Smart IT innovators are no longer seeing conferences and courses as single events or fun days, but as investments to help ensure that decision making around tools is well researched or that you’re able to sit back and reflect on the experience, efficiency and cost gains that can be achieved by practical ideas you took away from the event.  

This guide walks you through the selection of the right ITSM events, ITSM training and ITSM courses to help you achieve your goals and demonstrate their value back to the business.  

So Why Are ITSM Events And Courses Still Relevant Today For Service Desks?   

The Service Desk is not only about taking tickets anymore, it’s also about experience shaping. While having AI powered tooling, self-service portals, automation and ITIL5 revolutionise how IT teams work, people require focused learning and peer networking to support the theory to practice. ITSM events and courses provide the opportunity to take a step back from day-to-day firefighting and to re-think how your service desk adds value.  

For others, particularly in complex or controlled environments, ITSM training and courses can also be vital to keeping frameworks, certification and audit ready. The right balance of ITSM events, ITSM training and practical courses will help keep teams on top of vendor roadmaps, shifting user expectations and maturing best practice.  

Common Pitfalls in Selecting the ITSM Events and ITSM Training  

There are lots of teams that underutilise their ITSM budget due to the choice of the wrong events or courses. Typical mistakes include:  

1. Focusing on events, not outcomes, choosing events based on location or who else will be attending.  
2. Focusing on large, flashy conferences, rather than smaller ITSM courses or specific workshops that more closely reflect the challenges in the real world.  
3. Not taking in consideration if the agenda fits your roadmap – for instance, you want ITIL5 content, but end up in a “future of IT” session instead, or you want content on shift left and self-service, but end up in a generic session.  
4. Choosing the lowest cost ITSM course without verifying the credentials of the instructor, pass rates or support after the course.  
5. Not setting the criteria for success prior to sending staff to ITSM courses or ITSM training, which is difficult to provide evidence of the worth of next year’s investment.  

The first step to avoiding these pitfalls is to change the way you think about ITSM events and ITSM training, as purchasing an outcome, not just a ticket.  

Step-By-Step Process to Narrow Down the Right ITSM Events  

Follow this easy guide to create a short list of events, conferences and training opportunities that really fit your service desk.  

Define Objectives First 

When you are considering any ITSM event, list the issues or changes you wish to address for the coming year or two. For example:  

• Decrease the average resolution time or increase the rate of first contact resolution.  
• Enhance the adoption and utilisation of a knowledge base and self-service.  
• Apply real-world ITIL5 practices with regards to incident, problem and change.  
• Move from SLA to experience focused measures (XLAs).  
• Identify opportunities for repetitive work to be safely automated with AI.  

The objectives should be clearly evident in each ITSM event or ITSM course that you take into consideration. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t get on the list.  

Map Objectives to Event and Training Types 

There are various types of formats, each with its own specific purpose:  

• ITSM events and ITSM conferences with large numbers of attendees: Great for researching the marketplace, witnessing several tools, learning the broader trends and connecting with other professionals. Great for checking out tools, making strategy or finding new ideas.  
• Delivered ITSM Training and ITSM Courses that are focused: Ideal for in-depth study on a particular framework, or on a specific skill – such as ITIL5 Foundation, problem management, knowledge centred service or configuration of ITSM tools. Perfect for upskilling and for establishing a common language.  
• Workshops and masterclasses on ITSM: Ideal for smaller organisations requiring guidance on issues such as service desk maturity, automation design, experience management, etc.  
• Meetups in the community and user groups: Helpful for one-on-one support and useful hints on a regular basis, particularly when heavily dependent on a specific ITSM solution.  

One great idea is to offset an annual plan that includes at least one high value ITSM event in a small portfolio of ITSM courses and training sessions.  

Create a Basic Score Sheet  

Once you have a list of possible ITSM events and ITSM training options, score them against consistent criteria, such as:  

• Relevance of sessions or modules to your objectives.  
• Reputation of speakers/instructors.  
• Balance of practitioner-led content vs. sales pitches from vendors.  
• Opportunities to do practical exercise or lab.  
• Networking and knowledge sharing formats.  
• Cost, travel time and impact on service desk coverage.  

Using a simple spreadsheet that scores events and courses, and assigns a score of 1-5 for each event and course, will quickly provide a picture of which ITSM events and courses will likely provide the best return.  

Key Criteria to Evaluate for ITSM Events, Training and Courses  

When looking at agendas, outlines and course descriptions, here are some signs of quality.  

Depth in contemporary topics of ITSM: Look for references on AI assisted triage, knowledge centred service, swarming, self-service portals, automation design, experience levels agreements and integration with DevOps/Platform teams.  

Practitioner led sessions: Focus on ITSM events and ITSM training where practitioners (heads of service, ITSM architects and service desk managers) present real case studies.  

Hands on learning: Seek workshops, clinics and labs to practice frameworks and tools on real-life scenarios, rather than hearing about slideware.  

Assessment to measure and maturity tools that assess: Some ITSM events and courses will feature diagnostics or maturity assessments to provide you with an organised understanding of where you’re at and what you need to do next.  

Follow up resources: ITSM courses that provide high-quality content include post training materials and community forums or office hours to allow participants to integrate the material they’ve learned.  

If a vendor or organiser cannot clearly articulate learning outcomes and who each ITSM course is for, that is usually a red flag.  

What to Look for in ITSM Events for Service Desk Teams  

For service desk teams, what matters the most is what happens at ITSM events.  

There’s more to service desk leadership than just generic IT strategy content. When assessing service desk centred ITSM events and courses, be mindful of the following:  

• Front line realities sessions: managing queues, coping with peaks, multi-channel demand and reusing knowledge.  
• Real-world advice on how to create or enhance self-service portals, knowledge bases and chatbots to effectively deflect tickets without compromising user experience.  
• Deep dives into metrics and reporting to get into service desk metrics, beyond SLAs, into sentiment, experience and value measures.  
• Lessons learnt from case studies of organisations similar in size, sector and regulatory setting.  
• Showcase persons who understand your ITSM platform and where it integrates with other tools you might use that are in that immediate area.  

For UK and Europe based users, look for ITSM events and ITSM training that are relevant to your regulatory requirements, local networking communities and overall technology landscape.  

How To Make A Business Case For ITSM Events And ITSM Training  

However, when you know that an ITSM course or event will be beneficial, it can still be difficult to align the support of senior stakeholders. Here a business case is very helpful if it’s clear and concise.  

1. Provide a series of monitoring activities for each initiative to track attendance. 

Match each ITSM event or ITSM course with an existing or upcoming project, like implementing ITIL 4 practices, raising the self-service adoption or redesigning automation flows.  

2. Create a plan to achieve desired results.  

These can be such things as: “three actionable ideas to reduce ticket volume by 10%” or “learning how to implement problem management with existing tooling”.  

3. Quantify potential impact.  

Make educated guesses about how things might change if improvements are made, related to First Contact Resolution, Mean Time To Resolve, cost per ticket, or employee satisfaction. Even if it’s a ballpark estimate, it’s that much more compelling.  

4. Describe plans for knowledge sharing. 

Describe how you will disseminate knowledge about the ITSM event or course to the rest of the team by playback sessions, in-house training or revised documentation.  

5. Explain alternatives and costs. 

Include ticket prices, travel, time away from BAU work and compare it to alternatives that may be cheaper but less effective, like other ITSM training or courses.  

Approval is much easier when stakeholders understand the outcomes of an ITSM event and the impact the ITSM training course can have.  

