Outsource this!: broaden support and reduce staff burnout

Abstract

With constricting resources, rising service expectations, and burnt-out Tier 1 staff, support services face the question, "How can we do more with less and remain effective?" This session covers Colgate's process of outsourcing tier 1 support viewed from multiple perspectives (the idea stage, implementation, and evaluation). Universities today have increasingly complex infrastructure systems with a growing client expectation and shrinking budgets. The Help Desk Professional staff is under increased pressure and is easily burnt out. Clients experience dissatisfaction with the timeliness and quality of support; technical advances in the curriculum are underserved and needs analysis undone. Administrators have been forced to take an honest, hard look at available or planned resources and make tough decisions. Should you continue in crisis mode, drastically lower client expectations for support, or risk innovative solutions to leverage available resources? Colgate decided to try an innovative new way to meet demand. We developed an outsourced partnership to provide greatly expanded (off-site) Tier 1 client support while dedicating local professional staff to more complex (Tier 2/3) support and needs analysis consultation for University divisions. This paper will explain the process we used to get where we are today as well as lessons learned along the way.