Outsourcing IT services has a bit of a mixed reputation. This is primarily because employees associate them with downsizing. Yet, these resources represent a fantastic opportunity for Central Florida businesses to resolve any existing efficiency problems within their internal IT departments. Outsourcing your IT requirements is likewise an effective strategy for supplementing your current IT department by delivering an entirely new service.
But even with all the benefits of outsourcing help desk services at your Central Florida business, managed IT providers aren’t without their downsides. Let’s take a look at a few commonly discussed pros and cons of hiring an external team to manage your help desk services.
Outsourcing help desk pros and cons: why hire an IT support service?
Any understanding of why you should hire an outsourcer to deliver your help desk services requires a firm grasp of what it takes to onboard and train the same resources in-house. When you hire an IT staff to manage your help desk internally, you open your organization up to steeper operating costs and other departmental efficiencies that are simple to avoid when you hire an IT support service.
Among the major drawbacks of administering your own help desk service in-house is that these solutions are significantly less scalable. Unless your operations require a fully-fledged security operations center and a sprawling IT department supporting multiple specialty areas of expertise, there are few benefits to building out a help desk service onsite. In fact, most companies are better off outsourcing their help desk needs, and we’ll explore a few more reasons supporting this conclusion below.
What are the main benefits of outsourcing service desk requirements?
We discussed a few of the primary obstacles to operating your own help desk. However, among the chief benefits, you’ll discover is that you maintain total control over your inbound calls and other critical areas like quality assurance.
Apart from that, it’s far more challenging to scale your business with an internal help desk, especially in an economy that demands businesses pivot on short notice. You may have to expand or contract your help desk operations quickly, and managed service providers offer flexible, scalable solutions to help you swiftly adjust.
The primary benefit of outsourcing your help desk solutions is cost-cutting on what would otherwise be considered an expensive undertaking. The most basic in-house help desk requires multiple skilled technicians with specialized knowledge. These advanced requirements mean you’ll need to onboard at least two high-tiered technicians or a seasoned CTO who may not be available at your price point.
Companies that try to reduce costs on their internal help desk services risk learning that their systems were improperly set up, causing them to be insufficiently coordinated. These factors are only a few among several other important considerations that often dissuade small business owners from keeping their help desk services in-house.
Managed help desk services produce efficiency gains
If you are just now in the midst of a sweeping digital transformation initiative, you will likely find it difficult to keep your internal help desk adequately staffed. You’ll invariably need to allocate these resources to your short-term projects. Finding qualified entry-level help desk candidates isn’t easy, nor is sourcing and training highly specialized experts on your systems. The cost to onboard prospective new hires like these can be staggering.
Advanced software solutions from PCH Technologies will help you build an effective and efficient help desk solution that scales with your company’s growth. You will have access to similar (or the same) high-quality 24/7 support that your enterprise-level counterparts enjoy. For most small Central Florida businesses, installing and maintaining a functional help desk solution on-premises over outsourcing doesn’t make financial sense.
Outsourcing your help desk to managed service providers in Florida
If carried out correctly, an outsourced help desk solution from PCH Technologies can mark a turning point for companies that need to find efficiency gains in their IT departments fast. Outsourced help desk services reflect a great way to create an opportunity that improves your customer experience while developing and enriching your brand reputation.
Outsourced IT solutions from PCH Technologies are flexible, allowing your support to shift from temporary to ongoing as required. This newfound adaptability means that you can adjust your staffing models more readily. Meanwhile, your IT team can invest its attention into critical areas of the business that drive revenue and growth. A managed service provider can also automate your routine patching and security updates or scheduled maintenance downtime during your hours to reduce the impact on productivity.
Here are a few pros you can expect after hiring an IT outsourcer to manage your help desk services:
- Lower IT expenditures
- Scalable solutions
- The latest technology and training
On the downside, some business regulatory environments proscribe companies from relinquishing control of their IT to a third party. Also, at times, business owners disfavor the perceived loss of control over a critical aspect of their customer service department. Lastly, in-house employees are traditionally more invested in the company mission than third-party providers, since they typically have more skin in the game.
Reputable IT outsources are known for holding their employees accountable. These contributors are often held to a much higher professional standard than the average internal IT staff member. Your service level agreement outlines the managed IT provider’s obligations in detail.
If you’re in the process of assembling a new help desk or thinking about making a change from your current provider, give PCH Technologies a call now at (856) 754-7500. Or, to learn more about our help desk management solutions, schedule your complimentary discovery call online. We’ll have a dedicated customer relationship manager reach out to you immediately to discuss the details.