IT service desk managers are always under pressure to reduce costs and justify their current resources. How many service requests have they handled this year? What is the severity and resource consumption of each request? The CFO’s office may want to know: How can the cost of running the service desk be reduced?
Numbers, our best friends
Cost per ticket, or CPT, is defined as the cost associated with the service desk cost center (total cost of operations, or TCOP) divided by the number of service requests.
TCOP and CPT data can be used to identify areas that lead to increased costs. TCOP includes not just the costs of IT infrastructure, facilities, utilities, security, insurance, equipment, licensing, running and maintenance costs for software and services, tools and technology, direct and indirect labor costs, training, and other expenses. It also accounts for the cost to run an efficient service desk that delivers not only resolutions of service requests, but also an exemplary customer experience, and a department that proactively paves the way for smoother implementations of any initiatives involving IT.
An analysis of the areas that lead to cost increases could uncover underutilized resources, such as those for a small number of after-hours service requests, to meet any unexpected surge in service requests or the implementation of future initiatives.
Underutilized resources have a major impact on TCOP, and controlling these can bring desired cost advantages. One option to manage resources is to outsource the IT service desk to a third party. When organizations fully understand their TCOP, they may then identify a vendor partner to run the service desk or augment their team to support the outliers leading to higher costs. Looking at what a vendor partner offers in terms of pricing, service level agreement, experience, scalability and support for future initiatives can help organizations evaluate and put the “sense” behind the dollars.
Outsourcing may or may not be the solution for your organization, but making an informed decision will lead to meeting business objectives.
Learn more
With more than 20 years of experience, Hexagon IT Services is comprised of customer-centric professionals who work closely with organizations of all types and sizes, working to help them to identify and deliver solutions that best fit their IT support needs.
Learn more about Hexagon IT Services here.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to our blog and have industry insights delivered right to your inbox each week. Subscribe now.
