Technology is a great tool, allowing people to work, collaborate, communicate, and adapt to day-to-day challenges. However, as device and software capabilities have continued to improve, it’s created more complex problems that people aren’t always equipped to handle. As a result, employees spend an average of 8 hours every week searching for knowledge to fix problems.
Roughly 39% of the time is put towards role-specific tasks. The rest is spent searching and gathering information, communicating, collaborating, and reading and responding to emails. This creates a large chunk of time that is lower efficiency and further burdened by IT questions and issues. With the tech industry taking up 35% of the world market, these demands will only continue to grow. That is where IT help desk outsourcing comes in.
What Does an IT Help Desk Do?
An IT help desk is a point of contact for any IT-related problems. They assist with end-user questions and obstacles as they pop up, acting as a source of information and providing technical solutions. That can include bug fixes, feature requests, network systems, login issues, device compatibility, and other IT needs. Other tools may be included, such as FAQs to answer routine questions and ticket systems to support non-urgent requests.
They also have the flexibility to coordinate with in-house or outsourced IT teams, letting them assist with larger-scale tasks based on their priority. Help desk services are designed to minimize downtime and reduce inconvenience to employees, allowing them to focus on their assigned jobs better.
How Does Help Desk Outsourcing Work?
10 Benefits of IT Help Desk Outsourcing
IT problems can come in many shapes and sizes. Some can be hard to diagnose but can be fixable in minutes. Others might require a full team half the day to assist with. Outsourced IT help desk act as a first point of contact for unexpected obstacles and offer a variety of benefits throughout the process.
Scaling services
Outsourced help desk services can be adjusted to meet individual needs and priorities. Scalable services can match their pace, whether it’s a small start-up company, a mid-sized business, or a large-scale corporation.
Reduced cost
IT help desk outsourcing can reduce costs in several ways. This is done through better usage of resources, experienced IT staff, and building a support plan based on an organization’s needs. That allows them to provide more support and a lower cost than in-house teams.
Larger IT staff
Not only does outsourcing reduce costs, but it gives access to a larger pool of help desk support specialists. Since they’re available on an as-needed basis, there are always experienced staff on call to respond when a significant issue arises.
Trained specialists
Hiring and training internal helpdesk staff can be complex with some cost-related risks. Outsourcing to a third-party company allows them to take on the risk and handle the teaching, letting organizations get better service for their money.
Industry experience
Outsourced services have hands-on experience with a diverse range of industries, giving them above-average knowledge to apply to each situation. Solutions that are created for one client can often help others too.
Centralized IT requests
For employees and management alike, knowing who to ask about a specific IT problem or question can take more time and thought than is practical. With help desk outsourcing, all the requests are centralized in one area, letting them handle contacting the right specialists.
24/7 monitoring
Another advantage to a more extensive staff is broader coverage to monitor IT and cybersecurity issues. That allows obstacles to be addressed during off-hours, helping minimize downtime of critical functions.
Quick response time
Time is critical when reacting to many IT challenges. With multiple IT specialists and the option for 24/7 monitoring, problems can be responded to and solved much more quickly due to on-call availability.
Less wasted resources
Time and productivity are valuable resources for every industry. Employees wasting time on solving minor IT issues is time not spent doing their regular work. Outsourced help desks can answer any questions and fix those routine issues.
Software recommendations
Help desk staff can see what is or is not working when troubleshooting. With that insight, they can make software recommendations that not only reduce the chance of incidents but may also help with worker productivity.
Closing
Technology demands have continued to increase, making minor IT problems common among most industries. With artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and quantum computing on the horizon, it’s become increasingly difficult to anticipate new IT issues that collide unexpectedly. New technology isn’t the only challenge, either. Old hardware and software compatibility issues can be disruptive, being a trigger in 34% of IT purchases.
Since IT challenges can come from any direction, it’s increased the need for third-party services to help adapt and navigate. They can lower IT costs and provide many perks, making them more sustainable and efficient than in-house IT. Help desk outsourcing companies like ITonDemand can custom fit their services to fit the organization. Is IT help desk outsourcing worth it then? If the needs and benefits outweigh what can be done internally, then yes, it is.
