Because the help desk is the customer service front door for IT departments, it is essential to maintain positive relationships between the help desk and the end user. However, many in-house technical support help desk operations underperform due to a lack of time, money and expertise. These enterprises are good candidates for help-desk outsourcing.

Outsourcing some or all help desk operations can be a cost-effective alternative to going it alone. It may be time to consider outsourcing if:

• The current help desk system is struggling to meet service requirements.
• The enterprise requires centralized incident management.
• The volume of calls, e-mails, faxes and other support requests is increasing.
• The current support system is disorganized, informal, and ad hoc.
• The business has grown to include branch...