With the objective of “evolving” an information technology (IT) service desk after 35 years under the same management, Ryan Swan sets out to elaborate on the current status of the service desk and the deficiencies, in his view, that need to be addressed. The writing is solely based on his experience working the service desk and being asked to assume the service desk manager role.

The organization of the paper makes it an easy read. Swan describes the scope of service desk management responsibilities per his new role, and then outlines five current issues: process confusion, lack of team cohesion, need for effective leadership, defined direction, and wasted time.

Detailed actionable solutions for each of the five identified issues are discussed. The solutions include process enforcement, building a team, changing leadership style and evaluating human resources costs, defining direction, and streamlining as needed.

The paper is short, casually written, and serves as a starting point to inform IT personnel on how best to address service desk challenges within academia. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and IT service management (ITSM) are briefly introduced, though it would have been helpful to give some background on both.