American companies outsource about 300,000 of their jobs to foreign countries. And the top industry they outsource for? Information technology, for which they task 37% of their work.
Finding the best outsourced tech support companies are a mainstay for many businesses, large or small. They help save money without skimping on the quality. If you’ve never considered it before, though, what can you expect?
Today, we take a look at outsourced tech support in greater detail so you are prepared to proceed with them.
Why Hire Outsourced Tech Support Companies?
What sorts of roles can a dedicated IT support company handle?
In reality, they can do virtually any task that your regular, salaried employees perform. In terms of tech support specifically, they may take over the following:
- Take inbound calls
- Make outbound calls
- Work a text help desk
- Work in data entry
- Manage accounts
- Handle client relations
- Customer satisfaction research
It’s important to understand that outsourcing tech support does not lead to a reduction in reliability or quality. Employees in foreign countries may accept lower pay, but they work just as hard. They often have the same level of skill and experience as their counterparts in the US.
Benefits of Outsourcing Technical Support
Consider a Southern California business. When that company looks for hiring an IT services in Los Angeles based outfit, how does it compare to an in-house tech team?
Let’s take a look at a few advantages outsourcing may provide.
Trimming Down Operational Costs
Companies turn to outsourcing for one of two reasons. One, to cut costs, or two, to grow their business. In either case, it helps to shave down operational expenses without a commensurate hit to quality.
Outsourced employees require smaller paychecks, and foreign offices cost less to rent and less to supply. HR, talent acquisition, and training also require a smaller allocation of funds to get the ball going. Remote work in these foreign countries serves as another method to slash operational expenditures.
Easier Tech Support Scaling
As your business grows, so do your tech support needs. Scaling up to meet them can be prohibitively expensive, especially when you need those funds to support other modes of expansion. Outsourcing helps to keep costs within reason as you upgrade in size.
We are not just talking about growing in terms of employee headcount. You can expand your capabilities with new departments and talent for new processes. At the same time, you ensure that the growth is compliant with your business standards, regulations, and local laws.
More IT Support Talent
Your HR department has to work with a limited talent pool. That problem gets compounded when hiring in the office. There are only so many IT specialists working in your area, and only so many are willing to relocate.
By outsourcing, you expand your talent pool to the entire world. Not only do you get more options for new hires, but you also get access to countries that have an ever-growing IT industry. Take for example, India, which features a massive candidate pool of skilled IT employees.
Other countries, such as the Philippines, excel in customer service roles. The infrastructure is already in place in these areas, as is the hiring process and talent acquisition. You just have to pull the trigger on outsourcing your operations.
Delegation of Non-Core Activities
Many companies use their outsourced staff to handle less essential responsibilities and tasks. In particular, the tedious and time-consuming bookkeeping that requires precision and accuracy. With the outsourced team taking care of that load, the in-house team can focus on important core responsibilities.
Think of it as a way to free up your most skilled, talented, and effective team members. It’s better to direct their energies to the things that really matter, not drudgery that other low-level employees should handle.
Maintain Longer Business Hours
You can have the best local IT support team in the world, but when the day is over, they clock out and go home. Another benefit of outsourcing is that international employees are awake when the rest of the team is asleep.
This allows you to get more work done or expand your business hours later into the day.
Outsourced teams can adapt to any schedule you need. If you plan to maintain the same business hours, there’s no need to worry about these new teams having to switch to a graveyard schedule.
Disadvantages of Dedicated Technical Support Outsourcing
While outsourcing is, on the whole, effective and reliable, it doesn’t come without its disadvantages. Let’s discuss a few key things to keep in mind that may present growing pains.
Cultural and Linguistic Barriers
Most of the countries where your international team will be working have English as a second language or high general English proficiency. However, there may still be difficulties in comprehension and speech. Employees may struggle to understand the complex industry jargon, or customers may struggle to understand a thicker accent.
Cultural boundaries are more complex. An international employee may do something with the best intentions, only for it to appear rude or inconsiderate in your company’s home culture. You may have to deal with occasional escalations that lead to small liabilities.
Lengthier Problem Resolution
With outsourcing, you are using an intermediary (a contractor) to organize and run your international team. This will be a third party that handles operations and then reports to you, not your core team managing them.
If something is going wrong, or if you need to make changes, it may take longer. Expect a few roadblocks, especially in terms of time, to streamline and resolve errors.
Should You Consider Outsourcing IT Network Support?
There’s only really one question you need to ask yourself: do you benefit from cutting costs? If the answer is yes, then outsourcing may be for you.
The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. There are always ways to solve problems with outsourced teams to get things back on track. In truth, there are a few reasons to not outsource.
Find Network Security in Los Angeles
Outsourced tech support companies provide a cost-effective, high-quality alternative to constructing a team of local talent. It lends itself to scaling up your operations, extending business hours, and more.
Although there will be cultural and linguistic barriers, these pale in comparison to the benefits you get in return.
Be Structured Technology Group has been providing best-in-class IT services in the Los Angeles area since 2007.
Contact Be Structured to get started with outsourcing your tech support services the right way.