In a recent Hayes management consulting blog, Tracy Welsh reviewes why you should consider outsourcing your legacy support during a system implementation.
Implementing a new system comes with its own set of resource challenges. Oftentimes organizations utilize their internal staff to support the legacy system while learning and implementing the new system. It seems logical and cost effective at first. But it puts a lot of stress on help desk employees who are trying to focus on learning and building the new system while they worry about a backlog of help desk tickets waiting for them to resolve.
There becomes a breaking point where staff feel overwhelmed and may resign during an implementation. Or there are resources who are not being trained on the new system and see the writing on the wall and proactively resign leaving the old system with little or no support. Hiring a vendor to manage the help desk can be a cost-effective solution including accounting for unforeseen costs like:
- Losing staff who possess significant institutional knowledge
- Hiring and training new employees to support the legacy system
- Ramp up time it will take new resources to come onboard midway through a new implementation