Maximising ROI Before, During and After ITSM Events  

ITSM events and training are not about the ticket, but it is about how you use the ticket.  

Before the event or course  

• Agree objectives with attendees so they know what to focus on.  
• Shortlist sessions, tracks or modules that align with your roadmap.  
• Book vendor demos or 1:1 clinics in advance where possible.  
• Share a simple note taking template so people capture takeaways in a consistent way.  

During the ITSM event or training course  

• Encourage attendees to prioritise depth over breadth – better to attend fewer sessions fully than try to sample everything.  
• Capture specific ideas to test, rather than just interesting slides.  
• Use networking opportunities to ask other organisations how they approached similar problems.  

After the event or course  

• Run an internal playback session within one or two weeks, while the content is still fresh.  
• Turn insights into concrete actions: small experiments, process tweaks, or proposals for tool changes.  
• Create internal artifacts such as checklists, playbooks or mini guides based on what you learned.  
• Where relevant, repurpose non sensitive insights into external content – for example, thought leadership blogs or LinkedIn posts about key ITSM trends.  

This simple rhythm ensures your ITSM events and ITSM courses feed directly into continuous improvement, rather than being forgotten once badges come off.  

Deciding Which ITSM Courses, Training and Self-Directed Learning To Take  

In the world of information and content online, one might wonder when it is worth paying for paid ITSM courses or classroom training, versus investing time in self-directed learning.  

Typically, the decision to take paid ITSM training is a go/no-go situation when:  

1. Recognition – expected certifications like ITIL5 are needed to meet client and partner expectations and/or regulatory requirements.  
2. You have a significant change initiative and require a critical mass of individuals to communicate in the same language.  
3. You want direction and to have access to expert teachers who can answer questions in your context.  

Options that you can find on your own blogs, podcasts and community forums are great for regular top ups and keeping up with trends, but do not offer the depth, structure or accountability found in a formal ITSM course. Most high performing service desks are a mix of both in practice.  

Making This Your ITSM Learning Path  

Don’t make each ITSM event or ITSM course a stand alone choice, create a simple roadmap of events for the coming year. For instance, a medium sized organisation could:  

• Attend 1-2 major ITSM events annually to look ahead and talk to vendors.  
• Train key staff in ITIL 4 or topic specific ITSM training courses at quieter times in the business.  
• Conduct 1 in-house workshop each quarter to ensure new practices gained from external ITSM events and Course are introduced.  
• Enable individuals to continue to develop their own learning agenda through a combination of webinars, articles, and community involvement.  

This organised approach is a route to developing capability and enhancing service outcomes and more readily conveys continuous improvement to stakeholders. 

The post Selecting the Appropriate ITSM Events and Training Courses For 2026   appeared first on SDI.

Cloud services, SaaS platforms, microservices, remote workforces and increasingly complex digital ecosystems have created operational challenges that many organisations are struggling to keep pace with. Service desks and operations teams are often overwhelmed by alerts, tickets, escalations and manual investigations, while business expectations around availability and user experience continue to grow.

As a result, many organisations are exploring how AI can help them move beyond reactive support models and towards more proactive and predictive operations. One company helping to drive that conversation is BigPanda, whose vision of Agentic Operations aims to combine operational intelligence, automation and AI-driven decision-making to help teams resolve, and increasingly prevent, incidents before they impact the business.

The Challenge with Modern Incident Management

Despite investments in monitoring, observability and ITSM platforms, many organisations still face familiar challenges:

• Repeated incidents consuming valuable support resources
• Slow root cause identification
• High volumes of operational noise and alerts
• Large major incident bridge calls involving multiple teams
• Time-consuming post-incident reviews
• Increasing pressure to reduce Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)
• Change-related outages impacting critical business services

The challenge is rarely a lack of information. More often, it is having too much information spread across too many systems.

When incidents occur, service desk analysts, operations teams and technical specialists often need to gather data from monitoring tools, ticketing systems, collaboration platforms, knowledge repositories and change records before they can begin to understand what is happening. During major incidents, this process becomes even more difficult as multiple teams work simultaneously to diagnose and restore services.

In a recent webinar hosted by SDI, BigPanda highlighted a statistic that resonates with many IT leaders: approximately 73% of major incidents can be traced back to change activity within the IT environment.

While change management processes exist to reduce risk, assessing the true impact of a change across a complex technology landscape remains a significant challenge.

From Reactive Operations to Agentic Operations

This is where agentic AI is beginning to gain attention.

Unlike traditional automation, which relies on predefined workflows and rules, agentic AI can analyse information, identify patterns, make recommendations and autonomously execute tasks within defined parameters.

In an IT operations context, this means AI can help teams understand incidents faster by bringing together information from across the technology landscape, including:

1. Historical incidents
2. Change records
3. Service dependencies
4. Knowledge articles
5. Monitoring and observability data
6. Major incident documentation
7. Operational runbooks and procedures

Rather than requiring engineers to manually search multiple systems, AI can rapidly assemble operational context and present a consolidated view of the issue.

The result is faster decision-making, improved situational awareness and more effective incident response.

BigPanda’s Vision: From AIOps to Agentic Operations

The concept of Agentic Operations sits at the centre of BigPanda‘s strategy.

Traditional AIOps platforms have focused heavily on reducing alert noise and helping operations teams prioritise incidents. BigPanda’s vision extends beyond this by using AI to support the entire incident lifecycle, from detection and investigation through to resolution and prevention.

The objective is not simply to automate individual tasks. It is to provide service and operations teams with access to the collective knowledge of the organisation.

By bringing together incident history, service relationships, operational documentation, change records and observability data, AI can provide responders with the context they need when they need it most.

This reflects a broader trend across the industry, where organisations are increasingly looking for ways to augment human expertise rather than replace it.

Accelerating Incident Investigation

One of the most practical applications of agentic AI is in incident investigation and response.

During a recent SDI webinar, BigPanda demonstrated how its AI Incident Assistant Biggy automatically gathered information from multiple operational systems and presented a consolidated view of an issue.

Rather than spending valuable time searching through tickets, documentation, monitoring tools and collaboration platforms, responders were presented with information such as:

• Potential root causes
• Related incidents
• Relevant service dependencies
• Suggested remediation actions
• Subject matter experts who may be able to assist
• Recent changes that could be contributing to the issue

For many organisations, these information-gathering activities consume a significant amount of time during incident response. By reducing manual investigation, teams can focus more of their effort on diagnosing and resolving the issue itself.

Improving Major Incident Management

Major incidents are often as much a coordination challenge as they are a technical one. Incident managers are typically responsible for bringing together the right teams, maintaining communication channels, updating stakeholders, documenting actions and ensuring progress towards service restoration. Many of these activities remain highly manual.

BigPanda demonstrated how AI can support major incident processes by helping organisations:

1. Identify relevant responders
2. Create and manage incident channels
3. Generate stakeholder updates
4. Maintain incident timelines
5. Capture actions and decisions
6. Support post-incident reporting

Reducing administrative effort allows incident managers to focus on service restoration and business impact, rather than coordinating logistics.

For organisations where major incidents involve numerous teams and stakeholders, this has the potential to improve both communication and operational efficiency.

Moving from Incident Resolution to Incident Prevention

While improving incident response remains important, many organisations are increasingly focused on prevention.

This is where BigPanda’s approach to change intelligence becomes particularly interesting.

Traditional change assessments often rely heavily on human judgement. Yet modern environments contain thousands of relationships and dependencies that can be difficult to understand manually.

