Should You Pick An Outsourced Helpdesk Solution or Stick With Direct Staffing For Your MSP?

As an MSP owner, one of the most critical decisions you’ll make is choosing between direct staffing and an outsourced helpdesk. This choice can significantly impact your business’s efficiency, scalability, and overall success. This article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of both approaches, focusing on remote IT helpdesk staffing, to help you make an informed decision.

Understanding Direct Staffing and Helpdesk Outsourcing

Direct staffing involves hiring employees directly into your organization. These employees work under your management and follow your company’s policies and procedures. On the other hand, helpdesk outsourcing involves delegating your IT helpdesk services to an external agency or service provider. This provider takes care of the recruitment, training, and management of the helpdesk staff.

Direct Staffing

The direct staffing approach in IT support companies involves hiring IT professionals as full-time employees to provide support services. This model allows companies to build a dedicated in-house team that understands their specific IT infrastructure and needs.

The benefits of direct staffing include:

1. Control: Companies have direct control over their staff, including their training, work schedules, and tasks.
2. Consistency: With a stable team, companies can ensure consistent service quality and build long-term relationships with clients.
3. Knowledge of Business: In-house staff are more likely to have a deep understanding of the company’s business, culture, and IT environment.

However, direct staffing can be expensive and resource-intensive, considering the costs of recruitment, salaries, benefits, and training. It can also be challenging to quickly scale up or down the in-house team in response to fluctuating demand.

An increasingly popular solution to these challenges is remote staffing from low-cost living locations. This approach allows companies to tap into a global talent pool and benefit from lower labor costs. Here are some of the benefits:

1. Cost Savings: Companies can save significantly on salaries as they can adjust pay based on the cost of living in the employee’s location. This can be particularly beneficial for companies based in high-cost areas.
2. Access to a Larger Talent Pool: Remote staffing opens up opportunities to hire talented professionals from around the world, not just those who live near the company’s physical location.
3. Increased Productivity: Studies have shown that remote workers can be more productive than their in-office counterparts. This can be attributed to fewer distractions, no commute time, and the ability to work in a comfortable environment.
4. Reduced Operational Costs: With fewer employees working on-site, companies can save on office space, utilities, and other operational costs.

Our Approach to MSP Staffing

Support Adventure takes care of most if not all of the admin work required for you to be able to onboard remote staff with ease. We take the background checks, HR onboarding, time tracking, TO approval, and other tasks off your hands so you can focus on running your MSP. Additionally, we take care of all the contract-related tasks, including any raise negotiations, probation periods, and terminations as necessary. Our model allows you to take advantage of all the benefits of direct staffing while enjoying the cost and time savings associated with an outsourced helpdesk.

Furthermore, our Training and Testing program allows for the selection of candidates that exhibit the most important qualities we think helpdesk staff should possess, including a solid technical foundation and great communication and soft skills.

All the staff we present to our clients have passed our Training and Testing program, have had their references checked, and a police clearance and background check obtained in advance. This allows you to pick candidates with confidence that they’ve already shown a number of qualities a successful candidate should possess.

Outsourced Helpdesk

An outsourced helpdesk, on the other hand, can save you from the complexities of employee management. It can provide access to a wide pool of talent and expertise, often at a lower cost. However, it may also mean less control over your helpdesk staff and potential issues with service quality or data security. With an outsourced helpdesk, you delegate all managerial control to an external entity that may or may not provide the level of service you require and you don’t really have the opportunity to manage low-level employee behavior or processes they follow on the go. Additionally, an outsourced helpdesk will rarely understand the intricacies of your clients so you may still get numerous escalations for many tasks that fall out of the basic process.

What is Direct Staffing in IT Support?

Direct staffing involves hiring IT professionals as full-time employees to provide support services. This approach allows companies to build a dedicated in-house team that understands their specific IT infrastructure and needs.

Pros of Direct Staffing

1. Control: Companies have direct control over their staff, including their training, work schedules, and tasks.
2. Consistency: With a stable team, companies can ensure consistent service quality and build long-term relationships with clients.
3. Knowledge of Business: In-house staff are more likely to have a deep understanding of the company’s business, culture, and IT environment.

Cons of Direct Staffing

1. Cost: Direct staffing can be expensive, considering the costs of recruitment, salaries, benefits, and training. Hiring remote staff from low-cost-of-living locations can mitigate an enormous part of the expense.
2. Scalability: It can be challenging to quickly scale up or down the in-house team in response to fluctuating demand. Support Adventure has experienced technicians of various levels available to be contracted at any time to address that.
3. Resource Intensive: Managing an in-house IT team requires significant time and resources. With Support Adventure, all the timekeeping, HR, and admin tasks are taken care of by our inhouse team, you just get an invoice each month.

