FirstHELP includes full search capabilities and an open and extensible directory architecture that can be customized to an organization's needs, combining the world of Web-based self help with a company's resources.

Password Courier's integration with existing Unisys technical infrastructure will allow Unisys to track and log password management incidents automatically for cohesive, end-to-end service management - regardless of support access and resolution methods.

The prestigious award honors the help desk team who has most enhanced the image of the help desk profession by setting and achieving the highest standards of excellence in customer support.

Frantz has been with CompuCom since 1995, serving as director of help desk services where she was responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of CompuCom's help desk and dispatch services. Under Frantz's direction, CompuCom's help desk has received several industry awards, including the 1998 and 1999 STAR (Software Technical Assistance Recognition) Award in the outstanding outsourcer category from the Software Support Professionals Association. Most recently, CompuCom was recognized as the highest ranked outsourced help desk provider by the Help Desk Institute as the only outsourcer to achieve a finalist place in the Help Desk Institutes' 2000 Team Excellence Award.

ServiceWare has been delighted with the overwhelming demand for RightAnswers.com from these and other professional associations and has responded by providing added membership value with a free, fifteen-day trial of RightAnswers.com -- including access to all knowledge channels -- and RightAnswers.com direct discounts for association members.

Help Desk 2000 is the premiere resource for teaching and certifying best practices and innovative methodologies into the Fortune 500. Its help desk community turns to Help Desk 2000 daily for information on best practices for staffing, managing and continuously improving their help desk operations. With the addition of the Web's largest directory of more than 2,200 software and hardware products from MyHelpdesk.com, the Help Desk 2000 community will now have an abundance of relevant product-specific information (for both troubleshooting and productivity questions) at their fingertips, enabling them to increase First Contact Resolution (FCR FCR - Face Cluster Radiosity

Level II Help Desk provides system analysts with a single point of contact for troubleshooting and resolving application problems including undocumented errors and program failures. Level III Help Desk supplies customers with Plaut's expert guidance on how to fine-tune and keep SAP R/3 up-to-date.

Under terms of the VAR agreement, GoldMine will immediately distribute a subset of Peregrine Systems InfraCenter for Workgroups, focused on the benefit of both asset management and knowledge management. GoldMine also will soon integrate HEAT with Peregrine Systems Infrastructure Management solution that manages IT assets through their entire lifecycle. Combining GoldMine's HEAT software and Peregrine Systems asset management software makes for a robust and comprehensive help desk and infrastructure management solution.

Part of the decision stems from SRIC's size; the company employs about 160 employees in four cities. To bring an adequate IT department, with high-end consultants, specialists, and enough staff to cover vacations, illness, and ordinary computer crises, the company would have had to nearly double in size.

The first article of this series on IT outsourcing in the financial services industry focused on negotiating the outsourcing deal with the supplier. In this article, I'll describe a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) initiative that yielded positive results for help desk functions at a large investment services company.