By analysing historical incidents, service topology, previous change outcomes and operational data, AI can help organisations build a more objective assessment of change risk.

During the webinar, BigPanda demonstrated how proposed changes could be evaluated against factors such as:

• Implementation complexity
• Service impact
• Historical incident patterns
• Team performance history
• Organisational risk criteria

The goal is not to replace change management processes but to provide additional intelligence that helps organisations make better-informed decisions.

This reflects a broader shift taking place across IT operations. The conversation is increasingly moving beyond “How quickly can we respond?” towards “How can we prevent incidents from happening in the first place?”

What This Means for Service Leaders

As organisations continue to invest in digital services, the cost of outages continues to rise.

Service leaders are under pressure to:

• Improve service reliability
• Reduce operational costs
• Increase productivity
• Minimise customer impact
• Accelerate change safely
• Scale support capabilities without significantly increasing headcount

Agentic AI offers an opportunity to enhance existing ITSM processes rather than replace them.

By combining operational data, organisational knowledge and intelligent automation, organisations can accelerate investigations, improve incident response and reduce the likelihood of future disruptions.

Importantly, these capabilities are not a replacement for good service management. Strong governance, effective processes and skilled people remain critical. However, AI has the potential to help those people work more effectively by reducing manual effort and providing greater operational insight.

Looking Ahead

Whether organisations choose BigPanda or another approach, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: AI is moving beyond chatbots and self-service into the operational core of IT.

The most interesting developments are no longer focused solely on answering user queries or automating routine requests. They are focused on helping organisations understand their environments better, respond to incidents faster and make more informed operational decisions.

For service management leaders focused on reliability, resilience and operational efficiency, the rise of agentic AI is a trend worth watching closely.

As organisations continue to combine established ITSM best practices with AI-driven operational intelligence, the future of incident management may be defined not just by how quickly incidents are resolved, but by how effectively they are prevented altogether.

The post What BigPanda’s Agentic AI Vision Means for Incident Management appeared first on SDI.

In fact, entering wasn’t even the plan.

Fast forward to Spark26 and Michael found himself standing on stage as the winner of the SDI Service Desk Analyst of the Year 2026 Award! An achievement that not only recognised his own contribution but also shone a spotlight on the opportunities available within Wanstor and the wider service desk profession.

We caught up with Michael to reflect on the experience, the lessons learned, and what he’d say to anyone thinking about entering the SDI Awards in the future.

“Go Big or Go Home”

Surprisingly, Michael’s journey began not with an application, but with a volunteer opportunity.

“Wanstor sent out a company-wide invitation to help with the SDI Awards submissions, so I volunteered to join the committee,” he explains. “It was only then that I discovered I’d actually been shortlisted for an individual award.”

While the nomination came as a surprise, the support around him helped turn uncertainty into confidence.

“Working alongside people who had experience with previous submissions made a huge difference. Their knowledge and guidance gave me the confidence to embrace the process. At that point, it became a case of ‘go big or go home’.”

The Perfect Venn Diagram

Despite the recognition he was already receiving, Michael admits he never viewed himself as someone who would naturally enter a competition of this calibre.

“I wouldn’t have entered myself into a pedigree competition like this,” he says. “Being relatively new to IT and thinking I could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with experienced professionals from around the world seemed to be the perfect Venn diagram of ignorance and hubris.”

The comment is delivered with characteristic humour, but it highlights a feeling many service desk professionals can relate to: the belief that you’re not quite ready.

Looking back, Michael sees things differently.

“What I learned is that these awards aren’t simply about years of experience. They’re about the impact you’re making, the difference you’re creating, and the value you’re delivering.”

A Process That Challenges You

One of the biggest surprises was how rewarding the awards process itself turned out to be.

“The whole experience was professional, friendly and incredibly well organised. Expectations were always clear, communication was regular, and I always felt comfortable asking questions whenever I needed to.”

For Michael, one of the most valuable aspects was the opportunity to reflect on his achievements.

“Trying to condense nearly a year’s worth of work into a coherent story was challenging. It forced me to think critically about what I’d accomplished, what had worked, and why it mattered.”

That process of reflection became a reward in its own right.

“It’s a fantastic exercise for anyone on a service desk. I’d recommend it regardless of whether you think you’ll win.”

Learning from the Best

Beyond the written submission, the interview stage left a lasting impression.

“Meeting judges Roman Jouravlev from Peoplecert and Lynne Nash during the in-person virtual video interview was a real highlight. Watching how they listened, asked questions and guided the conversation was a masterclass.”

The experience reinforced something Michael values deeply about the service management profession: the willingness of people to share knowledge and help others grow.

A Win for the Whole Team

While the award bears one person’s name, Michael is quick to point out that the celebration belongs to far more than just him.

“The team are absolutely celebrating. Everyone’s pulled together throughout this journey, and I’m incredibly grateful for their support.”

The experience has also inspired him to help others pursue similar opportunities.

“I’ve already offered to help colleagues who want to put themselves forward in the future. I’d love to see more people from our team recognised.”

Beyond the immediate team, Michael hopes the award highlights the career opportunities available within Wanstor.

“One thing Wanstor has always said is that you can build a complete IT career here. My hope is that this award helps demonstrate that and attracts more talented people to join us.”

Wanstor’s Leonard Cheshire support team

More Than Just a Trophy

Ask Michael whether entering the SDI Awards was worth it and the answer comes quickly.

“Absolutely.”

But for him, the value extends far beyond the moment his name was announced.

“It’s the sum of all the parts. The written submission, the interview process, attending Spark26, networking, learning from others, the confidence boost, and the career development opportunities that come afterwards.”

Most importantly, the experience changed how he thinks about his own potential.

“It teaches you not to put artificial limits on yourself. Sometimes it’s worth aiming much higher than you think you’re ready for.”

Advice for Future Entrants

For service desk professionals considering an SDI Awards submission in 2027, Michael has a simple message:

“Identify what makes you unique.”

Every service desk, every analyst and every team has something that sets them apart.

“Think about how that uniqueness contributes to a better customer experience and how it aligns with service management best practices. Then let the results speak for themselves.”

And for those who still aren’t sure they’re ready?

Michael smiles.

“Enter anyway.”

After all, that’s exactly what someone once told the future Service Desk Analyst of the Year.

For more on how to enter watch this webinar either live or on demand:

The post Service Desk Analyst of the Year 2026: Meet Michael Montgomery appeared first on SDI.

In fact, they openly recognised that some areas of their customer experience strategy were still evolving. But rather than waiting until everything felt “finished”, they saw the awards as something else entirely:

An opportunity to benchmark themselves, learn, and understand where they stood.

That decision became the start of an incredibly valuable journey.

“We knew we might not be fully ready”

For many service desks, uncertainty is often the biggest barrier to entering awards.

But for Akita, the mindset was refreshingly practical.

“There wasn’t really any hesitation. The first time we entered, for the 2025 awards, we knew we might not be fully ready.”

Rather than seeing that as a reason not to enter, they saw it as part of the process.

Being shortlisted and receiving detailed feedback from the judges gave them valuable insight into both their strengths and the areas they could continue developing.

And importantly, it helped shape what came next.

The feedback became part of the journey

One of the strongest themes throughout Akita’s experience is that entering the SDI Awards wasn’t treated as a one-off moment.

It became part of their wider service improvement journey.

“The biggest value for us was the opportunity to benchmark ourselves internationally.”

That external perspective helped crystalise how far the organisation had come, particularly around automation and customer experience.

It also helped identify where future improvements could be made.

