How IT Support Outsourcing Can Benefit Your Business
Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in the day-to-day operations of businesses of all sizes increasing the need for technical expertise. Finding qualified IT staff can be difficult and expensive. One alternative to hiring in-house staff is to use IT support outsourcing. There are a number of advantages to outsourced IT support services. Some of the ways your company can benefit from outsourced technical support services include:
- Lower expenses: the salaries for virtual support techs are generally much less than for hiring local in-house IT staff. In addition there will be fewer associated expenses such as additional office space, equipment, paid vacations and holidays, health insurance and more.
- Larger talent pool: when you hire tech support through an outsourcing company you gain access to a much larger pool of well qualified and experienced IT specialists than when you hire locally. In all likelihood you will gain a higher level of expertise.
- 24/7 monitoring: remote tech support services allow you to monitor your company’s IT without having to worry about office hours, vacations and holidays. You and your customers will receive the IT support you need 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Receiving an immediate response to technical issues will also help improve customer relations.
- Scalability: it can be a major headache when your requirements change and you find it necessary to add additional IT staff that meet all of your requirements. Computer support outsourcing allows you to quickly add the additional IT specialists you need without spending weeks or months looking for somebody with the right qualifications.
In addition to other advantages, outsourcing IT department staff through a company like ours allows you to spend more time focusing on other aspects of your business.
IT Tech Support Services We Provide
More and more businesses have come to depend on technology for their day-to-day operations. When your company encounters IT issues you need to be able to respond quickly, and when possible, identify problems before they occur. The following are some of the different tech support services we can provide for our clients.
IT Infrastructure Outsourcing
Our IT infrastructure model is the main framework that controls and directs your business environment and includes your networks, devices and software among other things. Every company has different IT needs. Our IT infrastructure outsourcing services will provide you with a customized solution that meets your specific requirements whether you need to supplement your existing IT staff or need a complete team. We are capable of providing overall infrastructure management or you may choose to limit services to IT helpdesk support, network services, security operations, database services, infrastructure integrations or some other aspect of your IT infrastructure.
Server Management Services
Most IT functions at companies are dependent on their server infrastructure. In recent years many businesses have switched to cloud services, but a large number of companies still employ in-house servers or use a combination of cloud services and in-house servers. Outsourced server management involves the handling of the hardware, software, security and backups. Our IT server support services can deal with a variety of tasks including updating the server and software, ensuring nothing is interfering with the servers operation and it is running as it should and dealing with any issues that may come up. The remote server admin constantly monitors the server using special tools to check both hardware and software elements. The goal is to minimize/eliminate slowdowns, and ensure the server fulfills the needs of your business. They can also implement security measures and make regular backups of data.
Remote Network Management
Network management is essential to ensure reliable and efficient operation of your IT network. Our network outsourcing service can monitor and manage all elements that make up your network including switches, firewalls and routers. The remote network management specialists we provide can perform all tasks related to the administration, maintenance, operation, provisioning and security of your network to ensure network resources are available to your users in an efficient and effective manner.
Security Management Services
IT security is something every business needs to take seriously but it can be difficult to keep up with constantly changing threats. Small and mid-size businesses especially will find it difficult to provide the security to deal with every threat. When you outsource security management through our company we can manage every aspect of your IT security. Our security services can be tailored to meet your specific needs. Some of the security services we provide include monitoring your security infrastructure components such as antivirus systems, intrusion detection sensors and firewalls, upgrading and adding additional security infrastructure, source code analysis, penetration testing and providing an overall assessment of your security measures.
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Companies today rely on their data and it is essential that it be protected. Regardless of how good your equipment is data, it can be lost through natural disaster, human error or hardware failure among other possible threats. Our database support services include regular backing up and testing of your data. Our specialists can also develop and deploy a disaster recovery plan to ensure access to applications, data, and IT resources are restored as quickly as possible. Every company is different and the disaster recovery plan for your business will be tailored to meet your requirements.
Apps and Cloud Management
Companies in increasing numbers are turning to the cloud rather than having their own servers. Our cloud management services can assist you with managing all of your operations that take place in the cloud including migration, optimization, maintenance, app tech support, data and SaaS technical support among other things. Our specialists are familiar with the major cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Google Cloud Platform as well as smaller providers like Oracle Cloud and IBM.
