Outsourcing Helpdesk Operations, Does It Actually Save Money?

Outsourcing IT can mean moving some or all of IT operations to an external company. This article will focus on outsourcing to a US based service provider.

Is Outsourcing worth it? Under very specific circumstances, yes. Under most others, no.

Outsourcing to a company within the US, with US based employees

Outsourcing to a US company can improve your helpdesk and IT operations IF the current support teams are not experienced with professional levels of support and service. Outsourcing companies do this for a living, and know how to do it correctly.

The problems with outsourcing to a US company is related to expense. Outsourcing companies typically get contracts signed by showing how money can be saved. They will be able to operate IT functions that are not 'core competencies' of your business. They can also save you money because they can leverage tools and employees that they already have in place and are sharing the expense of these tools and resources between multiple other 'customers' who are already outsourced. Sounds great, doesn't it! So where is the catch?

SLA's are typically the main mistake companies make when executing a contract with an outsourced helpdesk company. SLA's (or Service Level Agreements) are the agreed upon minimum requirements of service delivery that the business and the outsourcer agree on, which also sets the price of the contract. Some examples of SLA's you will want to review: how long can issues on average take to resolve, how long callers can remain on hold prior to getting a tech, how long can a caller expect to wait for a new P.C. setup if theirs breaks, etc. SLA's directly relate to the number of staff the outsourcer will need to hire to maintain their contractual commitments (which is part of their cost they will need to cover with their charge to you), and what service levels your business will receive. The problem is, what sounds good on paper may be horrible for your business. With your 'in-sourced' team, do you fix hardware issues the same day when possible? If you don't build this into the SLA with an outsourcer, don't count on it happening - they will staff to meet minimum requirements. If a company finds that the SLA's are not adequate for their business and adjusts them, guess what: They are now spending more than they did with their ‘in sourced’ solution. And have a year left on their contract.

Outsourcing within the US works well if you NEED someone else to organize your operations and absolutely cannot do it yourself. Perhaps a premium is worth it based on the improved productivity your company will receive with better organization (knowledge base creation, self help portals, ticket tracking systems all typically come with an outsourcer). On the other hand, if you train or hire the right people for your helpdesk operations, you may save yourself some (or a lot!) money.

Take a moment to visit my website, which focuses on Helpdesk and Customer Service best practices: http://www.helpdeskresource.com/

Steven White has been managing Help Desk operations for over 15 years. His experience includes managing nationwide and global helpdesk operations at a senior level in the technical and financial sectors. Visit his Helpdesk Resource Site at http://www.helpdeskresource.com/