August 7, 2007
Approximately 40% – 50% of the American workforce is mobile, according to a Runzheimer International study on workforce mobility (Table 1). When these employees work outside of the traditional office setting, they rely on mobile devices, including laptops, tablet PCs, Smart Phones, PDAs, and other devices to access the information they need to stay in touch with clients, prospects, colleagues, and partners.
Technical Support to the Mobile Employee
According to Runzheimer International’s latest benchmarking study, organizations spend approximately $1,600 in administrative costs per virtual worker per year to support them. This number, which includes the cost of Help Desk support, is high relative to the cost of providing mobile devices and equipment, and can equal the actual cost of hardware, software, and telecommunications expenses (Source: Runzheimer International’s Total Employee Mobility Benchmarking Report, Published October 2006).
While support costs are high, the alternative is even more costly. When technology issues arise for the mobile worker, whether at client sites, conference facilities, hotels or airports, or from home, the effect on employee productivity can be crippling. Forgetting one’s password, struggling when accessing an organization’s Virtual Private Network, or losing a mobile device – can effectively paralyze an employee and seriously compromise the organization’s data security.
Because remote workers present their own set of challenges, the productivity of internal Help Desk groups is often negatively affected as they spend a disproportionate amount of time supporting such employees, in comparison with their traditional office counterparts.
Todd Oberg, Vice President of Information Technology with Runzheimer International, explains, ”Many organizations struggle with the service levels and costs of providing consistently reliable Help Desk service to their employees. This issue is further exacerbated in organizations where a significant portion of the workforce needs to function in a variety of remote environments outside of the traditional office. Technical support costs of mobile employees are on average 25% to 50% higher than those of typical office users.” This is due to:
- Connectivity, synching, and authentication problems
- Increased likelihood of mobile end user loss of productivity and the resulting loss of sales or service time
- Lack of adequate remote diagnostics, troubleshooting, and knowledge base capabilities
- Insufficient training of Help Desk staff, particularly in supporting mobile workers
- Inadequate mobile device and/or end user management
- Failure to consistently track, analyze, and correct technical support issues
Even as the majority of mobile office employees, such as sales and service representatives, have become more technology savvy, they are also demanding more out of their devices and applications. “Because of the proliferation of device types and connections, an average mobile worker has three or more means of connecting to corporate systems. Yet, despite dramatic growth in mobile technology, less than 25% of organizations have adequate support mechanisms for mobile workers,” says Jack Gold, a recognized expert and industry veteran in technology advisory services.
Help Desk Support Impacts Employee Productivity
Conversely, when employees are adequately supported, the rewards can be significant. According to Gold, best practices in end user support can increase mobile worker productivity by 2% – 5% per year.
Help Desk support that can efficiently and effectively resolve end users’ issues has a positive affect on other parts of the organization as well:
- Sales and service managers are able to reduce employee downtime and increase selling or service time
- IT leaders and CIOs are able to reduce staff time and increase effectiveness in remote end user support
- Finance departments and CFOs are better able to contain employee support costs and improve business continuity capabilities
- Human Resource departments benefit from increased employee productivity and improved employee satisfaction
About Runzheimer International
Founded in 1933, Runzheimer International serves 60 percent of the Fortune 500. Runzheimer International provides a full suite of employee mobility services in the areas of virtual office, telecommuting, and technical support programs, business travel, business vehicle reimbursement programs, background screening, corporate aircraft, relocation and international assignment programs.
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For more information about trends in workforce mobility, please contact Jennifer Ruppel at Runzheimer International, Runzheimer Park, Rochester, Wisconsin 53167, 262.971.2271, or jmr@runzheimer.com, www.runzheimer.com.
