Critical Cost Drivers | How Much Does Your Desktop Support Cost?

 
Most companies believe that the cost of desktop support consists entirely of the personnel, technology, and facilities that comprise the desktop support organization. From a pure accounting perspective, this may be true. However, there are many other, less obvious costs (some would say hidden costs), that must be taken into account when determining the true cost of Desktop Support. These include the cost of defects, the “penalty cost” for not following a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) support model, and workload costs that are a direct result of the IT environment itself.

In this article we use benchmarking data to demonstrate that the true cost of Desktop Support is often much higher than expected.

Three Critical Desktop Support Cost Drivers

The true cost of desktop support must take into account three important cost drivers. These include:

1. The Direct Costs of the Desktop Support Organization

2. The Cost of Defects

3. Workload Costs that are a Function of the IT Environment Itself

Each of these costs is discussed in more detail below.

The Direct Cost of Desktop Support

The direct cost of desktop support includes the following components:

• Salaries and Benefits for Desktop Support Technicians
• Salaries and Benefits for Indirect Personnel (Team Leads, Supervisors, Workforce Schedulers, Dispatchers, QA/QC Personnel, Trainers, and Managers)
• Technology Expense (computers, software licensing fees, etc.)
• Telecom Expense
• Facilities Expense (office space, utilities, insurance, etc.)
• Travel, Training, and Office Supplies

As you might expect, the vast majority of direct costs are personnel related, accounting for approximately 70% of direct costs for the average desktop support organization.