As with customer service and sales, you may find greater value in outsourcing your external or internal help desk than in expanding or developing your own, especially if other aspects of your business are expanding. Outsourcing is particularly useful if you have complaints that are overwhelming an IT department that doesn't have time to respond to them. In this article, Bill Frezza, general partner at Adams Capital Management, a venture capital firm that has expertise in IT and telecom, describes support problems that a friend of his experienced. Mr. Frezza's friend, a bank executive, purchased a PalmPilot from 3Comwith his own money, only to find that the desktop synchronization package was still not on his company's support list. Justice was done when the friend's division decided to outsource all IT functions.
Requests have to be moved to the top before they have any impact.
And, best of all, they'll be treated like valued customers instead of hapless supplicants. Help desk outsourcers have distinct advantages over corporate help desks. They usually have more staffing and locations than many of their clients do. They are also often better at recruiting and retaining staff than most corporate help desks. The firm has attracted a growing list of corporate clients.