Member Article

The real meaning of IT help desk calls

When it comes to calling the customer support line, one could argue that to ask for help ‘as and when you need it’ instead of sending staff on formal training saves the employee time and the company money. But since the emergence of effective remote learning concepts, training no longer needs to be five days locked in a classroom with hotel and travel costs to budget for, so, is this view both outdated and ineffective? Is the philosophy of leaving staff to call the vendor support team, instead of training them, a valid method or are calls to the support desks more than a cry for help, are they a cry for training?

Statistics from a Commvault survey of customers who attended training, show that 98% expected training to be offered as part of a comprehensive IT solution.[1] However, reports from our customer support teams, reveal that training is quite often replaced with a ‘call the help desk’ strategy, rather than purchasing training alongside their software platform. Our statistics show that six out of seven UK customers contacting our help desk this year have not previously attended core training as part of their solution integration plan.

They also show that a significantly high proportion of their calls are not to resolve technical bugs or product issues, but are to ask questions which would in fact have been covered in any of our affiliated training offerings. Unsurprisingly it was the untrained customers, on average, who contacted our tech support teams more often. In fact, seven times more support incidents were logged by those who had not attended core training as part of their solution integration plan.

Those accountable want proper training

Not only do staff expect and need training, they want training. When a member of the IT team is held directly accountable for the ongoing success and ROI of their newly deployed IT purchase, the employee typically chooses official vendor training over knowledge transfer. They know they will perform better learning direct from the IP source, instead of an all-too-brief walk-through of the features, before the door swings shut and they are left to manage on their own. It is more beneficial to work with a qualified master instructor rather than from a deployment engineer, who is simply handing over the keys before running out the door to another deployment. Furthermore, staff know they will be supported by relevant vendor approved courseware and learning lab environments as well as backed up with skills validation through industry-recognised certification.

Some companies fear that they will spend time and money training staff who might then leave. Yet, the evidence says otherwise. 82% of the staff we surveyed state that training has actually made them feel more loyal to their employer and less likely to leave.

Clear advantages

On the flip side facing questions or complaints over the purchase, when the issue is not with the software but staff’s inability to use it, is the ultimate frustration for a CIO or IT manager. It is to their advantage to have staff trained on the new IT purchase or upgrade, it’s like adding an insurance policy for the success of the purchase. Appropriate training ensures that the features and benefits of their IT selection are fully realised (or exceeded), reducing the chances that their choice will be questioned or that they are sent back to look for alternative solutions. Keeping the lights running is simply not good enough in the case of today’s evermore powerful and crucial integrated data management systems.

The trends we see is that users who are trained even if only to foundational level, are much more inclined to get better usage from their tech. Four out of five students have told us that following training, they now have a much clearer appreciation of the full capabilities available to them through their Commvault software platform. As a result, an average of two thirds have suggested that their employers have recognised higher levels of efficiency and productivity from their Commvault environment.

Finally, there is a direct impact to average customer escalation costs as the result of not investing in training. According to a 2013 market report released from MetricNet for the HDI, the average cost per escalation incident resolved at vendor support level runs at just over £300.00 per call.

Why is training not being prioritised?

With virtual and other remote delivery options available - decreasing time out of theatre and total cost of consumption - choosing not to train staff becomes counter intuitive. So, why is training not being prioritised? The truth be told, we (the IT Education industry) need to do a better job of illustrating to customers the values of training. It is the key element in the success of their deployment projects and investment plans. IT investment alone is only the first step…

The statistics make it clear - Help Desk support and knowledge transfer is not enough for employees to utilise the full potential of powerful software or for your organisation to maximise the potential of talented staff. A Support Services team can certainly support trained staff, but it should not be considered a replacement for proper training. So, if your staff are racking up calls to the support line, maybe it’s not a cry for help, it’s a cry for training.

[1] The Customer Value Wave survey has been taken quarterly since December 2015, and interviews IT users who have taken Commvault training. 237 Customers had been surveyed as of December 2015.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Hill .