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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Help desk outsourcing serves company's needs ]]></title>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Some companies]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701068]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[have one dedicated person covering one or more satellite offices within a specific geographic range.  Or multiple persons, depending on the size of the range and of the size(s) of the satellite office(s) within the said range in question...]]></description>
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        <dc:creator><![CDATA[HypnoToad72]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:24:26 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Somebody once said]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701091]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;A person who knows something about everything knows everything about nothing&quot;.You don't want specialists.  You want &quot;jack of all trades&quot; - which is not possible, by and large...  and if it is, the poor worker would get pigeonholed anyway.But depending on the types OF jobs, your point is indeed valid.  But I have observed that end users might encounter a problem but never complain about it, until someone else brings it up, with most not caring in the first place.  And I've dealt with more than two companies that engage in this type of paradigm as well.]]></description>
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        <dc:creator><![CDATA[HypnoToad72]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:22:50 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Well said, thank you]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701090]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Time is indeed a crucial factor...  since time is money...  so is having talented staff on hand, worthy of reward for what they contribute to keep the company going.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701090]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[HypnoToad72]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:16:45 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Will you say that once your job is affected?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701081]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Just curious...  you have a point, but it's interesting to note that only managers are not taking the hits everyone else has...]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701081]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[HypnoToad72]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:11:51 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Seconded]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701079]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[See my response above for more...]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701079]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[HypnoToad72]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:11:09 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[It is all about the money,]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701067]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[and when they all offshore, fewer customers exist.  Then profits fall because, what a surprise, there are fewer workers who can spend...Then &quot;too big to fail&quot; and other excuses are made... solely to prop up this inequity... rinse and repeat, QE1, QE2, Operation Twist, QE3, quid pro quo...And yet all FOX does is put out articles telling college kids about redistribution of wealth if said students will give 'A' grades to their fellow students, not remembering that (a) some college admins do that regardless (fraud to prop themselves up) and (b) companies have told workers (who spent all that time and money) to train their own replacements that are here on temporary H1B visas...  with We The People being left holding the bag, while supporters of this massive wealth redistribution finding new ways to create their double standards...And what the client wants is the job done on the cheap or free.  No wonder Americans are &quot;lazy&quot; - the customers want it all for nothing and the workers don't want (or deserve) slave wages or unpaid internship in return for very expensive college degrees most worked hard to earn...]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-3701067]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[HypnoToad72]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:10:02 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Outsourcing in Local Governement]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1526334]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Our Council has not only outsourced Help Desk fucntions but all IT operations for nearly 6 years.Whilst there are a few advantages, what we have found is that all flexibility within the workplace is lost. It is vitally important that any service specification has all bases covered, as works performed outside of the specification usually carry a financial penalty at the appropriate contract rate.The other major difficulty we have encountered is an inability to find a company that has the technical expertise to troubleshoot, even at the basic level, all our applications. In particular our local gov. apps. This results in further costs to software suppliers for additional support. Dont be fooled, if you are about to wander down this road, check the references, and in particular, get your prospective tenderers to nominate their staff, list their expertise, and make sure that your application support is covered. Be very clear about what you require, and make sure it is well documented.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1526334]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[thevulture]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2003 15:47:19 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Outsourcing of Help Desk resources.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1525439]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[You guys got it all wrong, and you have it all right.  Outsourcing of Help Desk resources will continue because it is cheaper then doing it domesticly.  This is the only reason to consider.  I have seem coments that range from &quot;..sure, they speak english, but they don't understand it...&quot;, to &quot;...it's a cyclic thing, it will come back...&quot;Read through the thread here again and be critical of the english that is used in the replies.  Is it correct?  Is it punctuated correctly?  Are the thoughts and ideas clearly presented?  The answer to these and many more questions is not only a resounding NO, it is a resounding HELL NO.  I work in a Help Desk environment where replies from the 2nd level support is often hard to decipher, unclear, and (this is my favorite complaint) is sometimes like they did not read your initial request at all.  They focus on the one item out of four that would throw the ball back in your court and tell you the solution is already there, use it.  How many times have I asked an email help type question of a firm, only to get a reply that goes &quot;..read through the help manual on line and you will find the answer..