In categories where they weren’t successful, the process still created value by helping shape internal roadmaps and future service development plans.

That’s an important reminder for teams considering entering:
sometimes the biggest value comes long before the winners are announced.

By 2026, things felt different

When Akita entered again for the SDI Awards 2026, they felt much more confident in the progress they had made.

Their automation capabilities had evolved.
Their customer experience strategy was more clearly defined.
And the organisation had embedded that approach across the business.

“It felt like the right time to share what we had built and how we were evolving.”

That evolution ultimately led to Akita winning MSP Service Desk of the Year 2026, a proud milestone in the company’s 30th year.

The process was more accessible than expected

Awards entries can sometimes feel overwhelming from the outside, especially for first-time entrants.

But Akita found the process surprisingly straightforward.

“The ‘how to enter’ handbook and webinar were genuinely helpful and clearly set out what the judges were looking for.”

That clarity helped make the experience feel accessible, structured, and manageable throughout.

And for teams wondering where to begin, that support can make a huge difference.

It became a true team effort

One of the most meaningful outcomes wasn’t just the recognition itself, but the way the process brought people together across the business.

From leadership teams through to engineers and service desk staff, people contributed in different ways:

• filmed interviews
• live demonstrations
• presentation preparation
• award submissions
• ceremony attendance

“There was a real focus on making sure we represented the service desk in an honest and meaningful way.”

That shared ownership created a genuine sense of pride across the organisation.

The impact reached far beyond the service desk

Since being recognised, Akita has seen the impact ripple across the wider business.

The award has:

• strengthened customer confidence
• supported conversations with prospective customers
• given sales teams additional credibility
• increased positive customer feedback
• reinforced internal pride and recognition

Customers have become more engaged too, particularly when they see how their feedback directly shapes service improvements.

Winning the award didn’t just recognise the service desk.
It strengthened the wider business story around service quality, trust, and continuous improvement.

Recognition matters

For Akita, winning the MSP Service Desk of the Year Award 2026 was about more than a trophy.

“For our service desk to be internationally recognised, especially in Akita’s 30th year, is a significant achievement.”

Recognition at that level reinforces credibility externally, but internally it sends an equally important message: that people are part of something valued, respected, and high-performing.

That matters for morale.
It matters for growth.
And it matters for the future of the team.

Thinking about entering in 2027?

Akita’s advice for other service desks is simple:

“I would absolutely encourage them to enter.”

Not just because of the possibility of winning, but because of the value the process itself creates.

“The feedback alone is incredibly valuable. It helps validate what you’re doing well and gives clear direction on where to focus next.”

Want to hear more about Akita’s awards journey?

If you’re considering entering the SDI Awards 2027 and wondering where to start, our How to Win an SDI Award webinar is the perfect place to begin.

The session features previous winners and judges sharing practical advice, honest experiences, and tips to help turn uncertainty into confidence, including further insights from Akita’s own SDI Awards experience.

Joining us live will be Akita’s very own Chris Malyon, Head of Support Services, who will be sharing firsthand experiences from the team’s progression from benchmarking their service desk to becoming MSP Service Desk of the Year 2026.

You’ll hear:

• what makes a strong entry
• what judges are really looking for
• how to approach the written submission
• common mistakes to avoid
• and why you may be more ready than you think

Your journey could start here

Akita didn’t wait until everything felt perfect before entering.

They entered to learn.
They used feedback to evolve.
They refined their strategy.
And they came back stronger.

That journey ultimately led to international recognition, but perhaps more importantly, it reinforced the value of the work their people were already doing every single day.

If you’re considering entering the SDI Awards 2027, maybe the question isn’t “Are we ready?”

Maybe it’s:
What could we learn if we started now?

The post From Benchmarking to Winning: Akita’s SDI Awards Journey appeared first on SDI.

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) software extends proven service management practices to other enterprise functions, such as HR, Facilities, Finance, Legal, and internal service groups, bringing service management to the enterprise with a consistent approach to requests, workflows, knowledge, and employee experience management.  

If an organisation is familiar with ITSM, then ESM is the logical progression: build on the principles that underpinned ITSM’s success to improve visibility and service performance in IT, and extend them to service delivery across the business, rather than forcing a single department to create its own operating model. 

This is important at SDI because service excellence is not a stand-alone technology project. SDI’s own advisory philosophy is to see platforms in harmony with people, processes, customer experience, business goals, and governance, rather than as a prerequisite of that. That’s not really about “rolling out one more tool”, it’s about creating a scalable internal service model throughout the organisation. 

What is Enterprise Service Management?

ESM extends service management concepts, processes, and technology to other aspects of the enterprise. In reality, it involves providing employees with a more unified approach to getting help, seeing progress, receiving self-service answers, and communicating with other internal teams, all through a single service experience rather than multiple inboxes, shared inboxes, spreadsheets, and local hacks and workarounds. 

The ESM operating model is supported by the “software” component (platform layer). A robust ESM platform should integrate request management, workflow automation, service catalogues, knowledge management, reporting, integration, and governance controls to enable multiple teams to provide services in a structured, measurable way. 

ESM vs ITSM: What’s The Difference? 

ITSM is about the design, delivery, support and improvement of IT services. Those disciplines are then carried over to other non-IT functions, broadening the scope from “how IT manages services” to “how the organisation manages internal services more broadly”. 

This does not imply an opposition between ITSM and ESM. The model often serves as the basis for ITSM, and the enterprise-wide extension is ESM. The practical difference is that ESM has to consider broader workflows, stakeholders, privacy requirements, approval workflows, and service cultures, including those that don’t consider themselves to be service providers today. 

So, Why Are Organisations Transitioning From ITSM To ESM?

There are many organisations that have grown to a stage where IT is functional for requests, incidents, workflows, and reporting, but other functions are still being handled by email, manual routing, disconnected forms, or local spreadsheets. This disparity results in an inconsistent employee experience, reduced visibility, duplicated work, and weak governance of internal services. 

The shared services approach of ESM is appealing: a single platform, a more unified definition of ownership, more standardised processes, and the ability to gain a clearer understanding of service demand and performance across the business. This is reinforced by SDI’s approach to tool selection, which warns against feature-led buying and focuses organisations on beginning with service objectives, maturity, experience, and long-term ownership. 

Use Cases

HR Service Delivery

HR is one of the most popular ESM use cases, as it has frequent repetitive internal requests, sensitive cases, structured approvals, and knowledge-rich interactions. Onboarding and offboarding, Policy enquiries, Reference enquiries, Payroll enquiries, Contract changes, absence management, and Employee lifecycle case management are typical workflows. 

A mature ESM approach enables HR to offer a more concise catalogue of services, automate routine requests, ensure the secure sharing of confidential information with role-based access and enhance employee experience with self-service and effective case tracking. 

Facilities and Workplace Services

The function of the facilities team often means that they are involved in both reactive and planned service requests, in offices, sites and hybrid working environments, making them ideal candidates for service management practices. Examples of ESM use cases include: Access, Maintenance, Room move, Office setup, Health and safety, Cleaning, Parking, and Workplace support (assets). 

When these services are integrated into an ESM platform, it can enhance routing, prioritisation, communication, and reporting capabilities, particularly when requests are across three or more functional areas of the business (Facilities, IT, Security, HR). 

Finance and Shared Services

It is easy to imagine that finance teams are expected to support internal customers in a structured way through an approval-driven, policy-sensitive request, which is an ideal fit for ESM workflows. This can include purchase requests, supplier onboarding, expense exceptions, invoice queries, cost centre changes, and internal approvals that require a handoff that can be audited. 

