Making case for a virtual support center
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The document discusses establishing a virtual support center to provide IT support. It notes that a virtual model can increase productivity by 10-30% and reduce turnover by 10% compared to traditional support. It outlines best practices for a remote support team such as defined policies, remote workplace infrastructure, and training managers and agents. Benefits include cost savings, leveraging existing technology, work-life balance, and accessing a larger talent pool. The presentation provides recommendations on recruiting, technology, management, and legal considerations for implementing a successful virtual support center.
Making case for a virtual support center
- 1. Presented by: Tim Dewey CEO, B Virtual Inc. www.bvirtualinc.com
- 2. • Is Support Aligned with the Business? • Current Challenges in Support • Management & IT Leadership Perspective d h • Changing Landscape of Support • The Virtual Support Center o Benefits o Challenges o Solutions
- 4. Are you constrained by cost pressures? Does the business still believe you provide value to the organization? Are you being asked to look at alternatives to increase productivity and effectiveness? ...The definition of crazy is “doing the same thing again and again while expecting different results”
- 5. Is IT aligned with the business? g Business expectations for IT focus on improving current operations and performance Business expectations Ranking of Business Priorities CIO's selected as one of their top 5 priorities Ranking 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2012 Improving business processes 1 1 1 1 1 2 Reducing enterprise costs 2 2 5 2 2 7 Increasing the use of information/analytics 3 5 8 7 6 8 Improving enterprise workforce effectiveness 4 3 6 4 * 6 Attracting and retaining new customers Attracting and retaining new customers 5 4 2 3 3 3 Managing change initiatives 6 8 12 * * 12 Creating new products or services (innovation) 7 6 3 10 9 1 Targeting customers and markets more effectively 8 7 9 * * 9 Consolidating business operations 9 11 13 14 * 15 Expanding current customer relationships Expanding current customer relationships 10 9 7 * 11 * New question Gartner: Meeting the Challenge: The 2010 CIO Agenda, January 2010
- 7. Need continued cost containment and reduction • Want cost effective support that meets business requirements • Increase the productivity with the same support team Want to retain skilled labor pool • Want to provide further incentives without additional cost Scalable model that meets demand in service • Need flexibility to scale up or down with cost benefits • Business Continuity that provides high availability L Leverage existing t h l i ti technology i investments f support t t for t • Extend virtualized technology to support • Optimize infrastructure and investments to transform support
- 8. The Changing Workforce 43% of U.S. workers will be telecommuting by 2016 Today’s college graduates will hold14 jobs by h i j b b the time they are h 38 Over 40% of workers will be contractors by 2016
- 10. IT Support must transform as the business does • 30% of the global workforce will be mobile by 2011 • Virtualization of technology should include support Service performance can be enhanced • Higher productivity exists in virtual models h d l d l • Distributed workers does not mean lower levels of performance and service Business Continuity can truly be realized • No single point of failure in a distributed support team • Direct impact is to service level performance & sustainability SaaS offering better solutions for communication & collaboration • IT support leaders can take advantage of technology to create a pp g gy more cohesive support team
- 11. 45% Using at‐home agents 48% 69% 48% Considering at home 41% agents 25% Biggest Drivers 7% Not using or considering 11% at‐home agents 6% 9‐Apr 9A 9‐Sep 9S 9‐Nov 9N Knowlagent November 2009: At Home Agent Management
- 12. Best practice approach to a remote model of support • Defined policies & procedures • Established remote workplace Consists of trained virtual support team • Managers trained to lead g remote team • Support professionals trained to perform higher Formal model with defined goals and objectives • Benchmarking • Continuous improvement • Performance management f
- 13. • Virtual Support Professional productivity increase of 10-30% (LiveOps 2008) • Reduction of turnover -10% for Virtual Support Professionals, versus 25 35% (LiveOps 25-35% 2008) • Virtual Support Professionals can reduce carbon footprint reduction of five tons of Co2 per year(Average commute of 13,000 miles annually) • Labor savings on Virtual Support Professionals of 15- 20% (B Virtual 2008 2009) 2008-2009)
- 14. 10. Going Green 9. Reduced cost for facilities & overhead 8. Leverage existing technology to extend support 7. Reduced commuting time and costs 6. Source language skills where they exist 5. Hire the most qualified resources 4. 4 Work life balance enhanced 3. Reduced turnover 2. Increased productivity 1. “It’s the economy stupid….”
- 15. Areas you want to consider before establishing a Virtual Support Center Recruiting Technology Management Legal & HR
- 16. Recruiting the most qualified Virtual Support Professionals • Virtual Profile • You own team may not be candidates! New hire orientation • Your “Virtual 1st day orientation” • Onsite-training Leveraging technology to train Virtual Support Team • E Learning E-Learning • Live instructor led • Consider onsite or satellite training
- 17. SaaS • ACD/IVR technology Interaction Technology • Email • Chat platform • Incident Interaction Management Management • Call tracking • CRM • Knowledge Stores Content Management • Collaboration • Supervision Performance P f Management • Reporting • Training
- 18. Performance Management for the Virtual Support for Center Benchmarking • Against existing team • Benchmark KPI s KPI’s • Costs Reporting & review • Asset Velocity • Measure and coach – Provide scheduled feedback Customer satisfaction • Measure Service Levels of remote team • Customer satisfaction can be tied to employee satisfaction Daily Interaction • Interact more with team • Daily checklists • Team activities
- 19. Human Resources & legal considerations Career path • Job opportunities • Career progression Employment agreements • Polices and procedures in a Virtual Support Center • Workplace requirements requirements, including ergonomics & site visits • Background checks Connection to HR • Remaining “connected with HR” • Virtual visibility Change in status • Termination process • Recapture process
- 20. Long term cost effective model of Support • Expect productivity gains of 10-15% • Turnover should be reduced by 50% • Replacement costs can be hired at 17-20% less • Leverage existing virtualized technology to increase ROI Skilled labor pool now expanded • Recruiting requirements have no geographic limit • Take advantage of the most qualified full and part time resources worldwide Improved work-life balance enhances overall performance • Well qualified and high performing employees enjoying a positive work-life balance • Happier support team = Higher customer satisfaction!
- 21. The future of Help Desk… Desk…
- 22. The B Wyze Group of Companies’ Leading IT Service and Support through Innovation and Partnerships Bringing Your IT Help Desk Home g g p eLearning Innovations
- 23. Raffle!