Regardless of size or industry vertical, today’s businesses thrive on reliable and secure technology. To optimize employee productivity and operational efficiencies—which, in turn, will drive profitability—your organization needs a high-performing IT environment, with applications, devices, and services that end users can rely on to get their jobs done.
For this reason, day-to-day Service Desk support is a key ingredient in recipes for business success. By answering questions and solving problems, Service Desk team members make it possible for employees to stay focused on strategic initiatives and core objectives—and not get lost in the details of keeping technology tools up and running. A top-notch outsourced Service Desk function will enable you to concentrate on your strengths as an organization.
If you’ve ever experienced frustration waiting on hold for a call center representative, or putting off important work until an issue can be resolved—and who hasn’t?— you know how important it is to have a central point of contact that can manage incidents effectively, solve problems quickly, and speak to you directly in times of need. Service Desk teams that consistently exceed Service Level Objectives (SLAs) to resolve issues efficiently, around the clock, can save your business time and money, while removing obstacles that stand in the way of success.
But there are other benefits to leveraging outsourced Service Desk support that you may not know about. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at five of them.
You can choose! Do you want a U.S.-based Service Desk team, or support delivered according to a follow-the-sun model? Do you need 24×7 availability, or a team that can fill in after hours to support your internal staff?
Look for a support partner who offers flexible options. At Netrix, we provide a variety of Service Desk support types, ranging from on-site support (where a service desk employee will be physically present at your location to provide in-person, on-the-spot assistance to your team) to dedicated off-site services, to shared off-shift staffing supplementation. You can decide—based on compliance requirements, your employees’ needs and your budget—whether you’d like to rely on global teams or U.S.-based ones. You can decide on the scope of the engagement, and can change this as your business grows and evolves. It doesn’t need to be all or nothing. Instead, there’s a lot of flexibility to create processes that facilitate success.
When your Service Desk partner creates an accessible knowledge base and repeatable, mature processes for your organization, you receive an asset that has lasting value. A consistent support framework—along with reliable services—sets a solid foundation for business growth.
On the other hand, inadequate help desk services can lead to employee and customer dissatisfaction. End users want to be able to call at any time, speak to someone directly, and have their problem resolved quickly. When a fully-trained support team is available to meet these needs, customers will be happier, and employees will perform better (so that they, too, can deliver better customer service). Satisfied employees are more likely to remain in their jobs, and satisfied customers are more likely to buy from you again. The end result is that you’re more likely to achieve profitable growth.
There’s no way around it: navigating major business transitions is often complicated and stressful. That’s especially true for entities that are being spun off, since they lose access to the parent company’s IT support system on the day the transaction is finalized.
By providing seamless, post-transition support—Service Desk resources that are able to hit the ground running on Day One—a partner who provides comprehensive services can make the transition much easier. Service Desk support professionals with extensive experience creating and following robust processes can handle all aspects of end user support, plus assist with change management and workflow reconfiguration when that’s needed.
Leaning on a single partner to perform multiple functions is often more cost-effective and efficient than going it alone or outsourcing to different vendors. This is especially true when it comes to technical operations and cybersecurity, since a single partner can leverage shared data to accelerate incident detection and response processes.
In this model, Service Desk support is the cornerstone, because it’s the function that communicates with end users. But managed detection and response (MDR) services can leverage data supplied by IT operations and Service Desk teams to detect incidents more quickly. On the rare occasions that incidents actually take place, security teams can better communicate with end users if they’re accustomed to collaborating closely with Service Desk teams.
When clients lean on a single partner for a broader complement of services and solutions, they typically enjoy cost savings as well as the improved outcomes that a comprehensive, holistic approach can achieve.
A top-notch Service Desk partner will offer support that extends far beyond requests for short-term assistance. At Netrix, for instance, our Service Desk operation is seamlessly integrated with PC Depot, services facilitating device procurement, shipping, and setup support. We can help with everything from selecting new hardware to delivering it right into the hands of end users. And then, we’ll be there to help those end users personalize those devices, ensuring that they’re ready to be as productive as possible, right away.
Not all outsourced Service Desk offerings are created equal. Look for one with a consistent, demonstrated track record of answering calls quickly, responding to voicemails and emails almost immediately, and resolving incidents at Level 1 as often as possible. These metrics matter, because they’re evidence that a prospective partner can not only meet your business’s needs today, but can continue to do so as you grow tomorrow.
Want to learn more about how Netrix’s Service Desk team achieves exceptional results? Get in touch with us today.
