For example, ITIL suggests that best practice for service support involves clear visibility of the users' IT assets, like the OS version, accessible applications, related security measures and applied patches. But the library does not spell out how to achieve this. This means that having the right tools and applications is important.

By applying BMC's Remedy call center management application, which is ITIL-compliant, JOS was able to conform to ITIL's service support best practices. Mok explained the application acted like a tool to guide the company's service desk in capturing data, logging incidences and tracking problems, which are all suggested within ITIL.

After applying ITIL for about a year, Mok said JOS has significantly improved its customer satisfaction. The company has also created key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure its service level. One of them is measuring the average speed of answer (ASA): the time taken to pick up a customer's call (JOS clocks in at an impressive seven seconds, said Mok).

Database configuration

In addition to a quick response, a quality reply is equally important for service support. Developing a configuration management database (CMDB), which was suggested by ITIL, plays a big part, noted Ng.