For most IT service desks, the acronym VIP means something very specific — it's that list of "important" people, in fact very important people, who they don't ever want to get the wrong side of. They get premier treatment and probably never see how the service desk works for mere mortals. But consequently they think that the service desk does a great job.
But how often is the VIP list compiled from the wrong perspective — the fear of being called out for doing a poor job (by the powers that be) rather than actually doing a good job as standard. But that is a different discussion, that everyone should receive a good service from the service desk, and I want to focus on where a premier IT support service is warranted.
Now VIP lists do have a purpose
The people who are higher up the organizational ladder have important roles to fulfill and their technology might certainly help them communicate better and to be more productive. But, taking a Mickey Mouse example, does that VIP personal printer issue really need to be given priority when they can print to the nearby network printer (sensitive data issues notwithstanding)?
And many VIP lists include those that help (or can unduly influence the opinions of) senior people. Personal assistants and secretaries (where they still exist) were always my favorite additions to service desk VIP list given that they would often cause you more pain than the people they worked for when their technology wasn't working as it should be.
So I totally understand the need for VIP lists — one would be stupid to ignore the IT issues and requirements of those that potentially, either directly or indirectly, influence next years IT support budget and maybe even staffing decisions. But how many of the VIPs really need to jump the queue for IT support or new service provisioning all of the time? Just because they are organizationally important, or work for someone who is, it doesn't mean that their IT issues are more critical to business operations than those of others. There might be a link, but there also might not.
Very important roles — the VIR list
This is nothing new; I was using one ten years ago. But I don't think VIR lists are as common as they should be. I even Googled it a moment ago and found nothing.
It's simple really. You take what you do for VIPs and replicate it for those business roles that are critical to business operations. How do you work out what they are (and who fills them)? Speak to your customers — if you have business or business unit champions (who help you make IT decisions based on business priorities) then it makes it so much easier.
These very important roles could be anywhere within your business. They could still be the most senior of employees or, alternatively, roles that you have never heard of — with minimal IT kit and a minimum of fuss around wanting the latest and greatest gadgets as soon as they are available. But, importantly, their IT might be critical to their role, and what they do in their role might be critical to business operations.
Their criticality might also vary by the time of day, the day of the month or year, or by the circumstances the IT issues appear in. For example:
- An operational role that prints off daily delivery schedules each morning — a printer issue might affect business operations, quality of service, contractual commitments, and costs.
- A finance role that creates the company pack to present to the market at the end of the quarter. An untimely IT failure might adversely affect share price.
- A HR role that ensures that people get paid at month-end.
- Security or business continuity roles that step up in times of crisis, whether due to internal or external adverse circumstances.
- A marketing role that ensures that time critical campaigns are delivered to plan.
- An operational role that ensures that all due revenues are logged such that they are ultimately billed for and received.
So where are your VIRs?
I could go on with my bullet list, but I'm confident that each business function or unit will have people in roles where it would cause operational issues (and potentially revenue or customer loss) if their IT or telephony equipment is not fixed quickly if it's not working at certain times (and there is no contingency arrangement).
The above examples might not fit your organization but I'm certain you will have such VIRs, and some that you would never have thought of without business insight. In many ways there is a parallel to change and maintenance windows with business critical systems or services — where and when would it really hurt if the IT isn't working?
So what do you think of VIRs? Do you have them already? If you do, I would love to know what roles you would class as VIRs.
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