Outsourcing is a process of subcontracting some IT services to an external company that will help lower the costs in labor, and improve the quality of the service innovation for any business. Onshore outsourcing is the ability to contract the business internal IT needs and a Helpdesk to a reputable service delivery centre which is a source outside the business but within the same country.
I have worked in this industry for almost 30 years now and the most important lesson I have learned is that IT can be the greatest source of pain and frustration felt by any business in relation to customer service and support. As an IT professional, and for others in this field we have to be both socially adept and polite as well as computer savvy to be able to manage the multiple fires that can and do occur during the course of our day!
If you are reading this as a business owner or as a manager that may have an established help desk currently I am sure that you might find that maintaining a help desk can be a very large undertaking which often lacks professionally trained staff, resources, help desk tools and the management needed to deliver the quality of service you and your businesses customers expect. Based on years of being in this environment I can assure you that this leads many help desk staff to feel overstressed and sometimes overworked. This is all from just fielding calls, responding to emails and troubleshooting incidents during the course of the day. When the support team becomes stressed, and overwhelmed, your customers can feel it and your business image may become tarnished.
A few years ago the Help Desk Institute did a survey and discovered that cost is considered to be the top reason businesses do not outsource any of their service components of their Helpdesk. When investigating the option to outsource a Helpdesk versus an internal solution many businesses do not consider the hidden costs of support. For example, expenses related to recruiting, hiring, training, retention and productivity. Before any decision is made on one solution or another, and to determine if the solution is more or less expensive in comparison to one another it’s important to understand all of the costs associated with support, especially the investments in the development of people, process and technology.
Help desk onshore outsourcing enables providers like INDIGENA SOLUTIONS LP to deliver world-class services while your business concentrates on core business and sales.
By outsourcing help desk services it can help bring a variety of benefits to any business that include; reducing costs, lightening the load to staff, high quality support, and flexibility. I have recognized over the years working and consulting with many businesses that there are multiple factors driving the trend to outsource and the major component of the IT outsourcing industry centres on the help/service desk environment. The biggest considerations to be reviewed are business size, performance, costs, service demands, staff development and business needs.
There are many reasons to outsource, here a few benefits:
• Frees up management time so not focused on routine activities but the core business
• Lower labor cost and produce savings
• Better management and tracking
• Access to a knowledge base for better innovation
• Improved and increased speed and quality of delivery and IT system services
• Increased flexibility
• Increased access to new technology and savings
• Provide alternatives to in house costs
• Stabilize IT costs/ budget realities
• Reengineer process
• Access to skilled personnel
• Help with legacy systems
When a Helpdesk serves as a single point of contact, it becomes a powerful tool in the decision-making process. Another reason to consider outsourcing as a solution is the added benefit of working with professionals that have experienced many diverse environments and are knowledgeable about a broad range of tried and tested solutions and strategies.
Outsourcing helps businesses get the focus back on the core business and control costs at the same time. Ask yourself the following questions and if you answer yes then consider outsourcing your IT services:
1) Is the business working at optimum costs?
2) Are resources being utilized effectively?
3) Are current resources capable of supporting new technology?
4) Is there a quicker, more effective method to handle processes?
5) Does the team have the operational expertise to do the tasks assigned?