In such an environment, ESM software can be used to aid in the management of standard forms, rule-based routing, escalation logic, audit history and reporting of turnaround time or bottlenecks without compromising governance and compliance requirements. 

Legal, Procurement, and Other Enterprise Functions

Legal, procurement, security, and corporate services are often classified as internal service providers outside day-to-day business, even if that is not the term used to describe them. For those teams, ESM enables them to better clarify services, manage intake, triage work, document commitments, and minimise reliance on unmanaged email-based workload management. 

The important point to remember is not to make all departments an IT process. Instead, the platform should provide a common service management backbone, while offering department-specific workflows, controls, and terminology as needed. 

Platform Features

The following are the features that every ESM platform should have as a minimum.
The primary query in evaluating enterprise service management software is not which vendor has the most features, but which platform is best suited to the organisation’s level of services, maturity, users and governance. The SDI advisory framework is particularly helpful here as it considers platforms through the lens of 6 dimensions: people and culture, processes and practices, technology and automation, customer and experience, performance and value, governance and operating model. 

Some essential capabilities that should be listed on a shortlist of must-have ESM features are: 

1. Multi-department service catalogue and request management, allowing HR, Facilities, Finance and other departments to publish simple services in a single consistent user experience. 
2. Workflow automation and approvals, routing, escalation, SLAs or similar service targets, and team handoff. 
3. Knowledge Management and self-service: employees solve common problems without unnecessary tickets and are able to access answers in an organised manner. 
4. Clear role-based access and privacy management, particularly for HR, finance, legal and sensitive employee cases. 
5. Integration capability: Enable seamless connection between identity, collaboration, HR, finance, facilities, and IT systems, ensuring data is not siloed and handled redundantly. 
6. Beyond just activity, reporting, dashboards, value measurement, workflow performance, service outcomes, and adoption metrics demand insight. 
7. Configuration without harmful over-customisation, which SDI explicitly states can have negative consequences on adoption, sustainability, and value. 

Features That Matter More At Scale 

While some features are more satisfactory than others, they are not necessarily more important. As ESM grows, some functions gain greater significance than they initially appear to have. These include support for multiple operating units, delegated administration, service portfolio structure, reusable workflow components, governance controls, experience measurement, and the capability to standardise where appropriate, while preserving sensible local flexibility. 

This is where many organisations stall: they purchase what is useful for the volume of tickets they expect to receive today, rather than the operating model of the enterprise they expect to run tomorrow. A platform that is successful for one IT team may not necessarily be successful for multiple functions, cross-functional work processes, or enterprise governance without extensive redesign. 

Governance Questions 

Questions to Answer Early: Governance and Ownership 

A well-governed ESM journey is one of the key factors that distinguishes it from merely rolling out a single ESM tool in a couple of departments. Organisations should have a handful of questions about ownership they need to answer before choosing or expanding an ESM platform. 

1. Who is responsible for the ESM strategy – IT, shared services, transformation office or cross-functional steering group?
2. What services should be prioritised on the platform first and then others later when processes are more mature?
3. What needs to be consistent across the enterprise, and what can stay at the department level? 
4. Who approves workflow changes, catalogue design, automation rules and reporting definitions? 
5. What will be considered success: efficiency alone or employee experience, service quality, adoption, and business value?
6. Who is responsible for the funding of the platform, integration, process ownership and continual optimisation? 

Why these questions are important: ESM is more than a technology implementation. It shifts roles and boundaries across teams, reveals process issues and establishes new expectations for accountability and experience. 

SDI Alignment 

How SDI Standards and Optimisation Thinking Cross the IT Rubric 

The Global Best Practice Standard for Service Desk of SDI is based on service alignment to business strategy, a definition of service maturity and guidance for service excellence. Although the approach is service-desk-based, the principles and practices carry over nicely to enterprise services, since they’re all the same: clear service definition, measurable performance, customer focus, governance, and continuous improvement. 

Similarly, SDI’s optimisation and assurance efforts focus on the fact that technology should be used to provide great service, not to create it; and that organisations should not choose tools without first understanding the maturity of the process, the organisation’s capabilities, and its readiness for change. In ESM, non-IT functions can vary widely in terms of process standardisation and service ownership. 

It’s helpful to consider SDI thinking in the context of enterprise services as follows: 

• Look at the maturity of the service desk and how it compares with the enterprise service desk, noting the differences in service definition, service demand management, and service outcomes. 

• Business Drivers / User journeys / Pain points before platform configuration – move from tool-first thinking to outcome-first design.  

• Beyond ticket count to adoption, experience, turnaround, quality and business contribution: reporting, now for operational value realisation. 

• Isolating improvement to enterprise governance: Ownership of standards, workflows, data and optimisation across functions. 

Example ESM journeys 

Many approaches are used to initiate ESM, and none suit every organisation. There are three typical trips: 

Service-oriented expansion (IT-led): IT has a fairly well-developed service management capability, and service management is brought to HR, Facilities or Finance, usually beginning with a handful of high-volume workflows. 

In the Shared Services redesign, the organisation employs ESM as part of a broader internal service transformation, with a unified service catalogue and governance model across a number of functions from the outset. 

Organic department adoption: one department’s pain point in the IT world is met with value, and over time, it expands into a larger enterprise model without the IT department’s involvement. 

An organisation could start by introducing onboarding for IT and HR, where the provision of devices, access, contracts, facilities access, and induction processes are managed in a cross-functional workflow, rather than as individual email chains. Another can begin in the Workplace Requests section of the Facilities module and then expand to include Finance approvals and procurement intake once governance, roles and reporting are established. 

Evaluation Framework 

A Vendor-Neutral ESM Software Evaluation Framework 

An ESM evaluation framework should assess platforms based on the services they provide and how well they fit the organisation, rather than on the vendor’s bells and whistles. SDI’s six-dimensional approach is a good starting point for such an evaluation as it widens the scope of the discussion beyond technical. 

The following categories may be used for a practical vendor-neutral framework: 

Each platform can then be scored 1-5 points on these criteria, and the scores can differ depending on the business priority, no longer based on the vendor’s demo capabilities. This often means that, for many organisations, the “best” product in the market is not appropriate for their governance model, maturity, or change capacity. 

The post Enterprise Service Management Software: Extending ITSM Practices Across the Business appeared first on SDI.

The Importance Of Leadership-Based Training To IT And Support Managers. 

Contemporary IT and support managers are supposed to be both service strategists, change agents, coaches, and customer champions. Technical credibility remains relevant, yet it is leadership, communication and strategic planning abilities that dictate whether a support operation is leading the business with continued value delivery. 

These are not new pressures, the ticket numbers are rising, complexity is rising, the hybrid working models are increasing, employee turnover is high, and the demand to provide services fast, friendly, 24/7 is growing. Leadership-oriented training helps managers step back from daily escalations and establish strong structures, processes, and cultures that support performance. 

The Service Desk Institute’s Approach To Support Manager Training 

The Service Desk Institute (SDI) specialises in helping IT service and support teams improve performance through training, best practice standards and certification. Its programmes are designed specifically for service desks and IT support environments, meaning the leadership content is grounded in real‑world support challenges rather than generic management theory. 

SDI’s flagship Service Desk Manager (SDM) Certification Course is a four day, interactive training programme aimed at current and aspiring managers who want to lead high‑performing support operations. The course combines strategic thinking, people leadership, service management practices and practical tools for performance and quality improvement. 

