Help Desks: In House and Outsourced Options
End-User support is an essential component of a well-run law firm IT department, but it can be difficult to manage and costly to properly implement. Come examine the many help desk options available to law firms today and the costs involved with each as well as the strengths and weaknesseswww.kenokozie.com
involved with each, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of in house and outsourced models.
Barry Keno
President, Keno Kozie Associates Chicago
Help Desk Essentials
There are several key elements to the provision of an effective help desk function for a law firm – these must be addressed whether the service is provided by an in house team or an outsourcing firm:
• Staff – For any sizeable firm, an experienced staff must be provided. Supervisors, team leaders, senior analysts and junior analysts all play
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Supervisors, team leaders, senior analysts and junior analysts all play a critical role in ensuring proper support for your users. Help Desk is NOT an entry-level job. It is highly stressful, requires extensive knowledge, great communication skills, experience and maturity. • Communications – Users need to request support and receive
assistance through many channels. Telephone systems, e-mail, chat and remote control are all used to efficiently help the professionals and support staff and allow them to return to productivity.
Help Desk Essentials
• Help Desk Systems – In addition to communication channels, a well-run help desk utilizes several important applications to provide effective support:
• Incident Management System – This is the heart of the help desk. All support activity is recorded here, escalations are processed, reports are generated and insight is gained into the overall health of the IT environment;
• Knowledge Base – Used by the support analysts as well as the end users, an effective knowledge base can speed the resolution of issues and allow users to resolve their own incidents if desired.
Help Desk Essentials
• Phone/Contact Routing – Contact routing systems can be extremely powerful tools for the help desk. By ensuring that all communications are handled in a timely and accurate manner, uses are connected to the right analysts as quickly as possible, e-mails and chat messages are not lost in voice mail “limbo” and historical reporting on
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are not lost in voice mail limbo and historical reporting on communications activity is readily available. Some routing systems provide advanced functionality such as queue prioritization, automatic call-back and chat routing.
Metrics – Help Desk Capacity
There are a number of factors that impact the size and structure of a help desk, including:• Call per Analyst per day (30 calls, 24 incidents)
• Hours per Shift, Shifts per Day, After hours/Weekends/Holidays
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• Coverage for Breaks, Vacations, Meetings • Surges in Volume due to Upgrades, etc… • Phone line capacity, etc…
Metrics – Help Desk Performance
The help desk structure impacts performance against key service levels, including:• First Call Efficiency – 65%/80% • First Call Resolution – 80%/95% • Customer Satisfaction – 90%/95% • Telephone Answer Time – 80%/85% • E-Mail Answer Time – 90%/95% • Telephone Abandon Rate – 6%/2%
Help Desk Options
• Option 1 – In House Help Desk, Business Hours Only • Option 2 – In House Help Desk, 24x7x365• Option 3 – In House Help Desk with Outsourced Supplemental Support
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• Option 4 – Outsourced Help Desk, 24x7x365 • Other – Outsourced staff, dedicated within your office
Other Help Desk Options
• Channel – Walk-in, Telephone, E-Mail, Chat, Self-Service • Software – Custom, Packaged Solution, Hosted • Location – Centralized, DistributedAf H S ffi F ll S ff d P i ll S ff d
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• After Hours Staffing – Fully Staffed, Partially Staffed, Pager/Cell Phone Support
Help Desk Options – Pros and Cons In House Help Desk
Advantages:
• Familiarity with your environment • More control over the function • Physical proximity
• Psychological comfort of end-users • Perception of stronger security and confidentialityPerception of stronger security and confidentiality • Consistent systems and procedures
Disadvantages:
• Overall cost is higher
• More extensive HR and management involvement required • Need to implement internal systems
• Loss of knowledge when analysts leave the firm
• Staff can get overwhelmed with support calls and cannot focus on more strategic tasks
Help Desk Options – Pros and Cons Supplemental Support
Advantages:
• Expands coverage for afterhours and overflow • Manageable costs for extended support • Allows for a leaner internal team
• Provides “relief” for internal team – no weekend coverage, etc… Di d t
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Disadvantages:
• Outsourcing firm needs to make a profit – impacts cost • Inconsistent volume does not allow for extensive familiarity with the
users, environment or issues
• Inconsistent systems makes for inefficiencies in recording activity and reporting
Help Desk Options – Pros and Cons Outsourced Help Desk
Advantages:
• Overall cost savings • Extensive institutional knowledge • Flexible staffing models, overflow capacity • Reduced HR and management requirements • Allows internal staff to focus on more strategic tasks
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Allows internal staff to focus on more strategic tasks • Consistent systems and procedures
Disadvantages:
• Outsourcing firm needs to make a profit
• Potential “adoption” issues with users (“we like our own people…” • Security and confidentiality concerns?
• Geographically remote • Telephone logistics • Reduced control over the function
Help Desk Costs In House Help Desk
Sample costs for 500 user firm. 1,250 incidents per month.
Staff: $225,000
(supervisor, team lead, senior, junior) After Hours Support: $12,000 After Hours Support: $12,000 (8 hours overtime per week)
Benefits and overhead: $67,500 HR and Management Time: $5,000 Systems, phones, software, etc…: $5,000
Help Desk Costs Supplemental Support
Sample costs for 500 user firm. 1,250 incidents per month.
Staff: $185,000
(supervisor, team lead, senior)
After Hours Support: $23,400
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After Hours Support: $23,400 (25 incidents per week)
Benefits and overhead: $55,500 HR and Management Time: $4,000 Systems, phones, software, etc…: $4,000
$271,900 ($22,658/month)
Help Desk Costs
Outsourced Help Desk
Sample costs for 500 user firm. 1,250 incidents per month.
Staff: $0
(supervisor, team lead, senior, junior) Outsourced Support: $255,000
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Outsourced Support: $255,000 (288 incidents per week)
Benefits and overhead: $0 HR and Management Time: $0 Systems, phones, software, etc…: $0
$255,000 ($21,250/month)
Summary
Ultimately, the choice of a help desk model depends a lot of the personality and culture of the law firm – some firms are more comfortable with an outsourcing decision than others.
Generally, outsourcing the help desk can provide cost savings and the ability to refocus internal IT personnel on more strategic tasks. However, if the to refocus internal IT personnel on more strategic tasks. However, if the professionals and support staff will not accept and outsourced firm, the psychological cost will outweigh the financial savings.
With the increasing trend to “push” non-core services out the door – to the cloud, etc…, outsourcing of the help desk will continue to grow. However, this is a very individual decision which should be carefully considered, planned and implemented.
Thank You!
Keno Kozie Associates, Ltd. One North Franklin Street Chicago, IL 60606
www.kenokozie.com
(312) 332-3000 www.kenokozie.com [email protected]
