of our decision-making.
Being recognised as a World Class 5-star Service Desk has been another significant milestone in our journey. It’s boosted morale, strengthened our culture and confirmed that our work adds real value across the college. We were also proud to receive an internal Team Excellence award in the spring — a moment that reflected the collective effort and dedication of the whole department.
Being officially recognised as a 5 star Service Desk
It still doesn’t feel real! We are a relatively small IT team in the public sector, working with limited financial resources. But what we do have is strong leadership at every level and a shared determination to make things work – and work well.
Achieving 5-star status once felt like a pipe dream. But we’ve learned that, like any framework, SDC can be adopted and adapted to suit your context — whether you’re a 500-strong global provider or a small internal team in an underfunded sector. It’s about mindset, not size.
Being recognised as the first educational organisation to reach this level is something we’re incredibly proud of and it’s a reflection of the culture we’ve built, the consistency we’ve maintained and the belief that excellence is possible; even when the odds aren’t in your favour.
“THINK big, ACT small and SNEAK up on it.” – Heather McSherry, Technology Leader, Service Management Dreamer, Elementum.
Special thanks to:
• Andrew Gant, whose research and leadership on SDC guided the team’s progression from 3 to 4 stars and ultimately to winning Best Service Desk 2022.
• David Sharrock & Janet Ivill, for their strategic leadership and senior-level representation.
• Industry partners, including Deakin’s Group, DTJ ELECTRICAL LIMITED, Dell Technologies, FourNet, Pugh Computers Ltd, Jisc, Recycle IT, and the Service Desk Institute (SDI) for their continued support.
• John Noctor, Barclay Rae our auditors, and the team at SDI for their encouragement, championing successes and consistently inspiring the team.
