Efficient IT Support: optimise your Ticketing with best practices
In the management of IT & Infrastructure services, the quality of support provided to clients (institutional and end users) is critical – and even decisive – for the continuity of their operations.
Often, simple actions such as timely and personalised management of ad hoc needs, recorded in ticketing systems by end users, lead to predictable operations, aligned with business objectives and auditable against SLA compliance. This is in line with IT Service Management (ITSM) best practices.
To ensure the effectiveness of the support service, it is necessary to implement and enforce a basic operational rule: any action taken on a ticket, however small, must result in its assignment to the appropriate team and/or professional, with successive changes to its various development states. This practice is the foundation for creating a predictable, measurable, and efficient support system.
ITSM best practices
1. From the limitations of the "Open" state to service disruptions
Best practices recommend that the "Open" state should be reserved exclusively for tickets that have entered the system and are awaiting initial analysis.
Prolonged use of this state – especially after intervention – generates concrete operational problems in any infrastructure environment, from networks and servers to digital workplaces:
- Lack of progress visibility: a consultant (in conjunction with end users or not) may have already analysed the ticket, but if the state remains "Open", this action is not clearly reflected in the request lifecycle. For the rest of the team and management, the ticket appears unworked, which may lead to duplicate analysis.
- Difficulties in triage and prioritisation: joint Support/Customer teams cannot filter, sort, consult, or review tickets effectively. It is impossible to separate new tickets from those already analysed and, for example, awaiting information. This prevents correct prioritisation of critical incidents.
- Ineffective communication with the user: the "Open" state does not convey useful information to the user about the status of their request. The absence of a more specific state, such as "In Analysis" or "Awaiting Information", may lead the user to assume their ticket has been ignored.
Maintaining the "Open" state after the first contact misinforms internal teams and end users and complicates helpdesk monitoring
2. The operational function of assignment
Assigning a ticket has a clear operational function and should not be seen as a transfer of responsibility, but rather as its assumption.
- Definition of responsibility: a ticket without assignment has no identified owner. Without a defined responsible party, the ticket risks not being worked on by any team, as no one feels accountable for its resolution.
- Routing to specialised resources: assignment directs the ticket to the team with the appropriate technical skills to resolve it. An infrastructure issue should be assigned to the network team, while an application issue should be assigned to developers. This accelerates resolution time.
- Basis for performance metrics: correct assignment is a prerequisite for data analysis. Without it, it is impossible to accurately measure workload, average resolution time, or team productivity. Reports based on incorrect data lead to wrong management decisions regarding capacity, team organisation, and process improvement.
Assigning a ticket is a fundamental step to ensure the request reaches the right resource within the organisation
3. Integration between assignment and status
Updating the status and assigning the ticket are complementary actions that, when performed together, create a coherent workflow easily monitored by infrastructure management.
Ticket lifecycle:
- Entry: the ticket is created in the system (Status: Open; Assignment: Unassigned or General Queue).
- Initial analysis: a consultant from the general queue analyses the ticket and determines it is a network incident. Correct Action: changes the status to "In Analysis" and assigns the ticket to the "support" team.
- Intervention by the specialised team: the support team receives the ticket in their work queue. Correct Action: changes the status to "In Progress" (actively working) or "Awaiting Customer" (if a response from the user is needed).
- Resolution: the team resolves the issue. Correct Action: changes the status to "Resolved" and closes the ticket.
Following this flow provides an accurate, real-time view of helpdesk work. Management can see how many tickets are at each stage of the process, identify bottlenecks, and proactively allocate resources to ensure consistent service levels.
4. Consequences of non-application
Failure to apply these rules has direct negative impacts:
- Operational inefficiency: increased total resolution time due to duplicate ticket analysis and lack of direct routing to specialists.
- User dissatisfaction: delays in resolution and lack of communication about the request status lead to a perception of poor-quality service.
- Management difficulties: inability to perform correct performance analysis, identify areas needing more resources, or measure the overall effectiveness of the support service. Without reliable data, it also becomes more difficult to justify investments in automation, training, or team reinforcement.
5. Measures for implementation
Successful implementation requires a structured approach:
- Procedure definition: clearly document the possible states in the system and the rules for their use. Specify the criteria for assigning tickets to different teams.
- Team instruction: conduct training sessions to ensure all consultants understand the importance of these actions for the overall service operation. Explain the negative impact of non-compliance.
- System configuration: use the automation features of the helpdesk software. For example, configure rules so that reassignment of a ticket automatically changes its state, or tickets in "Awaiting Customer" for a long time generate alerts.
- Magement monitoring: management should regularly audit ticket queues and provide feedback to the team. Compliance with these rules should be considered an individual and team performance indicator.
How Izertis supports Helpdesk maturity
At Izertis, these best practices are integrated into the design and operation of managed infrastructure services, combining ITSM, automation, and monitoring to ensure consistent service levels.
This approach creates a transparent system, where the progress of each request is visible, responsibilities are defined, and data supports IT governance and infrastructure evolution decisions. Consistent application of these rules reduces inefficiencies, ensures timely response, and increases overall support quality for customers.
If your organisation wants to evolve the maturity of its Helpdesk and Infrastructure services, contact us to get the model most suited to your context.