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Products: Survey Series > IT User Satisfaction Survey™


What is the IT User Satisfaction Survey?

How do IT providers view their service compared to views of their clients? It doesn't matter whether the IT provider is internal or external, it is important for them to know what their customers really think of their service. To identify customers' current level of satisfaction and be aware of changes in opinion, a measure that accurately assesses user attitudes is needed.

STRATEGIC OUTLOOKS has developed such a measurement tool, the IT User Satisfaction Survey. Using a Likert-type scale, this technique measures the difference between importance and satisfaction, providing a single measurement for each attribute - the Average Weighted Performance Gap (AWPG).

The IT User Satisfaction Survey enables service providers to measure themselves in four critical areas of IT service:

  • Suitability and availability of business applications provided
  • Effectiveness of day-to-day service
  • Expertise and experience of help-desk and on-site service personnel
  • Quality of the overall relationship

Using the Average Weighted Performance Gap, providers can then pinpoint those areas of service requiring immediate attention.

At the end of the survey an automated report is provided. This includes:

  • Tabulated and graphical representation of the results
  • Identification of key and critical issues to be addressed
  • Verbatim comments from respondents (not identified)
  • Demographic breakdowns as required

Who is it for?

The IT User Satisfaction Survey is for all organisations in which there is an obligation to maintain a consistent level of service against a Service Level Agreement, whether this is formal or informal.

The survey may be commissioned by an organisation to measure either an outsourced service vendor, or by the internal IT department. Alternatively, it may be the outsourcing company that requests the survey as part of its contractual arrangement with customers. In many cases the two parties fund the survey jointly.

What solutions does the IT Satisfaction Survey provide?

Improvement in performance can realistically only be achieved when management is properly informed about current performance. To this end it is important to identify key performance indicators that will enable management to monitor progress.

The IT User Satisfaction Survey is designed to give IT service providers a clear understanding of:

  • What their customers expect of them
  • How well they meet those expectations
  • What unmet needs their clients have

The Average Weighted Performance Gap score will highlight those items causing the greatest dissatisfaction amongst customers. This means that IT service providers can make an informed decision to concentrate resources in those areas where they can achieve the greatest return in the shortest time.

Because the survey can be delivered by demographic breakdown such as departments within the client organisation, eg HR, Finance, Manufacturing, and Distribution, it is simple to assess whether satisfaction with service differs between functions within the organisation.

What is unique and special about the IT User Satisfaction Survey?

The author, Lyn Montgomery, has developed the survey approach and question format during more than 20 years experience in commissioning and designing customer satisfaction surveys for the IT service industry. Lyn's approach is very pragmatic and the survey is designed to assess service attributes that can be modified to improve satisfaction.

The Average Weighted Performance Gap is a sophisticated technique available only from STRATEGIC OUTLOOKS. This technique was developed by a statistician to simplify understanding of the survey results, remove guesswork about the relativities between questions; and allow management to focus quickly on the critical issues.

Using this survey should enable service providers to examine whether user expectations are realistic, eg response times, time to problem resolution, or whether they are out of step with the contractual obligation. It is worth remembering that dissatisfaction may be due to lack of understanding on the part of the user rather than to deficient service delivery.

Management can use key findings from the survey report to give users a greater understanding of the services they can expect.