5 IT Self-Service Problems (And How to Solve Them)

For busy IT departments, self-service portals can be one of the best ways of keeping IT networks up and running. The idea that employees should be able to solve any minor issues they have themselves without having to file a formal ticket is attractive for a number of reasons.

Firstly, there's the promise of improved productivity, as helpdesk pros don't have their time taken up by simple tasks. This in turn should also lead to cost savings and more time spent on activities that can add value.

Many IT pros also believe these benefits will be appreciated by end-users as well, as they'll be able to get answers quickly without having to wait. Self-service has already proven highly popular in other areas, from ATMs to automated supermarket checkouts, so why should IT support be any different?

Tackling the problem of low IT self-service adoption

Many firms still maintain an attitude towards their self-service portal of 'if we build it, they’ll come'. But in fact, low adoption rates are one of the most common problems encountered by firms utilizing these solutions, as they often don't work as intended and fail to provide a strong user experience.

According to research by HappySignals, IT self-service portals have lower user satisfaction than any other support channel and cause the biggest drop in productivity. It found people who use self-service portals to solve issues report losing an average of three hours and 43 minutes of work time, compared with two hours and 11 minutes for those who seek help by phone.

So how do you go about improving these solutions? The first step is to identify exactly what problems your employees are having with the self-service portal, so you can pinpoint what steps need to be taken. Here are five of the most common issues IT self-service portals can have, and what you need to do to fix them.

1. Your users aren't aware of it

You can't expect to see success with a self-service portal unless employees use it, but often one of the biggest obstacles is that staff members aren't even aware of its existence. This means unnecessary effort all round, as employees end up wasting time trying to find answers that should be easily accessible, while IT support staff have to deal with unnecessary queries.

To solve this, it's vital you're promoting the portal effectively. It should have a prominent place on your firm's intranet page where it can be seen every time someone logs on. But this alone isn't enough. Back this up with physical promotional materials such as posters and other materials users will see on a daily basis.

2. It doesn't provide enough information

If the solutions you're offering on your self-service portal are overly simplistic or only cover the most basic problems an employee may face, this is only likely to frustrate users. If they feel they've wasted time hunting for information that isn't there, they won't return to the portal the next time they have an issue, even if it's a minor one.

At the same time, you need to keep things in terms users will understand and respond to. For example, a common issue is when portals ask the user to rank their issue by urgency. Most people won't be familiar with different levels and will default to the most urgent level, even if their problem doesn't merit it. This can cause more problems for IT personnel when trying to prioritize tickets.

3. It's too complex

By contrast, overly-complicated portals can be equally frustrating. This can often come from the fact IT pros design these portals as if they’re the primary users - which they're not. If instructions for solving a problem are too lengthy or assume a level of technical knowledge the user doesn't possess, they won't find it useful.

As well as keeping it simple, you shouldn't try and do too much. Information overload can be a real issue, so make sure any directions are as concise and straightforward as possible. While it can be tempting to turn your self-service platform into a one-stop shop where people can go for any problem, large or small, this can result in people getting lost or confused.

4. It's outdated

Another common issue is if you simply set up your self-service portal and don’t maintain and update it. Your self-service portal needs to be constantly adapting and evolving to be successful, but many firms don't do this.

One reason for stagnating portals is that the pages themselves can be difficult to edit. Therefore, it's vital you have self-service tools that can be easily updated with the minimum of effort or disruption.

However, maintaining your portal isn't just about ensuring the actual help on offer is up-to-date. For instance, continually refining and improving the user interface in response to user feedback is a must.

5. It's not easily accessible

Finally, you need to make sure your helpdesk is accessible in a way that's familiar and preferred by users, with no loss of functionality or user-friendliness. For instance, today's workforce are much more comfortable accessing vital data and applications via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, so you'll need to make sure your portal is accessible on these platforms.

However, making it mobile-compatible is just the start. If your portal requires a specific web browser to work, or needs external actions such as installing a plugin, this also hurts your adoption rate and leads to a poor return on investment.