Other IT Help Desk Services
We offer a wide variety of offshore and nearshore IT support services for diverse industries and fields. In addition to the services discussed above we can also provide software support outsourcing services as well as help desk support staffing. If needed, outsourced web hosting support is also available.
Tech Support Tiers
IT technical support is generally assigned a tier depending on the level of support that is provided. This can be somewhat confusing so to clear things up here are the different tiers you can expect to find from a technical support provider.
Tier 0
Support at this level is considered self-help and doesn’t involve interacting with technical staff. Tier 0 support may come in the form of FAQs, manuals, web pages, apps and search functions that enable the customer to find the technical information they need.
Tier 1
Tier 1 or L1 support covers basic customer issues such as usage problems and is known as first-line support. The tier 1 tech support agents are typically trained to solve common problems by following scripts for particular issues. Almost every tech support request will start at the tier 1 level and around 70% to 80% of problems will be resolved there. When no solution is available for an issue the incident will be escalated to the next higher tier by L1 personnel.
Tier 2
L2 support, also known as tier 2 technical support, is more in-depth and requires tech support reps with extensive knowledge of a particular product or service. They must be able to assess problems and provide solutions that were unable to be resolved by tier 1 techs. L2 techs will confirm the validity of an issue and check the work order to see what has already been tried at level 1, and then seek a solution to the problem. If they are unable to find a solution to the issue it will be passed on to the next level.
Tier 3
Level 3 tech support is made up of highly skilled specialists and may even include engineers and developers involved in the creation of the product. Techs at this level are responsible for the development of solutions to new or previously unknown issues. Other responsibilities include assisting L1 and L2 personnel. Once an issue is satisfactorily resolved the solution will be added to the internal knowledge base for troubleshooting in the future.
Tier 4
Tier 4 support comes from outside the company and refers to product or vendor support. This is usually a last resort after all other levels of support have failed to provide a solution. Requests for L4 support are typically made by tier 3 technicians. Issues at this level may involve product bugs or other complex issues and expert-level guidance is required.
Generally, L1 L2 L3 support services are those that are most commonly encountered by customers at IT help desks.
How We Can Assist You with Finding Remote Tech Support Specialists
We are a BPO Ukraine based company that provides remote IT tech support specialists. Our company draws from a large pool of skilled IT specialists with experience in a variety of fields and industries. As soon as we know your specific needs we use our resources to find the tech support specialist who meets all of your requirements. Whether you are looking for a single IT expert or need to assemble an entire team we are capable of providing the specialists you need. In addition to IT specialists, we also offer other BPO services such as marketing and data annotation.
Every IT specialist we hire is vetted by us and their skills and qualifications are verified. The following is the procedure we use when hiring IT tech support specialists for our clients:
- Establish your requirements: we will speak with you by phone or via Skype in order to clarify exactly what your requirements are including the size of the team you need and other relevant information.
- Candidate selection: we will select the resumes of candidates that best meet your requirements from our large pool of IT specialists and forward those resumes to you for your review.
- Conduct interviews: our company will arrange for you to interview your preferred candidates by Skype or video conference. If necessary to assist you in your decision you may also administer a test to candidates.
- Final preparation: we will establish a work-flow for your IT support staff and determine a start date. Once the service agreement is signed everything is set and ready to go.
Why Choose Ukrainian IT Support Experts
Ukraine has become one of the most popular destinations in the world for IT outsourcing for a variety of reasons. Here are just some of the advantages to be had from choosing Ukrainian IT support specialists:
- Huge talent pool: Ukraine is ranked number 4 in the world for the number of IT specialists with around 20,000 new IT college graduates entering the field every year. The country is also recognized for the high quality of IT specialists located there.
- Cost-effective: due to the low cost of living the salaries for IT specialists in Ukraine is often 50% to 60% less than salaries of equivalently skilled and experienced IT specialists in Western Europe and North America. This translates to big savings for your company while still receiving a high level of technical expertise.
- Communication: there are often communication issues when outsourcing but this is not the case in Ukraine. Around 85% of tech professionals there have an intermediate or higher English proficiency level and many of them speak several other languages as well.
- Convenient time zone: there is only a 1 hour time difference between Ukraine and most European countries and a 7 hour time difference to North America which is much less than many other outsourcing destinations.