&quot; even though I spelled out exactly what I needed that wasn't covered in their on line help.Until we as an industry clean up our act, jobs will continue to be outsourced and they will continue to be outsourced overseas.  So my advice is to brush up on your english skills, learn more about how to properly write up a trouble ticket, develop better interogation skills to get to the root of the problem and show your client that you can provide exactally what they are looking for.Now, I don't claim to be perfect but let me tell you, I am better than most of what I have seen so far.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1525439]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[mr.wizzard]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sun, 14 Sep 2003 13:30:46 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Hire Me!!!!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1525130]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I will gladly do ALL the Help Desk support!  For the same price you will pay to send it out of the country!This is exactly another reason I and others have been out of work so long!  I have been unemployed over a year!]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1525130]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[IT cowgirl]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2003 15:49:06 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[low pay]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1525040]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[The product is as good as the companys reputation behind it. And to answer your question about the 2 dollars an hour, they do except it beacuse they can live on it can you pay your bills on $2 an hour???????]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1525040]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[kurtasha@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2003 12:35:26 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Good, but you need some metrics]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1524948]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Well, if this isn't you primary or core business the outsorcing is a good idea. It's working for my organization ( 5000 persons, 15 cities ) but we need some metrics. I have some documents about this metrics or indicators but they are written in spanish. If you need them, please send me an email.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1524948]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[juanc.erazo@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2003 09:55:24 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Boycott their products]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1524825]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I had purchased a print server from a prominent USA company, i had some problems with it so i called tech. support. Little that i knew i was calling India i could not understand a word they were saying after a long time of frustration i decided never to buy a product from a company that off shores jobs. The way i looked at it if they want to sell in the States they better keep the jobs in the USA. So until we as consumers don?t start boycotting their products off shoring is going to continue]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1524825]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[kurtasha@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2003 05:27:58 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Remote Locations]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1519660]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I am a big believer in keeping help desk support within a company, but am curious how others handle remote locations, ie branch offices and retail stores when on-site support is required.Please suggest good solutions.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1519660]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[jeff@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 30 Aug 2003 12:50:40 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[To much Greed]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1518196]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Unfortunatly a lot of our big companys have Investors from over seas so that pretty much Ends the boycott thing...  People in India with degrees in Engineering will work a help desk for 2 dollars an hour because there are no jobs.  Unlike us Americans (don't get me wrong I love the US of A would never leave it and would die for my country)they would rather get the 2 dollars then none while if we don't have a Job we will collect unemployment and refuse Jobs that we don't think is fit for our knowledge we have.So with that in mine from a Business point of View what would you do.  It is all about money.  Sad but True Company profit to some companys is more important then good customer service.  If you like the product you will come back and put up with help you recieve.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1518196]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[yerhdbuddy]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2003 08:29:44 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[speaking english (somewhat)]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1516263]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[The call centre people are not picked at random. Those 'somewhat' types are filtered. Also the companies try to minimise their call time as much as they can . I am sure they do know what works and what does not.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1516263]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[nzholden]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 21 Aug 2003 15:13:08 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[beware of outsourcing for money's sake]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1512601]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[being a gov it specialist, we are currently undergoing an outsourcing initiative nationally for our agency. Last fall, the agency decided to outsource a &quot;level 1&quot; helpdesk, since we did not have any such organization for initial contact nationally - each local org. did their own thing. Rather than even think or attempt to reorganize the general scope of it functions to create a cohesive national organization base to ensure all customers got the same service level - they (mgmt) decided to just go the route of outside contractor, no ifs ands or buts. The result is we have an american it icon charging us by the ticket. Most often it just ends up being routed to us at the local level, though it takes a much longer time to get to us, and we usually have to start from scratch with the user to gather any information on what the problem is, or even to look up their contact to know how to get to them. We waste a tremendous amount of time just managing the tickets because the database they exist on is outside our corporate network. The original concept touted savings of 70% of our workload because all those mundane &quot;level 1&quot; tasks would now be taken care of by this &quot;one-stop&quot; helpdesk. All I can say is to those of us on the ground its a monumental waste of time and money. Now they want to see whether it would be less costly to just outsource the rest of us as well to appease the current administration. So much for serving the agency's IT needs. If it isn't written in stone, it'll never get done, or the real crux of it will be added costs by adding many contractual additions, each with bigger price tags. Change orders are the outsourcing contractor's biggest money makers you know.