New Horizons Blog and Resources

What can you gain from mastering VMware AirWatch? The platform is one of the most widely used solutions for mobile device management (also known as enterprise mobility management) and has been a reliable source of revenue for VMware even as the company restructures and de-emphasizes some age-old products such as Fusion and Workstation.

The IT Service Desk plays a significant role in the day-to-day operations of any organization. When it functions well, all other activities perform well. If the Service Desk cannot perform, either because it doesn’t have the proper technical skills or does not show requisite empathy, key personal and activities suffer. 

Improving the technical and customer service skills of your Service Desk is vital to productivity and to the overall customer experience, as a company’s Service Desk sits at the front-line of customer care and, in turn, becomes of the face of the organization. To improve Service Desk skills, consider the following 3 tips:

1. Implement Incident & Problem Management

 Proficient Incident and Problem Management processes are key to an effective Service Desk. It’s up to the Service Desk Manager to implement them. ITIL is a globally recognized service management methodology that can alter how your Service Desk performs. The Operational phase of the ITIL service lifecycle includes many aspects of what impacts a Service Desk on a daily basis. Leadership skills and the ability to motivate employees are also two key features for Service Desk Managers to inspire their team members.

2. Focus on Desktop Support & Customer Service 

 Two areas of Desktop Support that often go overlooked are support for Line of Business (LOB) applications and Customer Service skills. Microsoft Office is the most widely used suite of productivity software in the world. However, Desktop Support specialists tend to use that software less frequently than your typical office worker and are not prepared to assist with questions pertaining to it.

Effective Customer Service skills are just as important and a vital part of any Service Desk. Professional courtesy and understanding how to deal with customer complaints strengthens the bond between any service provider and their customers. Regardless of a team member’s technical acumen, all levels of Desktop Support will become more effective with training for Microsoft Office and understanding the fundamentals of Customer Service.

3. Utilize Tailored Training

 Utilizing authorized training solutions from leading vendors, such as CompTIA and Microsoft, can transform your Service Desk team by raising their level of technical proficiency. Many organizations maintain multiple tiers of support that require different levels of skill and different training needs, so it’s important to identify areas of improvement for the management of the Service Desk to ensure strong leadership and implementation of proven best practices.

More links

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SharePoint has evolved from a simple, and sometimes awkward, document management system, initially released in 2001, into a robust, full-featured document management system. Every level of business from small to large can benefit from the dynamic feature set that SharePoint 2019 now boasts to both End-Users and Developers.

Amazon Web Services has been dominating the cloud market. With Synergy Research Group having found that the company controlled 31 percent of the full-year 2015 cloud infrastructure market – well above Microsoft's second-place bid at 9 percent – it's clear Amazon has proved itself to be much more than an online marketplace. But dominating the cloud market wasn't enough. 

New Horizons Learning Group, a leading training partner for VMware, IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat and Cisco, has entered into a unique partnership with Burstorm, a cloud design and sourcing platform provider, to >help tackle the cloud skills gap by delivering hands-on training to >cloud architects, solutions engineers and IT professionals.