WHEN TRUSTED PEOPLE COME FIRST: PATRON–CLIENT THEORY AND LEGACY COORDINATION IN ROUTINE ITSM USE

Vollständiger Abstract

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The formal installation of an IT service management (ITSM) helpdesk does not guarantee routine operational use. This study explains how pre-existing coordination practices shaped helpdesk use and how reported client expectations and consultant advice were translated within a Jakarta-based B2B distributor. A retrospective qualitative case study used 12 interviews, approximately 30 hours of observation, and helpdesk logs from Q2 2022 to July 2025. The analysis distinguished formal adoption from routine use and legacy informal coordination from post-implementation workarounds. Trusted-person contact, WhatsApp, and shared spreadsheets predated the helpdesk and continued to handle routine incidents after its implementation. Recorded ticket activity declined after the early period and appeared episodically near reported audits and consultant visits, although timing did not establish causation. Reported external inputs contributed to acquisition, configuration, training, and audit-facing records but were not translated into a consistently reinforced rule for routine use. Relational evidence showed unequal access or authority, repeated reliance, durability, and an effect on helpdesk use; because reciprocal benefit or felt obligation remained incomplete, the pattern was classified as a trusted-person relational pathway with partial patron–client-like features, not a patron–client-like relation. The findings explain how a pre-existing informal order can sustain an adoption–use gap and support a preliminary three-dimensional diagnostic lens. Managers, vendors, and consultants should map incident routes and informal tools before configuration, define escalation and backup roles, connect informal channels to the formal workflow, and reinforce routine use. The single case offers analytical transferability rather than statistical generalization; the lens requires prospective multi-case testing.