Help is at hand
- Article 42 of 77
- Information Age, July 2002
Every employee needs help with IT sooner or later. But what?s the best way of providing it?
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Web-based self-help systems can also reduce costs. According to a study by Forrester Research, solving a support problem over the phone costs about £23. Over the web, it costs about 70p. But key to that, says Andy Foley, IT director at lifeboat charity the RNLI, is getting users interested in the technology they use. “There are those who really try to get to grips with the technology available, and there are those who don't. Those who don't, cost the help desk and their company in repeated requests to the help desk. Staff interest in technology is the key to maximising its benefits.”
Staff training is central to that motivation, Foley says. “Some may feel resentful, others feel they genuinely don't need it. However, with an extra couple of sessions, it can really make a difference to the level of investment a company gets back from IT outlay, while the processes that staff complete are more streamlined,” he explains.
For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the internal help desk may not be a financially viable option. “SMEs almost all want to forget about IT,” believes Colin Boag, managing director of IT support services specialist JDS. “Most organisations don't have IT support. They don't pay IT staff very much. They want systems that run without too much interference. If you offer to take away IT staff, they're very happy. And they get very real savings from outsourcing support.”
Giga's Giera says that companies can make these savings because they do not have to spend money on buying and maintaining hardware and software, and the providers can use economies of scale to have dedicated help desk operations and hire experts that a single company could not justify hiring for its own internal team.
Finding an outsourcer that can meet the requirements of a company is, however, something of an art. But British standard BS15000 aims to create a quality baseline for organisations that provide support and is on the way to becoming an ISO standard as well; companies that meet its requirements are likely to be capable of meeting any outsourcing needs.
Internal help desks remain the main support option for large enterprises. But picking the right structure for the help desk can cut costs and make it more effective when those calls from the experts and the novices alike come in.
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