Businesses require copious amounts of technical support to keep pace with the ever increasing impact of technology in the modern world. Choosing the best support provider to align with your needs whilst remaining cost-effective can be a critical challenge. Considerations such as company size are one of the most important factors influencing the choice of IT support services. Here is a review of the most popular types of IT support outsourcing that can help you make an informed and balanced decision.
Full Service Outsourcing
In this instance, the client company outsources the whole IT infrastructure to an outstaffed System Administrator. The service provider is 100% responsible for the client’s IT infrastructure support such as server maintenance and user support. Duties include matching the client with the right telephony and Internet providers, helping to maintain peripherals and performing regular equipment checks along with troubleshooting. An outsourced employee can solve up to 90% of total tasks remotely. Many executives prefer to employ an in-house IT specialist in order to physically see how the job is performed. Full-service IT outsourcing is an optimal choice for small companies with up to 30 employees.
The Major Advantages include:
- More cost-effective than hiring an in-house System Administrator;
- Covers all aspects of your IT infrastructure support;
- Fixed rates;
- Rapid and responsive customer service;
- Support center operates 24/7.
Disadvantages:
- More expensive than 2nd and 3rd Line Support;
- Not a good fit for large organizations;
- When the outstaffed System Administrator has to visit the office of the client company to fix an issue, the service delivery time depends on the office location.
Outsourced 2nd and 3rd Line Support
In this situation, the client company has an in-house IT specialist with basic technical skills, who represents 1st Line Support and manages routine tasks within the company. All complex tasks and sophisticated issues are redirected to an outsourced 2nd and 3rd Line Support supplier.
Advantages:
- Significantly cheaper than in-house IT support team;
- Cheaper than full-service IT outsourcing if your company has more than 30-40 employees;
- High-quality service;
- This way you do not keep all your eggs in one basket. The client company is always free to change its IT outsourcing contractor or in-house IT specialist.
Disadvantages:
- We would dare say that this type of IT outsourcing has no significant disadvantages.
Partial Outsourcing
This option is suitable for companies that only need installation or support of certain IT components but not overall infrastructure coordination. For example, if your company requires a public or cloud solution for e-mailing, telephony or support of computer network, you can utilize partial outsourcing services.
Benefits and pitfalls of using partial IT outsourcing is dependent upon the individual needs of the customer. A common disadvantage is the introduction of an additional contract with the supplier even for low-volume enquiries. This service often results in higher expenses than other types of IT outsourcing. The major advantage, however, is top quality which justifies the price.
If you would like to learn more about your options for outsourced IT support, feel free to contact us today and speak with one of our specialists.