Is the cost of outsourcing too much, or do these services fail to provided quality?

[ITQUESTION]

I posted a similar thread the other day but didn’t receive any responses, so today I thought I’d change my question a little bit since I better understand this website now. As I understand it, the purpose of this online forum is to help small businesses keep current with today's technology without spending an arm and a leg. There are helpful articles and links on the website and then the forum exists so that small business owners/employees can ask questions, offer helpful information, and communicate new ideas surrounding technology in the business place. I think this is great and innovative and really helps out many small business owners on tight budgets. Still, I was wondering if anyone could tell me why his or her business or the business for which he or she works decides not to outsource technical support. Did any of you use any remote and/or in-house IT support services at some point in time but found the service lackluster? Can anyone write me his or her opinion on outsourcing technical support in the small business world? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!

[JPnyc]

Hi. Please don't post the same question more than once. I deleted the old one, so you can now just check this one for replies. Thank you

[george2contrera]

In one short sentence, you're asking for others to give their experiences of failed outsourcing of technical support. Right?

It's perhaps too loaded of a question, as there are so many variables involved in outsourcing and it's success/failure. Too many, that perhaps asking if it cost too much or didn't provide quality doesn't narrow it down enough for those who would want to discuss their experience.

Plus, we're talking about a topic that has a library of books written on it, it's implementation, statistics, red flags to avoid, etc. In a forum environment, it may just be more productive if we narrowed down to a small sliver of the topic, like "For those who did bail out on their outsourcing venture, what kind of resources did you deliver to the outsourcing firm to ensure proper training and continued support to those providing the support?"

That seems like more of a question that gets things started in the right direction. Otherwise, I would imagine that a generic post on outsourcing would either get no response, or just ranting. And who likes a ranting businessman?

[landisnet]

In my opinion, it depends on who you hire, just like anybody else you hire. Check their references, interview past clients, and determine if they know what they are doing, and if they are qualified. Most IT support services require access to secure information by giving a person who is not working for your company. I think it’s an issue of the release or access of proprietary-specific information to an outside company that causes nervousness.

RS
http://www.landisnetusa.com

[EWB-James]

I agree. If your business is not technology focused you should look into outsourcing. On the backhand of the issue, you will have a time delay on your business reactions when you have to wait for the "geeks" to get around to producing your vision!

[InfoSourcing]

Hi,

"Sourcing" people/information has always been the case with IT. You "source" for a good developer who can develop your website through monster.com website and you end up hiring him/her.

Few yrs back people used to source talents from all over the world and it was kind of "inward-sourced", later people started to do "offshore sourcing" sending projects outside their network, it could be partners/vendors etc ...

In today's global economy it is called "out sourcing" which is under the same domain "Sourcing", so how is it different?
Earlier you used to have problems with your employees not being efficient and now you might have outsourcing companies not being efficient, coz internally that outsourcing company also have employees, who might not be efficient you see the whole picture ...

What matters the most in such changing global economy is
"Can your outsourcing company understand your business?
what kind of expertise they bring in?
What kind of challenges they have solved?
How fast can they adapt to changing environment?
What kind of ROI are you looking at?
What kind of work can be outsourced? etc ..."

For example you can't outsource retail business coz of the nature of the business, whereas you can outsource the phone orders who can take calls and get access to your catalog and pricing information, as long as they are able to communicate and help your business grow much faster and keep your infrastructure costs down then it obviously a better option, but again not all business can be outsourced ... but the search for finding a better option should always be open and it will be