Ask HN: Outsourcing support for small companies

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13795281

by Tharkun • 9 years ago

3 2 9 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

My company has had to miss out on a couple of juicy government tenders lately because we're unable to provide support 7 days a week. Hiring people to sit idly by a phone seems silly, and obviously expensive.

Does anyone have any (positive..) experiences with outsourcing support? What caveats should we look out for? Thanks!

iagovar• 9 years ago

You mean hiring overseas?

brudgers• 9 years ago

My random internet advice:

1. Add the expensive price of people sitting by the phone to the proposal. After marking it up with a healthy profit, of course.

2. Move on to the next proposal.

Whatever the potential client says they want should be included in the proposed fee. With a nice profitable markup,of course. The alternative is to buy the job at a loss and make up for it on volume...which, isn't exactly the snarky response it seems to be if the staffing cost of 24/7 support can be amortized over several projects in parallel.

An alternative is to have regular staff on call to perform tech support as a collateral responsibility.

But in the end, a requirement to provide 24/7 tech support may indicate contracts that are a poor match for your firm and ought not to be pursued so that work that meets your firm's capabilities can be pursued.

Good luck.

Ask HN: Outsourcing support for small companies

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