How One IT Team Reclaimed Over 200 Hours Per Month in Their Schedule

When IT teams get bogged down in firefighting and may be close to burning out, who jumps in to assist? Managers. Acting as a release valve, IT Managers are often forced to jump back into the fray to alleviate the pressure.

But who jumps in to help when Managers are working 60 hours per week, including nights and weekends? The right managed services partner.

This is the story of how one Manager engaged Mechdyne’s IT Services team to outsource their service desk to take over Level 1 end-user support. The goal was to alleviate the strain on both his team and his schedule. The IT team included the Manager and four higher-skilled engineers. The “Current State” graph below demonstrates how the internal team was spending their time.

The team of five was spending over 200 hours on Level 1 support each month. That time had to come from somewhere. Multiple areas of need had to be ignored to keep up with user support requests. Ignored needs included management time, documentation, training, and capital planning.

Not only did this affect schedules, but the cost of providing Level 1 support skyrocketed. Three of the higher-skilled engineers were spending over 60 hours per month each on Level 1 support.

Technicians and Engineers working on Level 1 tickets drives support costs much higher and distracts those teams from completing other critical strategic projects. There is a negative impact on team morale and a greatly increased chance of burnout.

Just one Level 3 resource spending 60 hours per month on Level 1 support costs an organization thousands of dollars. If each of these resources makes $50 per hour, Level 1 support costs this organization $10,000 per month. That doesn’t include the Manager’s time spent assisting users. These costs are compounded with missed opportunities and delayed projects.

Alleviating the Strain

So how can teams relieve the strain like the above on the internal team without spending the time and resources on hiring, training, and managing more internal resources in this difficult hiring environment?

Finding the right managed services partner.

The organization in this story sought a new partner to take over Level 1 user support. This returned more than 200 hours per month to the internal team’s schedules. The “Future State” graph below shows what the team planned to add back into their task lists once they had an outsourced service desk partner.

The team even regained about 20 hours per person to reallocate each month. IT “fires” still happen and this flexibility enables the team to react quickly without having to automatically delay another project.

The organization is also benefitting from more planning and management from the IT Manager. The graph below shows the future state of his schedule.

The shift to remote and hybrid work means the IT team is key to driving business growth and success. If your most skilled teammates are spending time resetting passwords and providing other Level 1 support, what bigger needs are being ignored?