What is an Outsourced Helpdesk?

An outsourced helpdesk involves delegating IT support tasks to an external service provider. This approach can be an effective solution for companies that lack the resources to maintain a full-time, in-house IT team.

Pros of Helpdesk Outsourcing

1. Cost-Effective: Outsourcing can be a more cost-effective option, as companies only pay for the services they need.
2. Access to Expertise: Outsourcing providers often have teams with diverse IT skills and expertise.
3. Scalability: It’s easier to scale services up or down based on demand.

Cons of Helpdesk Outsourcing

1. Less Control: Companies have less control over the outsourced staff and their performance.
2. Security Risks: Sharing sensitive data with an external provider can pose security risks.
3. Potential for Lower Service Quality: If the outsourcing provider doesn’t meet the company’s standards, it can result in lower service quality.

Making the Right Staffing Choice for Your MSP

The choice between direct staffing and an outsourced helpdesk depends on various factors, including your business size, growth plans, budget, and specific IT needs. Here are some key considerations:

1. Scalability: If your MSP is growing rapidly, an outsourced helpdesk can provide the scalability you need without the complexities of hiring and managing a large team. As we point out in our 7 Laws of MSP Scaling, a well-structured helpdesk outsourcing system can help you scale your MSP more efficiently.
2. Cost: Helpdesk outsourcing can often be more cost-effective than direct staffing locally, but considering that Support Adventure sources staff from low-cost-of-living locations, that changes the financial aspect of direct staffing considerably.
3. Control and Quality: Direct staffing gives you more control over your employees and the quality of their work. If maintaining high service quality and direct control over your helpdesk operations is a priority, direct staffing may be the better choice.
4. Expertise: Helpdesk outsourcing can give you access to a wide range of IT expertise, which can be particularly beneficial if your MSP handles a diverse range of IT issues. Direct staffing on the other hand allows the staff to learn the intricacies of your systems and grow as your MSP expands.

Outsourced Helpdesk vs. Direct Staffing: Which is Better?

The choice between an outsourced helpdesk and direct staffing depends on a company’s specific needs, resources, and strategic goals. Here are some questions to consider:

1. What are your company’s IT needs? If your company requires specialized IT skills or needs to handle sensitive data, direct staffing might be a better option. On the other hand, if your IT needs are relatively standard and straightforward, helpdesk outsourcing could be a cost-effective solution.
2. What resources does your company have? If your company has the resources to recruit, train, and manage an in-house IT team, direct staffing could be a viable option. If not, an outsourced helpdesk can provide access to a team of IT professionals without the need for significant upfront investment.
3. What are your company’s strategic goals? If your company aims to build long-term client relationships with consistent service quality, direct staffing might be the way to go. If your goal is to minimize costs and maximize operational efficiency, an outsourced helpdesk could be the answer.

Support Adventure: A Premium Solution for Remote Direct Staffing

At Support Adventure, we pride ourselves on being a premium helpdesk staff outsourcing solution for businesses looking for top talent in the IT industry. As a fully remote-operated helpdesk staff outsourcing company run by expats, we specialize in providing high-quality service and support to our clients. We provide quality, vetted remote helpdesk staff placed directly with our client companies in the MSP industry.

Our services are designed to help companies save on staffing costs while ensuring that expectations are managed and results are delivered. We offer staffing for crucial roles in the IT service industry, such as IT helpdesk technicians and service desk coordinators.

Our unique approach to staffing involves a comprehensive testing and training program that prepares our candidates for success in their roles. This program focuses on enhancing communication skills, executing technical tasks, and fostering creative problem-solving abilities.

One of the key advantages of working with Support Adventure is the flexibility we offer. All our positions are fully remote, allowing our staff to work from anywhere in the world. This flexibility, combined with the opportunity to work with an open-minded international team, makes Support Adventure an attractive choice for many IT professionals.

At Support Adventure, we believe in long-term, stable work engagements. Many of our employees have been with us for years, building trust with our clients and customers and advancing in their roles within six months to a year.

In summary, Support Adventure offers a unique, flexible, and supportive environment for IT professionals. We provide high-quality, cost-effective outsourcing solutions for businesses, helping them to scale and succeed in the IT industry.

The choice between direct staffing and helpdesk outsourcing is a strategic decision that can significantly impact your MSP’s success. By considering your business’s specific needs and the pros and cons of each approach, you can make an informed decision that supports your MSP’s growth and success.

With experience finding positions for over 200 remote technicians and other help desk professionals, while helping 100+ MSPs hire remote staff, we are confident in our ability to meet your staffing needs. For more details or to become a client, please visit our MSP Staffing services page.

If you’re considering direct remote staffing, Support Adventure offers a range of MSP outsourced staffing services that can provide the expertise and scalability you need. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your MSP’s growth.