What Makes SDI’s SDM Course Leadership‑Centric? 

• It focuses on how to define and communicate a clear service desk vision and strategy aligned to business goals, not just how to run day‑to‑day operations. 

• It emphasises leading and motivating teams, developing people, and managing performance to create resilient, engaged support teams. 

• It integrates IT service management, process excellence and quality assurance so managers can drive measurable, continual improvement. 

• It culminates in an internationally recognised qualification (exam by PeopleCert), giving managers formal validation of their leadership capability. 

Core Leadership Themes In Modern Support Manager Training

Change Management And Strategic Planning 

Support managers are often at the frontline of change, whether that’s a new ITSM tool, cloud migration, AI‑powered self‑service, or an organisational restructure. Leadership oriented training helps them:  

• Identify the strategic needs of the service desk and its purpose, scope and success measures in the overall business environment.  

• Define a strategic position of support, including vision and mission statements, sourcing models and financial management considerations.  

• Consistency between IT and business strategies in such a way that the service desk is viewed not as a cost centre but as a value-adding partner. 

Team Leadership, Communication And Culture 

High performing support teams are built on clear expectations, psychological safety, and a strong sense of purpose. Manager training, therefore, places heavy emphasis on: 

• Understanding the characteristics of effective teams and the manager’s role in shaping culture and behaviours.  

• Developing excellent communication skills, including active listening, negotiation, and presenting information clearly to both teams and stakeholders.  

• Applying motivational theories in a fast‑paced service environment to keep analysts engaged, resilient and customer focused. 

A good leadership centric programme equips managers with practical techniques for coaching, feedback, one‑to‑ones, and handling difficult conversations, all tailored to a support context.  

Service Excellence And Customer Experience 

Since support managers occupy the interface between technology and human, they have to be trained towards service excellence and customer experience. Training elements are usually common and include:  

• Avoiding misconceptions about what is meant by good in terms of the service desk performance and the customer satisfaction, and how to realistically but stretch targets.  

• Design and management of processes for speed, quality, and consistency, including escalation, incident, and request handling. 

• Using metrics and feedback to improve service, from CSAT and NPS to first contact resolution and backlog health.  

A service excellence mindset shifts managers from chasing SLAs in isolation to genuinely understanding user outcomes and experiences.  

People Management: Recruitment, Development And Retention 

In many IT service teams, the manager’s largest single lever is how they recruit, develop, and retain talent. Leadership centric programmes, therefore, focus on:  

• Designing effective recruitment strategies for analysts and team leads, linked to the skills and behaviours that drive service quality.  

• Building structured induction, ongoing training and development frameworks so staff can progress and specialise.  

• Identifying the behaviours needed to retain staff and maintain healthy working relationships, including recognising contribution and addressing performance issues early.  

This people-first approach is particularly important in support environments where burnout and turnover can be high if managers lack the tools to manage workload and wellbeing.  

IT Service Management And Quality Assurance 

While leadership is the focus, managers still need a solid grasp of service management practices and continual improvement. Training typically covers:  

• The role of IT service management frameworks, such as ITIL, and how practices, processes, and procedures underpin consistent service delivery.  

• How to design and maintain effective processes that integrate with wider IT operations (e.g. change, problem, configuration).  

• Quality assurance activities such as interaction monitoring, call reviews, benchmarking and structured improvement initiatives.  

The result is managers who can lead both people and processes, using data and quality feedback to drive better outcomes.  

How The SDI Service Desk Manager Course Builds These Skills 

SDI’s Service Desk Manager Certification Course brings these leadership themes together into a cohesive development journey for IT and support managers. It is structured to move from strategic understanding through to day-to-day leadership and operational excellence.  

Key course elements 

• Strategic definition and role: Participants review the purpose and activities of a successful service desk and learn how to build a strategy that supports business goals.  

• Core management skills: Decision-making, delegation, and conflict resolution are built in a support situation. 

• Teamwork and communication: Managers explore how to build effective teams, improve communication and presentation skills, and enhance listening and negotiation techniques. 

• Staff recruitment, retention and development: The programme covers structured induction, training, development and performance management for analysts and team leaders.  

• IT service management integration: Delegates examine ITSM principles and ITIL practices relevant to the service desk, ensuring their teams follow effective processes.  

• Quality assurance: The course explains how to design and run a comprehensive quality assurance programme, including monitoring and benchmarking.  

By the end of the course, participants are prepared for the PeopleCert‑administered Service Desk Manager exam and can gain a globally recognised qualification. More importantly, they leave with a practical toolkit for leading modern IT support teams with confidence.  

Who The SDM Course Is For 

The SDM course is ideal for existing and aspiring service desk managers and supervisors with several years’ experience in a service desk environment who want to formalise and elevate their leadership skills. It is also valuable for team leaders, operational managers and heads of support who need a structured framework for managing people, performance and service quality.  

The post Supporting IT Managers: Top Training Programs for Leadership in 2026  appeared first on SDI.

Raising Service Desk Certification Scores Year on Year

Achieving Service Desk Certification is one thing.

Continually improving your scores, strengthening service maturity, and driving higher standards year after year is something else entirely.

That’s exactly what King’s Service Centre (KSC), the technology support operation behind King’s College London, has demonstrated through its ongoing Service Desk Certification (SDC) journey with SDI.

Rather than treating Certification as a one-time achievement, KSC has used the SDI Global Best Practice Standard as a continual improvement framework — helping the organisation steadily improve operational maturity, customer experience, service quality and overall performance over time.

For IT Directors, Service Desk Managers and ITSM leaders looking to benchmark and improve their own operations, the KSC story is a powerful example of what long-term service improvement can achieve.

Building a Culture of Continual Service Improvement

King’s Service Centre provides 24/7/365 support for more than 50,000 students and staff across King’s College London through a 250-person operation based in Cornwall.

Operating at that scale requires far more than simply resolving tickets quickly.

It requires:

• Consistency
• Governance
• Mature processes
• Strong leadership
• Customer-focused service delivery
• Ongoing performance measurement
• Continual improvement embedded into culture

KSC’s ongoing improvement in Service Desk Certification scores demonstrates exactly that.

Their journey shows that high-performing service desks are not built through one-off transformation projects. They are developed through sustained commitment to best practice, measurement, refinement and operational maturity.

Using Service Desk Certification as a Strategic Improvement Framework

Many organisations approach Certification as a destination.

The most successful service desks use it as a roadmap.

KSC’s continued score improvements highlight how Service Desk Certification can help organisations:

• Identify improvement opportunities
• Benchmark operational maturity
• Strengthen customer experience
• Improve consistency
• Develop leadership capability
• Increase service quality
• Create accountability and visibility

For IT leaders, this is where the real value of Service Desk Certification lies.

Not in achieving a badge — but in using globally recognised best practice standards to drive measurable service improvement over time.

Read Full Case Study →

Why Incremental Score Improvements Matter

Improving Certification scores year after year reflects something important:
the service desk is becoming more mature, more consistent, more customer-led and more strategically aligned.

That can translate into significant operational and business benefits, including:

• Improved customer satisfaction
• Better employee experience
• Increased efficiency
• Reduced escalations
• Stronger service governance
• Better decision-making through performance insight
• Greater confidence from stakeholders and leadership teams

In complex enterprise IT environments, even small improvements in maturity can create substantial long-term impact.

A Real Example of Service Desk Maturity in Action

KSC’s continual improvement journey demonstrates the difference between reactive service management and mature service leadership.

