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20 Great Ideas To Steal In 2012

Start The Discussion | Stacey Peterson | September 12, 2012 00:01 AM

Are you playing it too safe, IT leaders? Take these InformationWeek 500 projects along to rev up your next brainstorming session.

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Hands-On Help Works

Tired of employees' complaints about ineffective, phone-based internal tech support, Intuit stole an idea from Apple's Genius Bars. Employees with computer problems now can walk up to a TechKnow Bar in the company's cafeterias and get personal help.

Some execs at the personal finance software company were skeptical of this approach for internal support. But the TechKnow Bar is saving about $1.4 million annually in IT-related costs and handles complex problems in a fraction of the time they were resolved remotely. Average resolution went from four hours to less than 30 minutes.

Employee surveys indicate the TechKnow Bars are working on the customer satisfaction front as well: "They're efficient, enthusiastic, highly responsive, and tremendously knowledgeable," one employee says. "I love these guys."