by, Amit Daga, vice president, End User Services, Xerox Business Services
Xerox was just named a Help Desk and Desktop Outsourcing leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant reports. What does this mean exactly? It means that Gartner not only recognizes the importance of outsourcing as a viable business strategy, but that they also understand and agree with our approach as one of the best in the business. That’s an important distinction because we pride ourselves on helping organizations shed responsibility for IT services (or managing print, claims reimbursement or a variety of other business processes for that matter) ultimately helping them focus on what truly matters – their core business.
Our Help Desk services provide businesses a single point of contact through round-the-clock customer service for a wide range of technical requests including: servers, desktop computers, network and software support, and our Desktop managed services include the day-to-day responsibilities for operating and managing desktop computers and other supporting equipment. We have decades of experience and clients who understand and trumpet the positive impact these outsourcing services have had on their organization – not the least of which is the impact on their bottom line. Because, of course, the whole reason you turn to an outsourcing partner is because they should be able to handle the job more effectively and efficiently.
For organizations experiencing anything other than complete satisfaction with their outsourcing partners, or, for those organizations that are currently considering an outsourcing relationship – here are five suggestions to consider:
- Don’t focus exclusively on cost. It doesn’t always equate to the best service. And consider the entire package of potential cost, such as upfront spend, monthly service fees and how that cost changes as your business grows.
- Pay special attention to your service level agreements (SLA) and have them measured and reported on regularly. Measureable, timely reporting helps keep your partner accountable. For example, in a managed print service deal ask yourself, do the system uptime, supplies reduction and cost savings align with your initial goal?
- Choose partners that use trusted technology brands and be wary of those who don’t offer a choice when it comes to tech options.
- Find the right mix between using a single vendor for everything you outsource versus individual vendors for each business function.
- Don’t rule out outsourcing options even if you are a small-to-midsized business. Thanks to cloud capabilities and remote management technologies, what was once reserved for large global enterprises can now be applied to single-person or small businesses.
What other tips do you have for an organization considering IT outsourcing?
Learn more about the Gartner Magic Quadrant reports and methodologies here.
Amit has more than 15 years of technology experience, including the past eight years with HP Enterprise Services in a diversity of leadership roles across Corporate Strategy and EUC. In his new role, Amit will be responsible for GSOE Workplace Services and Service Desk.
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The way of working in Software Outsourcing process is now changing. Day by day the process is becoming more and more innovative as new ideas of the business process are taking place. Outsourcing of software is simply software development at another location, a facility connected with the client’s location using high-speed data communication links to allow engineers and managers to communicate on a real-time basis.
outsourcing as a viable business strategy, but that they also understand and agree with our approach as one of the best in the business.
We have decades of experience and clients who understand and trumpet the positive impact these outsourcing services have had on their organization..
While outsourcing the business only cost cutback must not be the target, class of services supposed to be must
Hybrid contracts merge various approaches. Many agreements can have a fixed price layout, materials programming or contract merging.
I see what we do as “solving problems” and not “outsourcing,” which is part, not all, of how we do what we do.
Companies normally seek the services of offshore suppliers in order to delegate services related to non-critical business procedures such as client care and contact marketing.
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