Patent ID: 8280914

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving notification of a system incident at a first help desk system, the incident indicating a problem with a system; generating and maintaining a first incident record for the system incident at the first help desk system, the first incident record having incident data and a unique record identification (ID); transmitting the first incident record from the first help desk system to a second help desk system to outsource the system incident to the second help desk system that is a remote third-party help desk system coupled to the first desk help system over a network, wherein outsourcing includes having the second help desk system serve as a service desk system to process the system incident to find a solution to the problem associated with the system incident, wherein the second help desk system generates and maintains a second incident record corresponding to the first incident record and including duplicate copies of the incident data and the unique record ID, wherein the first and second incident records are linked via the unique record ID; processing, at the second help desk system, the system incident to find the solution to the problem, and, once the solution is found, reporting the solution to the first help desk system; closing the first incident record at the first help desk system upon receiving the solution at the first desk system; and closing the second incident record at the second help desk system, responsive to the closing of the first incident record at the first help desk system.