Rather than standing still after Certification, the organisation continued evolving:

• Refining processes
• Improving service quality
• Strengthening operational maturity
• Embedding continual improvement
• Raising standards across the service desk

That ongoing commitment is what separates truly high-performing service desks from those simply maintaining operations.

Why This Matters for IT Directors and Service Desk Leaders

Today’s service desks are under constant pressure to:

• Improve customer experience
• Increase operational efficiency
• Support digital transformation
• Demonstrate business value
• Deliver more with limited resources

Without measurable frameworks and maturity benchmarks, continual improvement becomes difficult to sustain.

That’s why more organisations are using SDI’s Service Desk Certification programme to:

• Benchmark performance
• Validate service quality
• Build improvement roadmaps
• Align teams around best practice
• Demonstrate operational excellence

KSC’s journey is a strong example of how continual benchmarking and improvement can help organisations steadily raise standards and performance over time.

Continual Improvement Creates Long-Term Competitive Advantage

The most mature service desks understand something important:
service excellence is never “finished.”

Technology evolves.
Customer expectations rise.
Business needs change.

Organisations that continually assess, improve and mature their service operations are the ones best positioned to deliver long-term value.

KSC’s improving Certification scores reflect a sustained commitment to service excellence — and a recognition that continual improvement is an ongoing journey, not a one-time milestone.

Where Is Your Service Desk on Its Improvement Journey?

Whether your organisation is currently reactive, proactive, customer-led or business-led, continual improvement starts with understanding where you are today.

Service Desk Certification provides IT leaders with:

• Independent benchmarking
• Clear maturity visibility
• Actionable improvement insight
• Industry-recognised standards
• A framework for sustainable service excellence

King’s Service Centre has shown what’s possible when continual improvement becomes part of organisational culture.

The next question is:
What could your service desk achieve over the next 12 months?

The post King’s Service Centre’s Improvement Journey: Raising Certification Scores Year on Year appeared first on SDI.

Organisations that achieve SDI Service Desk Certification are proving something very different. They’re transforming their service desks into:

• High-performing customer experience functions
• Data-driven improvement engines
• Strategic business enablers
• Trusted internal partners

And they’re achieving measurable operational and financial gains while doing it.

Tata Communications: A Global Example of Service Excellence

Take Tata Communications as an example. Operating globally with complex support requirements, Tata Communications pursued SDI Service Desk Certification as part of a wider commitment to service excellence and continual improvement.

The strategic goals:

1. Improving First Call Resolution (FCR) Rates

2. Boosting Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Experience

3. Increasing Automation and Efficiency

4. Streamlining IT Service Management (ITSM)

5. Enhancing SLA Performance

6. Fostering a Customer-First Culture

Tata experienced many meaningful benefits and improvements from SDC. Below are some of the key results:

Key achievements include:

1.  60% reduction in customer portal tickets (FY 24–25)

2.  20% reduction in incident tickets (FY 24–25)

3.  17% increase in self-service adoption (41% → 58% in one year)

4.  AI-driven automation delivering faster response and resolution

5.  Significant improvements in First Call Resolution (FCR), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), and SLA compliance

“Customer satisfaction has noticeably improved – shorter wait times, faster resolutions and more personalised support have all strengthened relationships and boosted confidence in our service.”

“Beyond metrics, the programme has helped us build a more resilient and adaptive service desk capable of supporting digital transformation initiatives. We’ve also leveraged insights gained to implement AI-driven chatbots and proactive monitoring, further enhancing service delivery.”

“The SDI programme has empowered our service desk team with clear processes, better tools, and a strong sense of purpose. Morale is higher than ever, and our customers are the real winners.”

Read Full Case Study →

The ROI from SDC Is Bigger Than Most Leaders Expect

One of the biggest misconceptions about Certification is that it’s simply a “badge.” It isn’t.

SDC is an operational improvement framework built around globally recognised best practice standards.

The organisations that engage fully with certification frequently see improvements across:

Operational Efficiency

• Faster resolution times
• Improved first contact resolution
• Reduced repeat incidents
• Better knowledge management
• Greater process consistency

These improvements directly reduce operational waste and free up valuable technical resource time.

Customer Experience

When service delivery becomes more mature and consistent:

• Customer satisfaction increases
• Trust in IT improves
• Complaints and escalations reduce
• Employees become more productive

And in today’s digital workplace, employee experience is business performance.

Team Performance & Retention

High-performing service desks don’t happen accidentally.

Certification creates:

• Clearer standards
• Stronger accountability
• Improved morale
• Greater role clarity
• Increased analyst confidence
• Better leadership visibility

In a market where retaining skilled IT support professionals is becoming harder and more expensive, that’s a major advantage.

Strategic Visibility for IT Leaders

Perhaps most importantly for IT Directors and Heads of Support, SDC gives leadership teams a recognised benchmark for maturity.

Instead of relying on assumptions or internal opinions, you gain:

• Independent validation
• Clear improvement roadmaps
• Measurable benchmarks
• Industry credibility
• Evidence for investment cases

That makes it significantly easier to justify budgets, transformation initiatives, and future service improvements.

Discover more ROI examples →

The Hidden Cost of Doing Nothing

Many organisations delay service improvement because operations are “busy.” But staying reactive is expensive.

Without structured service improvement:

• Inefficiencies compound
• Customer frustration grows
• Technical debt increases
• Teams remain stretched
• Service quality becomes inconsistent
• IT struggles to demonstrate value

The cost of poor service maturity is often far greater than the investment required to improve it. That’s why the most effective IT leaders don’t wait.

They benchmark, they improve.

The question is no longer: “Can we afford to invest in service desk maturity?”

It’s: “How much is poor service maturity already costing us?”

If your organisation is serious about:

• Improving customer experience
• Increasing operational efficiency
• Demonstrating IT value
• Strengthening service performance
• Building a high-performing support culture

…then Service Desk Certification should already be on your roadmap.

Start the Conversation

Book a conversation with SDI to discover how Service Desk Certification can help your organisation achieve measurable operational and business impact.

Because world-class service desks aren’t built accidentally. They’re built intentionally.

Use the form below to talk to us, and let’s get your team celebrating!

The post Tata Communications achieve 60% reduction in customer portal tickets appeared first on SDI.

If you want to move from being a strong technical support professional to a confident, recognised people leader, a service desk manager course can help bridge that gap. The right course gives aspiring and current managers a structured framework for strategy, people management, service improvement and performance measurement, while also adding a recognised qualification that can support promotion and long-term career growth. 

Why a Service Desk Manager Course Can Accelerate Your Career 

Many professionals reach a stage where technical expertise alone doesn’t equip them for a leadership role. Employers are seeking more service desk managers who can lead the team, enhance service performance, communicate with stakeholders, and align support operations with business objectives, rather than resolving incidents. 

At this point, a specialist service desk manager course is beneficial. Instead of management through trial and error, learners can have a clear outline of how to operate a high-performing desk, how to lead people, and demonstrate quantifiable business value. 

Who Should Take a Service Desk Manager Course? 

A service desk manager course is most relevant for professionals who are either stepping into management for the first time or trying to strengthen their leadership credentials in a current role. This includes senior service desk analysts, team leaders, supervisors, newly appointed managers and experienced managers who want a recognised qualification to support the next stage of their career. 

Common career situations include: 

• A senior analyst who wants to move into their first management role but needs stronger leadership and strategic planning skills. 

• A newly promoted manager who feels confident technically but needs practical frameworks for performance management, service improvement and communication. 

• An experienced manager who wants an industry-recognised certification to strengthen their CV, LinkedIn profile or internal promotion case. 

