The economy may be showing some signs of rebound, but that doesn’t mean CIOs are back to their old spending habits. In fact, according to a report released this month by Gartner, four in 10 CIOs significantly cut budgets in the first six months of 2009.

What, or whom, to cut is never easy, especially when the software for the upcoming migration has already been purchased. It’s easier to drop services than it is to lay off employees; services don’t have a face or a family. And temps appear to be a viable solution, at least on the surface. Realistically, however, opting to bring in outsourcers in cash-strapped times or during a software migration provides greater ROI. The difference is substantial. Here’s a comparison:

Temps will not do much for your customer satisfaction level. Goodbye productivity, hello downtime.

Certification Level:

• Chances are that if you go with temps to get you through a migration, they will be generalists – both for regular support and after-hours or 24-7 coverage.
• With a best-of-breed partner like PC Helps, you have access to certified computer consultants, 24-7.

Advanced support and number of applications supported:

• With temps, don’t expect support for advanced issues, like macros and application development. What’s more, temps can support only 18 applications on average.
• PC Helps employs a cadre of developers, and, in all, our consultants support more than 166 applications.

Cost model:

• Contract workers are cheaper than full-timers, but you’re still shelling out a fixed rate plus overhead. That amounts to an average of $43,000 annually.
• With PC Helps, you pay only for time spent on solutions or actual use.

Response time, abandonment rate and peak hold time:

• Temps will not do much for your customer satisfaction level. They may even be detrimental. Response time varies, but the average hold time using temps is six minutes. The abandonment rate is high, at more than 10 percent, and peak hold time can be up to 15 minutes. Goodbye, productivity. Hello, downtime.
• A best-of-breed like PC Helps has a two-ring response rate, an abandonment rate of less than .01 percent, and no hold time, even during a migration.

Resolution time and cost:

• The most troubling numbers, by far, with temps is the average time it takes to resolve an issue – 45 minutes. That translates into a $95 pricetag per solution.
• With PC Helps, the average call takes six minutes to resolve and costs less than $25 per solution.

MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Checklist + Tools | Migration Case Study | PC Helps eTraining | Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

Jenny Sweeney Mobile Devices, PowerPoint, The Lingua Twitta