Take-up of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standard has surged in the past four years, and staff with these skills will become increasingly valuable, according to trade body the Service Desk Institute (SDI).

Service levels on IT helpdesks, where the proportion of calls resolved at the first attempt rose from 21 per cent to 60 per cent between 2004 and 2008, according to an SDI survey of 159 service desk managers across 11 market sectors.

And adoption of ITIL standards increased to 68 per cent from just 30 per cent during the same period.

“Businesses will be increasingly looking for ITIL and SDI service desk-type qualifications,” said SDI founder Howard Kendall.

Strategic processes such as problem management and service level management have yet to be approached in the same way, said Kendall.