Blogs & Opinions

Flexible IT Resourcing part 3

Benefits of a global IT support model

Single site IT support operations need qualified staff, the right technology and documented support procedures. A global or regionally distributed IT support company needs those elements too, but there are the additional complications of support in multiple languages, English as a lingua-franca and the challenge of sourcing skilled people in far flung places.

For global companies with corporate and regional offices, it is extremely common to find local IT support trying to cope with limited capacity. End-user problems are often managed through a central helpdesk over the phone. But what happens in an emergency situation? Often times, critical issues are resolved by flying “centralised” staff out to local areas to resolve. It’s neither cost-effective nor timely.

Using our Global IT Support Model, Allied Worldwide would provide a local, multilingual support team to cover all your regional areas. Working to a single level of ITIL based service excellence, we will provide skilled, local, bilingual support on a timeshare basis as you require it. You can also train and mentor at managerial and operational levels to leave a legacy of transferred skills and enhanced capabilities. We can provide IT support engineers, consultants or managers depending upon your need, with flexibility to ramp your service levels up or down, based on your requirements.

Your continuity of service will not suffer under this “timeshare” model. You will always have the same skilled resource, at the same location and the same days each week to maintain regular contact and reporting. You’re just paying for what you need.

The Global IT Support Model provides you with these benefits:

  • Low capital investment. Only pay for the services you need
  • Fill gaps in your IT team, short or long term, without risk
  • Blend specific combinations of skills
  • Emergency support during peak demand
  • Specialist assistance for fast tracking project completion
  • Productivity improvement
  • Skill & knowledge transfer
  • Reduction in legislation and administration headaches
  • Holiday and absentee cover
  • Short-term and temporary skills shortage cover
  • Flexible skills and working hours
  • Flexibility to rotate resource types and skill levels at short notice
  • No impact on your permanent headcount
  • Less risk of losing technical talent
  • Removal of recruitment burden
  • Ongoing and long term cost saving

In short, there are huge competitive advantages to be gained by sharing staff and distributing work across your various geographical footprints. This requires an evolution in your resource management practices and a willingness to engage in new ways of working.

Conclusion

The use of flexible IT resources enables you to have greater control of your business at a fraction of the cost. Engaging Allied to manage and maintain resources, through a dedicated and highly talented team frees up budget and reduces cost; regardless of which of our three very successful flexible models you choose.

The trend is moving towards a time when you only require a few professionals to be full time, permanent employees. As resourcing evolves, flexibility will increase, and you will come to expect increased value across your portfolio as standard.

The answer: Global access to highly scalable and flexible IT resources that are only paid for as they are consumed.

Short term and flexible resources will make up the majority of new hires and will be a more significant part of the workforce in years to come.

Smart IT Managers call us before they need to.

Q and A

Q. What’s the best way to provide support for our remote and single site locations?

A. It can be hard to hire IT specialists with the relevant experience in remote locations; especially if you don’t need full time resource or are not familiar with local legislation. Allied Worldwide’s Global IT Support Model will give you access to a pool of IT specialists in over 40 geographical locations. We have hired your IT support person so you don’t have to. We will “lease them out” to you on a part time but consistent basis so that you get what you need, when you need it at a flexible cost model. Our employee still benefits from full time work by working a portfolio.

Q. How do I quickly staff up to deliver my new IT project?

A. Allied Worldwide have a Short Term & Interim Resource model which gives you access to a wide pool of talented IT consultants, project managers and technical specialists. The administration and recruitment is handled by us so you don’t need to worry about legislation or compliance. We’ve been filling vacancies for projects for over 25 years so we know who the best people are and where to find them.

Q. How can I manage absenteeism in my large but lean IT team?

A. You can buy some FRA (Flexible Resource Architecture) credits with Allied Worldwide that allows you to back fill for absenteeism at a moment’s notice. This model has been designed to get you access to a highly talented pool of individuals, quickly, so that when you find yourself staring into the absenteeism abyss you can recover superfast.

Q. How do I make sure my team is neither overworked nor idle?

A. Keep your team lean by keeping your highly qualified and loyal IT consultants busy and back fill using one of Allied Worldwide’s flexible resourcing models. For project work you have visibility of you can opt for the Short Term and Interim Resource model to ensure you have adequate skill and man power to complete on time and on budget. When you are hit by unexpected resignations, holiday or absenteeism you can backfill quickly using our Flexible Resource Architecture Model which allows you to fill your unexpected gaps in a quick and cost effective manner, all the while keeping capital investment down.