Good questions/points, John. It certainly isn't the right fit for everyone, but it was a good fit for us. Within healthcare, we have some specialized applications as well, and you either dictate that help desk requests for those apps get forwarded to your internal support team, or you spend time with the solution provider training them on the idiosyncrasies. The thing I like about NWN is that you actually get technicians, not just a pretty voice on the other end of the phone that takes notes and says, "I'll have someone call you back". Like training a new hire, training the help desk provider would take some time as well, but in the end you can end up with some better documentation than what you might have had if you had stuck with an internal Help Desk solution. You know how shoemakers' children sometime go without shoes? So it is in our world. We intend to document, but it doesn't always happen because of a new fire over here and then we rarely get back to the documentation...
These guys understand Exchange, AD, Citrix, VMware, etc. so if your environment consists of these things, then you may be well served to look into them. If you are HIGHLY specialized, then they may not be a good fit, but you never know. Jonathan L. Raper, A+, MCSA, MCSE Technology Coordinator Eagle Physicians & Associates, PA jra...@eaglemds.com<BLOCKED::mailto:%20jra...@eaglemds.com> www.eaglemds.com<BLOCKED::http://www.eaglemds.com/> ________________________________ From: John Hornbuckle [mailto:john.hornbuc...@taylor.k12.fl.us] Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 2:12 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Help Desk, or No? How do you deal with idiosyncratic applications? In our cases, we have a lot of specialized systems (e.g., specialized to school districts, then often further specialized to Florida school districts). I can't imagine the learning curve that would be required in order for an outside service provider to be able to offer a useful level of help to our users. Even the "I can't print" issues can be complex for someone without the knowledge that an insider has, like knowing that certain trick to get that specific model of printer to work with that one special application. John Hornbuckle MIS Department Taylor County School District www.taylor.k12.fl.us From: Raper, Jonathan - Eagle [mailto:jra...@eaglemds.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 2:04 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Help Desk, or No? Anyone looking for a Help Desk solution might want to consider outsourcing your Help Desk to NWN, so your desktop, server, and networking guys can do what they are good at, and so that you can really focus on projects instead of, "I can't print" issues. We did that for our Help Desk back in September of last year. We were going through explosive growth of our technological infrastructure and realized a need for a better Help Desk ticketing system, along with the possibility of dedicated Help Desk staff. I was VERY hesitant to out source, but they made a believer out of me. No solution is perfect, and neither is NWN, but it has been a good decision, in my opinion. They can do everything from very basic Help Desk ticketing all the way to monitoring your entire infrastructure and dispatching an engineer on demand. Their Command Center is in Waltham, Massachusetts, and they've been able to handle about 60-70% of our calls remotely. What they can't handle, they escalate to our desktop, server, or network team. Even if you don't think you're big enough, you might want to check it out - you never know. http://www.nwnit.com/solutions/nCare%20Managed%20Services.asp If you're contemplating buying a Help Desk package, I would consider NWN in the mix as well. They can tailor their offering to your needs, and eliminate you having to purchase, deploy (and support) yet one more application in your enterprise. You won't get someone who doesn't speak English well, and NWN doesn't call in sick... Ask for Ben Smith or Greg Syer. They can help you out. Jonathan L. Raper, A+, MCSA, MCSE Technology Coordinator Eagle Physicians & Associates, PA jra...@eaglemds.com<BLOCKED::mailto:%20jra...@eaglemds.com> www.eaglemds.com<BLOCKED::http://www.eaglemds.com/> NOTICE: Florida has a broad public records law. Most written communications to or from this entity are public records that will be disclosed to the public and the media upon request. E-mail communications may be subject to public disclosure. ________________________________ Any medical information contained in this electronic message is CONFIDENTIAL and privileged. It is unlawful for unauthorized persons to view, copy, disclose, or disseminate CONFIDENTIAL information. This electronic message may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and/or entity named as recipients in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete this material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message, and do not disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information that it contains. Any medical information contained in this electronic message is CONFIDENTIAL and privileged. It is unlawful for unauthorized persons to view, copy, disclose, or disseminate CONFIDENTIAL information. This electronic message may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and/or entity named as recipients in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete this material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message, and do not disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information that it contains. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
