Getting the best out of Outsourced Tech Support
Technical support is one of the most challenging tasks in running a large business operation. It’s the most expensive as well as time consuming job. Outsourcing technical support has many benefits in terms of money, time and expertise. But even while outsourcing, measures are to be taken to ensure quality of work is sustained. There are a couple of factors that can be followed to get the best out of outsourced technical support.
The decision to outsource parts of your business system has to undergo detailed analysis as most of the times, in the rush to save money we tend to miss focus on long term consequences. There will be elementary changes made to the core business operation activities, so ample planning has to be in place to guarantee a successful transition. Your objectives in outsourcing a service has to be clearly communicated with the outsource team.
Dumping troubles on outsourcers will result in surprising issues arising at a later stage. It’s quite hard for the outsourcer to repair such trouble tickets as they don’t know the company’s history, culture and business framework. It’s suggested to clean up the existing system, rather than outsourcing an error prone system. Deciding on which project has to be outsourced plays a critical role in earning the benefits of outsourcing. Figuring out what is best to outsource and what is best to run in-house depends on the company’s objectives.
The next hurdle would be to find a good provider. It’s tough to find a compatible provider who will scale up to your company standards, work culture and quality. So instead of looking out for the cheapest, be sure you have the best at nominal rates. Lose quality in work would have adverse effects in business development. Make sure the service delivery is excellent. It would be better to consider the provider to be a value centre rather than a cost centre.
Rather than having the middle management involved in business transition, it is always recommended to have the upper management that consists of the CIO or CEO for both organization. During the transition make sure the project specifications and requirements are well communicated with the service provider. The communication should be as detailed and precise as it could be. Outsourcing centers are usually seen as cost centers rather than value centers, which further puts the service provider under cost pressure.
Service level agreement (SLA) should cover the turnaround times of various tasks and consequences if not meeting the same, and any exceptions or conditions in which there is a buffer allowed and so forth. SLA plays a key role in ensuring quality service in a precise scheduled manner. And it is good to scale up SLA against the customer satisfaction rate; otherwise though the service provider covers all the targets, you will end up with unhappy customers.
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