Service Desk Manager

The latest update of the SDM Professional Standards on which this course is based, expand on previous versions by providing the newest trends in the ITSM industry, helping service desk professional support organisations on their digital transformation journeys.

The new SDM Standards provide an end-to-end competency model for the delivery and operation of tech-enabled IT services and enhance the SDM role, enabling IT support to play a crucial role in the wider business IT strategy.


Course Information:


Exam: Exam Included (online exam, live procter)
Certificate: SDI Service Desk Manager
Prerequisites: None
Duration: 4 days
Accreditor: PEOPLECERT
Delivery format: online, e-Learning or classroom
Course Materials: Course Book
Delivery format: online or classroom

Service Desk Manager (SDM) Qualification & Exam

The Service Desk Manager (SDM) Professional Standard qualification recognizes an individual’s knowledge of the competencies, requirements and skills required to manage a service desk.

A person who successfully passes the Service Desk Manager (SDM) exam can be expected to have the skills to:

• Develop and deliver service desk strategies to that fully underpin the organization’s business strategy and objectives
• Demonstrate the key leadership and management competencies needed to be a successful Service Desk Manager
• Interface the service desk with other departments within IT, other processes and other standards to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of IT
• Create, support and deliver service desk processes and services to deliver exceptional customer and value

Course Overview:

This course contains everything that is essential to core roles and responsibilities of a successful Service Desk Manager:

• Defining strategic requirements: Review the purpose, activities, and requirements of a successful service desk from a global perspective, discover the benefits of complying with industry standards and examine ethics in the service and support environment
• Developing a strategic role: Examine the requirements for creating an effective service desk strategy that underpins business goals, learn about the purpose and objectives of vision and missions statements, examine the benefits and challenges associated with various sourcing models, and review the objectives and activities of financial management
• The role of the service desk manager: Review the characteristics, skills and competencies required to be an effective service desk manager, review the roles and responsibilities of a service desk manager, discuss the reasons why we should promote the service desk, and review the key activities of a successful promotion campaign
• Organisational change and project management: Identify the elements of successful project management and the importance of building persuasive business cases, example the purpose and benefits of effective organisational change, identify opportunities for participation in strategic decision making, and
• Teamwork and communication: Review the characteristics of effective teams, examine the importance of excellent communication skills from a management perspective, learn the requirements of effective presentation skills, and enhance listening, information gathering and negotiating techniques
• Staff recruitment, retention & development: Examine the requirements for effective recruitment strategies, review the features and benefits of a structured and on-going approach to induction, training and development, and explore the behaviours required to retain staff, maintain effective working relationships and address individual performance issues
• Management and leadership: Review the activities of an effective manager and an effective leader, identify the elements of successful planning and coordinating activities, and examine the benefits of and how to achieve motivated teams
• Resilience: Examine the importance of emotional resilience, recognising signs of positive and negative stress in yourself and your staff, and effective stress management
• Effective management of resources: Examine the challenges and benefits of commonly used support delivery methods and technologies, explore the benefits of workforce management and resource planning models, and discover the challenges and benefits of adopting self-service
• AI and automation: Identify the benefits and challenges of increasing automation and AI opportunities within the workplace and explore common examples of rules-based AI and neural networks
• IT service management: Explore IT service management and its objectives, recognise the difference between a practice, a process and a procedure, identify the need to effective practices, processes and procedures and the importance of following them, and discover ITIL 4 practices and their purpose and place within the service desk environment
• Quality assurance activities: Review the purpose and objectives of a comprehensive quality assurance program, identify common quality assurance practices, examine the purpose, benefits, and methods of interaction monitoring, and explore the role of benchmarking in the service desk environment
• Managing the customer experience: Discover the importance of managing the customer experience and the need for a coherent approach, identify opportunities for capturing feedback, and learn how to use feedback effectively in decision making
• Management information & performance results: Examine the relationship between critical success factors (CSFs), key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, and identify a range of service desk metrics and their success criteria

Who should attend?

This course is designed for existing or aspiring service desk managers and supervisors wishing to develop their understanding of service management best practice and the most efficient ways of running an effective IT support operation.

It contains the complete service management tool kit covering strategy, leadership, employee development, relationship building, service improvement, ITSM processes, performance measurement, finance and tools and technologies, and an internationally recognised SDM qualification.

Why should managers do this new SDM course?

For managers there is now more emphasis on leadership skills and the importance of providing a clear vision and purpose even in difficult times, inspiring teams to rapidly adapt and ensuring they have a clear framework for decision making.

The ability to build, motivate and support teams to give their best has never been more important. Now more than ever organisation's need to get the best from their greatest asset; their people.

Learning Outcomes


• A thorough grounding in the skills required to lead, motivate and manage a service desk team.
• The complete service desk management tool kit covering strategy, leadership, employee development, relationship building, service improvement, ITSM processes, performance measurement, finance and tools and technologies.
• An internationally recognised SDM qualification.