No matter a company’s size, a successful one cannot do without an efficient and productive IT Support department. IT Support or IT Service plays an indispensable role in keeping a check on the IT systems and software. They are also the frontline warriors when it comes to cybersecurity, data management, and highly complex technical troubleshooting. Budgeting for your technology infrastructure can be difficult, so in this blog, we will discover the most common costs an organization incurs to provide their internal team members with an exceptional customer service experience.
Factors that Influence IT Support Costs
If you have an in-house IT support system, this section will help you discern the contributing factors that can increase IT support’s overall cost.
Number of Employees to Support
One of the most important factors that can exponentially increase IT support’s cost is the number of employees your IT department supports. Be it a small business or larger, with the increase in your employee count, greater are the IT needs and the need for direct support such as onboarding, offboarding, IT asset management, etc.
Additional Setup Costs
If you are implementing ticketing software to keep track of all the issues raised by your team members, you have the cost of the software that you might have taken into account, maybe even the implementation costs. A lot of times, though, there are hidden costs – like training costs that purchase teams often forget to take into account. Multiply this cost with different types of system infrastructure – software, hardware, cybersecurity, data management, data storage, and you will soon see your costs mounting.
Data Storage & Security
With the growing need for data protection, IT support aims to protect sensitive and personal data from unwanted data breaches at all times. Continuous and uninterrupted protection of this data comes at a price. Sensitive data needs to be stored more securely, which means added costs of firewall, antivirus updates, access management, governance compliance, etc. Another factor that substantially adds cost is an onsite data storage solution compared to cloud servers.
System Upgrades
Upgrading your IT infrastructure, replacing and re-deploying IT software and hardware are serious commitments. Those come with additional maintenance costs, and shutting down systems means an interruption in business and increased costs due to a lack of business continuity. Both Cloud and on-premise solutions allow maintenance and upgrades with respect to bandwidth enhancement and other regular upgrades. But with an on-premise system, maintaining server hardware and software, data backups, storage, disaster recovery, etc., all become the responsibility of the business.
Round-the-Clock Support
With businesses marching towards digitization, unexpected issues can arise at any time. Great customer experience demands uninterrupted customer service. However, 24×7 IT support over 365 days is an expensive affair. Added to it, unnecessary costs that come from a lack of processes and constant physical visits from your employees to the support desks add up due to unnecessary and wasted resource utilization.
Number of Full-time vs. Part-time Support Agents
To support a growing business or a rush season, hiring a number of employees can add to total costs. Costs involved in training, wages, hiring, and taxes get added up. And when you’re providing 24×7 customer service, the more the number of users with agents being full-time and part-time, the more is the need for resources to be sharing hardware and backup resources.
How Does HappyFox Help Cut Down IT Support Costs?
Swift Scalability
Business owners and companies that use HappyFox products focus entirely on growing their business. Customers no longer have to wait hours to be sanctioned additional licenses or alter other IT deployments for their agents and employees. Our software offerings like HappyFox HelpDesk, Chatbot, and Business Intelligence allow businesses to scale up and down as needed with more efficient computing resources, to meet changing demand.
Inclusive Setup Costs
HappyFox offers its products inclusive of free onboarding and implementation costs. With no hidden IT services pricing, every Help Desk comes with a free functionality of HappyFox University that provides crisp and concise training resources for admins and agents. With different price points and a cost-effective pricing model that meet the budget of multiple business sizes, HappyFox tools can be leveraged to streamline all IT Management processes.
Data Storage & Security
HappyFox is committed to providing robust security for all its customers and their data stored across all its products & services. With security a top priority, HappyFox is SOC (Type 2), GDPR, and CCPA compliant. This means all your data is stored with the customer’s approval and stored securely. HappyFox has clear business continuity and disaster recovery plans and procedures to ensure that the business never suffers from unprecedented occurrences.
Seamless Upgrades
All of the HappyFox products are web-based. HappyFox software being hosted on the cloud, there is no need to install anything on-premise. All of the products, ranging from Help Desk, ChatBot to the Business Intelligence tool, is updated and maintained on the cloud. No more interruption to business and the need to manually update your software. Your software updates are automatic, periodic, and seamless with a hosted software, allowing IT teams to focus on putting out bigger fires.
Effective Response from anywhere!
HappyFox products aim to promote digitalization and self-service. Whether it is the email tagging functionality in your Helpdesk or strong integrations with Slack, helpdesk, email, etc., customers can seek help in one click. With a strong Knowledge Base system and an intuitive Support Center, accessing your frequent questions needs no human intervention. This means remote support is possible without breaking any service level agreements (SLA). No more running to the IT support desk to wonder why your laptop isn’t turning on.
Provide support where your Employees work
With the ongoing pandemic, the meaning of a collaborative team engagement has changed forever. HappyFox Assist AI lets your internal employees seek help from anywhere across the globe within minutes! Allowing IT support agents to handle IT issues directly from Slack and Microsoft Teams, AI-powered Assist AI allows quick resolution to repetitive ephemeral issues, backed with conversational ticketing and audit trail. This means IT support is no longer tethered to your workplace.
Conclusion
The IT support department plays not only a reactive role in the organization but also a proactive role in curbing any potential IT problems. An effective and reliable IT support department is vital for a business across all phases of growth. But protecting your data and seeking help doesn’t have to be costly. If you are looking for ways to optimize your IT Support processes, reach out to one of our team of experts today!
