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Service desk manager vs service manager

The differences between service desk managers and service managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a service desk manager, becoming a service manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a service desk manager has an average salary of $101,229, which is higher than the $74,009 average annual salary of a service manager.

The top three skills for a service desk manager include customer service, ITIL and ITSM. The most important skills for a service manager are POS, performance reviews, and cash handling.

Service desk manager vs service manager overview

Service Desk ManagerService Manager
Yearly salary$101,229$74,009
Hourly rate$48.67$35.58
Growth rate16%6%
Number of jobs69,990341,785
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age4744
Years of experience86

What does a service desk manager do?

In the information technology industry, a service desk manager resolves technical issues and concerns, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They typically focus on addressing systems and application errors, troubleshooting problems, providing step-by-step solutions, or referring clients to other services. They may also provide administrative support to offices by managing schedules, preparing and processing documents, and providing technical support. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

What does a service manager do?

Service managers are employees who oversee the departments related to providing services to customers. They ensure that service delivery agreements are met by employees in the department. Service managers meet with stakeholders to set service delivery metrics and department goals. They then create strategies to reach these metrics and goals. They are responsible for cascading such goals and metrics to their employees and ensuring that the employees understand what they need to do. Service managers should have a deep understanding and appreciation of the company and its business so that they can create strategies that are in line with the company's identity. They should also be familiar with the customer profiles of the company. Service managers are also responsible for creating department reports and sharing these with stakeholders.

Service desk manager vs service manager salary

Service desk managers and service managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Service Desk ManagerService Manager
Average salary$101,229$74,009
Salary rangeBetween $72,000 And $141,000Between $47,000 And $116,000
Highest paying CityCarson City, NVSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew York
Best paying companyCLEAResultLatham & Watkins
Best paying industryFinanceTechnology

Differences between service desk manager and service manager education

There are a few differences between a service desk manager and a service manager in terms of educational background:

Service Desk ManagerService Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Service desk manager vs service manager demographics

Here are the differences between service desk managers' and service managers' demographics:

Service Desk ManagerService Manager
Average age4744
Gender ratioMale, 64.2% Female, 35.8%Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage11%10%

Differences between service desk manager and service manager duties and responsibilities

Service desk manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage key financial relationships, working with VIP reps in various institutions.
  • Ensure efficient allocation of resources and skills to achieve contractual KPIs within financial constraints.
  • Deploy and manage environmental controls, backup strategies, ITSM software, and monitoring systems.
  • Manage staff and activities necessary to effectively coordinate the service request fulfillment life-cycle of base on ITSM best practices.
  • Manage all incident and service requests and oversee all change management, configuration management, and release management ITIL processes.
  • Manage LAN software/hardware installation and upgrade efforts.
  • Show more

Service manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage compliance with all safety requirements to meet OSHA regulations.
  • Manage a staff of eight employees and maintain oversight of all departments and staff.
  • Utilize ADP software to prepare contract estimates, manage client and vehicle records, and time management.
  • Lead and consult in several projects which lead to the justification and approval of new ERP platform implementation.
  • Supervise employees and operations as well as coordinating third party vendors, manage logistics, operate and maintain all equipment.
  • Coordinate with training department to achieve and maintain the necessary skills within the region to achieve operating goals and KPIs.
  • Show more

Service desk manager vs service manager skills

Common service desk manager skills
  • Customer Service, 15%
  • ITIL, 8%
  • ITSM, 5%
  • Infrastructure, 4%
  • Technical Support, 4%
  • Service Delivery, 4%
Common service manager skills
  • POS, 12%
  • Performance Reviews, 8%
  • Cash Handling, 8%
  • Food Handling, 7%
  • Cleanliness, 5%
  • Project Management, 5%

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