What Skills Will You Gain? 

The strongest service desk manager courses go beyond operational support topics and focus on the broader skills needed to lead teams and influence the wider organisation. SDI’s Service Desk Manager course covers strategy, leadership, employee management, communication, IT service management, customer experience, quality, metrics, self-service, automation and AI adoption. 

These areas matter because they align closely with what ambitious service desk professionals need in order to move into more senior leadership roles. In practical terms, a service desk manager course can help you build capability in: 

• Strategic leadership, including defining the role of the service desk and aligning it with business priorities. 

• People management, including coaching, recruitment, retention, teamwork, resilience and stress management. 

• Performance and service improvement, including the use of critical success factors, KPIs, benchmarking and quality assurance. 

• Communication and stakeholder influence, including how to explain the value of the service desk to senior decision-makers. 

• Modern service desk development, including self-service, automation and AI-related improvements. 

Why These Skills Matter for Career Progression 

Career progression in service management usually depends on more than tenure. Professionals tend to move forward when they can show that they lead people well, improve outcomes, manage change and communicate strategically with the wider business. 

A service desk manager course helps develop those abilities into a more noticeable, believable expert image. That is, regardless of whether the next step is a first-time service desk manager, a high-level support leadership position, or a more expansive IT operations career. 

Inside SDI’s Service Desk Manager Certification Course 

Service Desk Institute offers a dedicated Service Desk Manager Certification Course designed specifically for service desk leaders. The course is delivered as a four-day live virtual classroom programme and includes an interactive learning format, practical management topics and a globally recognised qualification examined by PeopleCert. 

The course is aligned to its Service Desk Manager Professional Standard and is designed to help learners improve confidence, structure their thinking more effectively and apply proven management practices in real service desk environments. This is important for career-focused learners because it gives them both practical capability and a recognised credential they can use to evidence their development. 

How the SDI Course Supports Individual Career Development 

The SDI course enhances the operations capacity and personal career opportunities of service desk professionals. It concentrates on developing self-assured leaders who can lead teams, leading service improvement and communicating well with stakeholders. 

The participants acquire best-practice skills in service desk management, performance measurement and continual improvement, that enable them to exhibit the strategic thinking required in senior positions. The industry recognition of the course strengthens CVs, prompts promotion discussion and enhances applications for service desk manager or head of service roles. 

What Career Paths Can Open Up After a Service Desk Manager Course? 

Service desk manager courses will not guarantee a promotion on its own, but it can strengthen the skills and credibility needed for progression. Common next-step roles connected to this kind of development include service desk manager, senior service desk manager, IT operations manager, head of service desk and other broader IT leadership positions. 

For many professionals, the biggest shift is not just the job title but the nature of the work. Moving upward usually means spending less time on day-to-day ticket handling and more time on coaching, reporting, stakeholder management, process design and continuous improvement, all of which are areas a service desk manager course is designed to address. 

How to Get the Most Career Value from the Course 

To turn a service desk manager course into a genuine career asset, it helps to connect the learning to a personal development plan. Learners can get more value by identifying a clear post-course goal, such as leading a service improvement initiative, building a skills matrix for the team, improving reporting to stakeholders or taking ownership of a major service desk change programme. 

It is also worth using the qualification actively after completion. Adding the certification to a CV, LinkedIn profile and internal promotion application can help translate course completion into visible professional credibility, especially when backed up with examples of frameworks or improvements applied in the workplace. 

How to Choose the Right Service Desk Manager Course 

Not every leadership or ITSM course is equally relevant for service desk professionals. When choosing a service desk manager course, it is sensible to look for a programme that is specifically designed for service desk leaders, aligned to a recognised standard, delivered in an interactive format and focused on practical application rather than theory alone. 

For career-oriented learners, it is also a good idea to enquire whether the qualification will carry weight with employers and whether the course material aligns well with real management tasks. SDI’s specialised interest in service desk management and its position as the authority in IT service management training and Best Practice Standards means professionals and employers can choose SDI courses with confidence. 

The post Service Desk Manager Course: Fast-Track Your IT Support Leadership Career  appeared first on SDI.

In fact, they weren’t even sure they were ready to enter at all.

Yet today, they stand as winners of the Service Desk Customer Experience of the Year 2026, and their story is exactly the kind that should make other service desks stop and think: why not us?

“We didn’t think we had much chance of winning”

Like many teams, Emerald Publishing nearly didn’t enter.

Two key concerns held them back:

• They didn’t believe they would win
• They worried about the time and effort required

“Once we committed, we took the view of ‘what have we got to lose?’”

That mindset shift changed everything.

They were already planning to attend the conference—to learn, connect, and share ideas. Entering the awards simply became an extension of that experience.

And that’s an important point: entering wasn’t just about winning; it was about growth.

Feeling “not ready” is more common than you think

Emerald’s team is refreshingly honest:

“Honestly, no. We didn’t feel ready.”

They had no benchmark. No clear idea of the competition. No certainty about how they would measure up.

So instead, they focused on what they could control:

• Telling their story honestly
• Backing what they do well
• Staying humble and authentic

“We’re very aware that we’re not perfect… but that’s part of learning and improving.”

This is exactly what many high-performing teams overlook. You don’t need to be perfect to be award-worthy.

The process: challenging, but valuable

Yes, the entry process took effort.

Like many first-time entrants, Emerald approached it later than they would have liked, and the written submission required time and focus. But even that brought unexpected benefits.

“Staying within the word limits actually helped focus our thinking and keep our responses clear and concise.”

And with hindsight?

Better planning and shared ownership across the team would make it even more manageable next time.

The real value started before the results

One of the most powerful takeaways from Emerald’s experience is this: The value of entering came long before they won.

“It gave us space to properly reflect on what we’ve achieved as a team.”

That reflection led to:

1. Greater clarity on their strengths
2. Recognition of additional successes
3. More opportunities to celebrate internally

Most importantly: “It really galvanised the team, our people felt heard and recognised for the work they do day in, day out.”

The impact: recognition, confidence, and momentum

Winning the award amplified what was already a strong reputation. It:

1. Reinforced confidence across the organisation
2. Highlighted the value of the service desk
3. Created pride and visibility for the team

“It gave the wider business confidence that they’re being supported by an award-winning service desk.”

And externally, it didn’t hurt either:

“Winning the award has also helped raise awareness of Emerald Publishing, which can only be a good thing.”

But perhaps most importantly, it didn’t create complacency. “We’re not standing still… learning and improvement are now just part of how we work.”

More than a win: why it was truly worth it

While winning is a huge achievement, Emerald is clear that the benefits go far beyond the trophy. “It encouraged honest self-reflection, created healthy motivation within the team to step up and raise the bar, and shone a really positive light on both the team and the business.”

This is what sets the SDI Awards apart:
It’s not just recognition
It’s a catalyst for growth

Thinking about entering in 2027?

Emerald’s advice is simple—and powerful:

“What have you got to lose?”

Yes, it takes time.
Yes, it requires effort.

But with some planning, “The positives far outweigh the effort.”

Your story could be next…

Emerald Publishing’s service desk didn’t think they were ready. They weren’t sure they would win.

But they entered anyway, and it transformed how their team saw themselves, how their organisation saw them, and ultimately, what they achieved.

If you’re considering entering you service desk for the SDI Awards 2027, take their advice:

You’re probably more ready than you think.

The post From “We’re Not Ready” to Award Winners: Emerald Publishing’s SDI Awards Journey appeared first on SDI.