Eleven questions to ask any service-desk vendor.
Including us. These are the questions that separate a platform from a rented licence, and our answer to each one sits next to it — specific enough to check, and specific enough to disagree with. A comparison table full of claims about competitors would be easier to write and worth less.
Ask these before you sign anything.
If a vendor cannot answer question two by showing you, treat the rest with care.
01Where is our data actually held?
Why it matters: “Hosted in Australia” can also mean an Australian cache sitting in front of a database somewhere else entirely.
Hosted in Australia, and in a call we will show you exactly what is running and where, rather than simply repeating the word.
02Is tenancy a filter or a wall?
Why it matters: Many products keep everyone in one database and hide rows with a query filter. One bug, one API call or one edited URL can then expose another customer.
Separation is decided on the server against your signed-in session. A value supplied by the browser is never trusted to choose whose data is returned.
03Can we see the isolation ourselves?
Why it matters: A claim you cannot test is a brochure line.
In a demo we sign in as one tenant, try to open another tenant's record, and show the platform refusing it.
04Will you use our tickets to train AI?
Why it matters: “AI features” often means your data feeds somebody's model.
Your tickets and documents are not used to train public or shared AI models, and the AI runs against your own records rather than the open internet.
We can put this in the contract, and you can ask for the list of providers involved.
05What does it cost, and what is excluded?
Why it matters: Per-seat pricing with a long exclusion list is how a small quote becomes a large invoice.
Quoted per organisation by seats, sites and service level, in writing before you commit. Unlimited end users, Australian hosting, MFA and full data export are included.
Priced per organisation by seats, sites and service level — a number in writing before you commit, not a list price that moves at proposal stage.
06What happens if we leave?
Why it matters: The exit is where lock-in lives.
No lock-in contract, and full export of your records in an open format whenever you ask.
07Who actually answers at 4pm on a Friday?
Why it matters: Outsourced first-line support is common and rarely disclosed.
24×7 cover, with the escalation path, the response targets and the named contacts written into your agreement.
08Can we customise the categories, SLAs and catalogue?
Why it matters: A product that only works the vendor's way forces your organisation to change for the tool.
Categories, priorities, service catalogue, per-team deadlines and dashboards are set up around how you work, and are yours to change afterwards.
09How long does onboarding take, and what do you need from us?
Why it matters: Migration is where projects go quiet for months.
Your users, assets and open tickets import from CSV or from an export of your current desk. The onboarding checklist is agreed before we start, with named owners on both sides.
Scope, not the platform, decides the timeline. A single-site desk is days; a multi-tenant group with SSO and migrations is weeks.
10Can you show us this on our own tickets?
Why it matters: Generic demo data hides every integration problem you are going to hit.
Book a 20-minute demo and bring three real requests, or an export of last month. We work them in front of you.
11How do we verify your security posture?
Why it matters: Certification logos are easy to add and slow to check. A model you can inspect is worth more than a badge.
Ask for the security pack: the access model, the data-flow diagram, the subprocessor list and the incident process — in writing, and testable in a demo.
What changes when you move.
Four things organisations are putting up with today, and what they get instead. Test every one of them in the demo rather than taking our word for it.
Unlimited end users. You pay for the platform, not for every person who raises a ticket.
A working desk in days: import, configure, go live — with the scope agreed in writing first.
The same capability without the rollout team: configured per organisation, and yours to change.
Full export in an open format, on request, including the day you decide to leave.
Built here. Built to scale.
The Managed Desk is an Australian platform company. We build the service desk we wanted to run — multi-tenant, Australian-hosted, and designed to carry an organisation from one desk to many without adding headcount. The people who engineer it are the people who answer your questions.
That focus is the product strategy: one platform, one region, one accountable team. What it means in practice is a written scope, a defined stop point at every stage, a roadmap you can read, and your records exportable in an open format whenever you ask.
The facts, in one list
- Australian entity — The Managed Desk · Melbourne, Australia. Australian-owned and operated, on infrastructure inside the country.
- Hosted in Australia — Hosted in Australia. Your records do not leave the country for hosting.
- One desk, not a stack — Service management, asset management, knowledge, automation and reporting share one data model. There is no middleware to reconcile.
- No lock-in — No lock-in contract, and full export of your records in an open format at any time.