Is the IT service desk dying out?

(Image credit: Future)

When something goes wrong with IT at work, chances are you’ll be asked to submit a service ticket. This is a tale as old as time – see a problem, submit a ticket, wait for the service desk to come to your help.

But all this could be set for change. Advances in technology have opened the door to software problems being detected and remediated automatically, while internal learning platforms could also provide employees with the information they need to fix issues themselves.

How will all this come together, and is it really just around the corner?

In this episode, Jane and Rory speak to Samuele Gantner, chief product officer at Nexthink, to get a better understanding of the direction IT support is headed and why the service desk might soon be a thing of the past.

Highlights

“So we did this research together with a research firm, and as you say, 72% of end user competing professionals believe that the traditional service desk, and I'm quoting, will be extinct by 2027. So there is a big change that is expected.”

“I personally feel very privileged to be in this field in this era, because what is happening is mind blowing around that 96% are also saying that the rapid evolution of end user computing is an attractive career opportunity for them, and 92% feel that the service desk will not necessarily disappear, but will evolve into something that they start to call the ‘experience desk’, that more holistically looks at what is the end-to-end employee experience.”

“All of this artificial intelligence, all of this automation is not coming into place on its own. Somebody needs to tell the system what to do, at least with the technology that we're seeing today and in the next couple of years. So we're seeing a transformation of some of the jobs that IT are doing today, from executing the playbook to actually writing the playbook.”

Footnotes

TOPICS

Rory Bathgate was Features and Multimedia Editor at ITPro until 2026, overseeing all in-depth content and case studies. He also co-hosted the ITPro Podcast with Jane McCallion, swapping a keyboard for a microphone to discuss the latest learnings with thought leaders from across the tech sector.

In his free time, Rory enjoys photography, video editing, and good science fiction. After graduating from the University of Kent with a BA in English and American Literature, Rory undertook an MA in Eighteenth-Century Studies at King’s College London. He joined ITPro in 2022 as a graduate, following four years in student journalism. You can contact Rory on LinkedIn.

Highlights

Footnotes

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