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1512601]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[cillbat]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2003 11:52:22 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Warm Bodies and Sweat Shop Conditions exist in Outsource Companies.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1512562]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[My experience with help outsource companies is that they hire &quot;cheap&quot; help in a &quot;sweat shop&quot; operation.  The hirees have good customer relations skills, but lack in the technical support qualifications.  Their production is based on the call time and usually results in replacing good components that can otherwise be fixed on the spot.Those policies can often create more problems that they solve.  Why should a hard drive have to be replaced if it has just lost a Master Boot Record, or why should a Motherboard be replaced because a video card driver has been corrupted by a recently loaded incompatible program?There is NOTHING like &quot;Homeboy&quot; support ... and in the long run, it usually doesn't cost more.  Just like old advertising cliche ... Good Support doesn't cost it PAYS!]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1512562]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[newby7718@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2003 09:52:47 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I beg to differ]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1512180]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Don't assume what a third party  provider can or cannot do for a business, whatever the industry. Our company (a managed infrastructure provider) successfully supports accounting firms, medical centers, concrete and construction materials companies, textiles manufacturing, banking, and various medical specialties (cosmetic surgery, dental, ob-gyn) to name a few. We encountered dozens of new (to us) applications, some industry specific, some not, per year. Sure, there is time involved getting up to speed, but I'm sure you weren't born w/ the knowledge you have either. In the IT field in general, it isn't just what we know, it is our capacity to learn new disciplines quickly that counts just as much to our customers. If there is an application that just requires too much attention (most in-house developed software it seems), we'll get the company to support those specific apps, and they can save money by outsourcing the rest of their MIS support staff.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1512180]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[jtakiwi]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 13 Aug 2003 13:22:52 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Outsourcing Local Government Help Desk]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1511535]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[As the former Director of IT for the City of Charlotte NC one of my most successful accomplishments was to totally outsource the Help Desk operations to a third party.  We simply did not have the necessary staffing (both numbers and skills) to provide an expected service level to our 2,500 customers.  We actually went through two RFP outsourcing initiatives, selecting a different company as the provider after the initial contract.The RFP that was issued was very detailed in the necessary vendor response time to all types of customer situations - with the bottom line that anyone within the main campus had to be back up and running within a maximum of two hours of their call for assistance.  Remote locations (70+) had a maximum of 4 hours.  We provided both financial penalities for missing those performance measures and bonuses for exceeding those measures. The end result, our customers received top flight Help Desk services at a reasonable price, on a 24 by 7 basis.  The winning vendor, Unisys, performed very well in the contract and I would gladly recommend them.In summary, it is a good idea for government IT departments to outsource their help desks and have their staff concentrate on applications development and maintenance, or network/telecommunications.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1511535]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[guycavallo@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2003 13:18:39 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Outsourcing is a good fit in some instances]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1511300]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I was the Manager of MIS at remote facility for a large multi-national corporation. The company's HQ was in Canada and our facility was in the states. The company was extrememly spend thrift and was completely opposed to spending money on outside consultants even when internal expertise did not exist. We were actually down for 2 days and partially down for another 4 weeks because they could not figure out how to re-configure a HP-UX box for a new Oracle install and refused to call in a consultant.The company lost hundreds of thousands of dollars over a $2000 consultant bill. The remote facilities were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in allocations to Cananda HQ and still had to maintain internal staff. But budget pressures kept them from hiring the best available staff and I was often forced to take tech's with little or no experience. Training took up enormous amounts of my time and other staff members. Then, later the tech would leave to get a better paying job.I saw this trend as an opportunity and I started Logtime to perform outsourcing of helpdesk and other MIS functions. My employees are some of the best trained and paid. My turnover over is nearly non-existent. Resolution times and call volumes dropped considerably and we also help the company to re-negotiate the annual MIS allocation to the HQ. We have been able to take on other customer and spread the expertise and hire more professional with better skill sets to solve specific problems, such as having CCIE on staff and available to all our clients. When a problem arises where we need external expertise, I call a consultant. The company now spends one-third less annually on MIS and they are still an excellent customer for my company.Also, the company is a highly-specialized business in the aerospace industry, my techs have had no problem coming ut to spend on their systems or any other customers. We have had several customer whose internal IT department had confused the issues so badly, we saved the company downtime and money just by reducing complexity of their systems.Outsourcing can be a good thing. But most internal IT employees are not keen on the idea of outsourcing their jobs, understandably.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/13-134618-1511300]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[star@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2003 06:17:14 -0700</pubDate>
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