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. 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:

It’s easier to drop services than it is to lay off employees; services don’t have a face or a family.

Certification level:

• Chances are that if you opt to add full-time employees to your help desk to handle the migration, they will be generalists. For after-hours or 24-7 coverage, they will be no more than junior level employees or administrative staff.
• Adding PC Helps gives you access to certified computer consultants, 24-7.

Advanced support and number of applications supported:

• For advanced support, like working with macros and application development issues, you will have none if you hire full-timers for a migration, and your staff will only be able to support 12 applications on average.
• PC Helps has plenty of developers to go around, and we support more than 166 applications.

Cost model:

• With full-time employees, you will be paying them a fixed rate, plus benefits and overhead. That amounts to about $65,000 annually on average.
• With PC Helps, you pay only for time spent on solutions or actual use.

Response time, abandonment rate and peak hold time:

• With full-timers, the average response time varies, the abandonment rate is 5 percent, and the peak hold time during a migration is nine minutes. Doesn’t sound that bad until you consider the alternative…
• … which is a two-ring response, an abandonment rate of less than .01 percent, and no hold time, even during a migration.

Resolution time and cost:

• With full-time employees, calls take an average of 30 minutes to resolve, and cost roughly $89 per solution.
• With PC Helps or similar best-of-breed support, the average call takes six minutes to resolve and costs less than $25 per solution.

Next post: A side-by-side comparison of temp workers versus best-of-breeds.

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

Jenny Sweeney Office 2007, Outsourcing, ROI 24-7 support, best-of-breed, CIO, Gartner, Microsoft certifed