SERVICE DESK

CERTIFICATION
The only industry, standard based,
accreditation programme specifically
designed to certify service desk quality
WHAT IS Service Desk Independent validation of
service excellence

Certification? Compliments ITIL

and ISO 20000
SDI’s Service Desk Certification (SDC) programme is an
internationally established service desk accreditation and
improvement programme.
Promotes adoption and
alignment to industry best
To achieve Certification, the maturity level of your service practice
and support operation is benchmarked against the latest
‘Global Best Practice Standard for Service Desk’ (Best
Practice Standard). First introduced in 2000 and updated
by global ITSM experts every few years, the Best Practice Demonstrates value and
Standard provides a set of 138 best practice criteria within return on investment for
nine concept areas to define, control, measure and rest of the business
continually improve IT service operations.
An overall maturity level of ‘Proactive’ or above must be
achieved for Certification and a star rating to be awarded. A driver for continual
service improvement and
skills development
Maturity Level Star Rating:
Reactive
Proactive Improves customer
perception and customer
Customer–led
experience
Business – led
World Class
Service Desk Steps to becoming Certified
CERTIFICATION IS
The SDC programme comprises three key parts:

Service Desk Assessment

GLOBAL This is a two day initial evaluation of the service desk which will
produce a detailed and personalized improvement report. By

RECOGNITION OF
following the steps outlined in the evaluation report, an organization is
able to quickly identify key strengths and weaknesses in its support
structure and the specific areas on which to focus attention, so that it

OUTSTANDING can make the most meaningful improvements prior to the

Certification Audit. Due to popular demand, the Assessment can be
bought as a stand alone service which SDI can deliver independently

SERVICE DELIVERY from the rest of the Certification programme.

Certification Audit

The Certification Audit is a full review of an entire service desk

operation using interviews, desk-side observations and a review of
service level metrics. Evidence based material is required prior to the
Certification Audit to confirm the service desk conforms to the Best
Practice Standard.

Surveillance Audits

In order to ensure continued and sustainable service excellence and

‘Certified’ service desk status, organizations will have an annual
Surveillance Audit to remain in the programme. A new evolving
service improvement road map will be provided after each
Surveillance Audit, usually to target specific areas of delivery, to make
the most beneficial impact.
Benefits of
• Increases trust between IT support and other departments.

• Increases team morale and promotes an engaged and

Certification motivated workforce.

SDC can bring a wide range of benefits to any IT Countries with Certified service desks:
service and support operation. Here are a
handful of reasons why service desks join the
SDC programme: ARGENTINA INDIA SWEDEN
COLOMBIA MEXICO ROMANIA
• Honest and objective feedback from DENMARK PERU UAE
customers, staff and auditors enables you to
ECUADOR PHILIPPINES USA
prioritize and target resources, in order to
deliver the most efficient and ENGLAND SCOTLAND WALES
cost effective service.

• Proves the value of the service desk to the

wider business and to customers while
demonstrating dedication to best practice.

• Promotes a culture of business-focused

continual improvement.

• Serves as a differentiator for your organization

and provides positive PR and publicity
opportunities.

• Improved efficiencies will raise the quality of

service and benefit the people you support.

• Improves customer communication and

engagement.
What value can Don’t just take our word for it...

SDC bring to my
IT leaders and directors from a number of different
industries have witnessed first hand the value of
Service Desk Certification. Here’s what some recent

organization?
IT service professionals have said about being part
of the SDC programme:

said the SDC programme enabled them to Team morale and employee satisfaction
100% better articulate and promote the value of
their service desk. has improved
– Alex Allen, Leeds Beckett University

Better working relationships with

said that as a result of Certification they have
78% experienced improved trust, confidence or stakeholders
credibility in their service capability.
- Cameron Hopkins , DVLA

It just found even more areas where we

saw improvement in reporting capabilities can keep improving
77% since first engaging in the SDC programme.
– Paige Smith, Air IT

Better engagement with our staff and

said the SDC report they received provided customers
100% valuable information to enable them on their
improvement journey. – David Gordon, Informatics Merseyside
THE ESSENTIAL
HANDBOOK
The Service Desk Essential Handbook is your guide to a
brilliant service desk. It lays out the description and
maturity level for all of the 138 criteria from the Global
Best Practice Standard for Service Desk (Best Practice
Standard.) From analysts to CIOs, professionals at all
levels can use the detail and expert knowledge in this
handbook as a quality reference model for service desks
in any industry or location.
SDI specialize in service
improvement
This handbook enables you to review all aspects of
your service, will introduce some new concepts and will
help you identify certain inefficiencies, to highlight
potential improvement opportunities.
Whether you choose the Certification route, use the
Best Practice Standard for self-guided continual
improvement or utilize one of SDI's flexible service
improvement plans, you’ll see tangible results and
experience the advantages of support from the experts.

It can be used as a quick-reference guide, or to map your

own service improvement journey using the Best Practice
Standard as a framework in its entirety.
This handbook has
Each maturity level builds on the previous. So in order to followed me everywhere!
achieve a Business-led rating, you must fulfill the criteria It has changed the way we
of all four maturities. To achieve a Customer-led rating, think about every
you must fulfill the first three maturities, and so on. You
decision, to make sure we
do things with the
should be aiming to continually improve your maturity
business's and customer's
rating in each criteria.
needs first.
How you do this depends on the nature of the concept
itself, so might involve implementing new ways of
working, adopting new practices, technologies or
increasing communication with stakeholders. Download a free copy from servicedeskinstitute.com
find out more
We’d love to talk, answer your questions and let
you know more about SDC. You can get in touch
with us any time using the details on the back of
this brochure!

Come to one of our SDC events and hear stories

from the organizations who are going through the
programme themselves.

We can put you in touch with similar service desks,

perhaps even in the same industry, who’ve been
through the programme and can tell you about the
experience first hand.
Service Desk servicedeskinstitute.com
Institute™
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Green Street Green
Orpington @sdi_institute
Kent
BR6 6BG

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