Benefits of Outsourcing Your Web Hosting Support

What does it mean to outsource services?

Outsourcing services means shifting operations, tasks, jobs, or processes to an external workforce not directly employed by your company or business. Businesses that outsource services do this to improve efficiency and reduce cost.

Outsourcing has become popular in the past decade as the needs of companies grow to become more specific. The startup ecosystem provided a way for these companies to focus on their core functions and outsource secondary functions to a third-party firm. Companies where the cost of labor for specific positions are expensive, outsource non-fundamental roles.

Why outsource?

Here are the reasons that you should outsource hosting for your own good:

Lower operational costs

One of the major reasons why web host companies outsource specific services is to reduce labor costs and lower operational costs. When executed properly, it reduces the company’s expenses and delivers significant savings.

Growth

According to IAOP, 60% of companies outsource to grow. They know that concentrating on back-office tasks limits the growth of a business. They focus on managing IT systems and customer support while outsourcing helps them to create new products and services for their clients.

Save money

A 2006 Harvard Business Review research found that 97% of companies outsourced to cut costs. By 2013, another survey found that cost-effectiveness was both short and long-term. Companies discovered that they could bring real value to their company’s processes. They leveraged some of the best minds when they outsourced and accessed a global knowledge base they wouldn’t have on their own.

Access to new markets

Research carried out by HBR found that 25% of companies outsource to enter new markets. Another research also found that 50% of multinational revenue in the next decade would come from developing countries that offered cheaper outsourced services.

Flexibility

There is a lot of uncertainty in today’s global economy. Outsourcing gives companies the ability to downsize or expand when they need to. Given that employee lawsuits are at an all-time high, outsourcing takes away the risk of being sued when companies need to downsize. They enjoy the benefit of scaling as their business grows.

Peace of mind

The uncertainty of outsourcing contract negotiations might be unsettling, but companies feel relieved when people sign the dotted lines. These agreements protect both parties and remove nasty human interactions that occur when employees are dismissed. In such situations, the outsourcing company is held liable.

Keep operational control

Operations that run out of control and incur costs should always be considered for outsourcing. For instance, web hosting companies struggle to staff enough technical support staff who can quickly and efficiently handle customers, requests. 

The budget for hiring an in-house team could be more than they can afford. Contracted third-party tech support ensures the company serves its customers without exceeding the budget, thus regaining control in that area.

Focus on developing internal staff

Executing a large project sometimes requires skills that your in-house team doesn’t have. With on-site outsourcing, you bring in contract workers for a short term. They work on your location and help your in-house team develop the skills you need to perform the same task in the future.

The benefits of outsourcing web host support

24/7 live support

The clients get 24/7 support from the web hosting company. In the past, the company may have struggled to meet their customers’ demands and answer queries on time. By outsourcing to a third party with a robust workforce, they can provide a more efficient service for their customers.

Access to better-trained staff

Outsourced web hosting support teams are better trained in providing customer care than a web hosting company. They have undergone substantial training and have a wealth of knowledge that ensures your customers are satisfied after each contact with the support team.

It is important that hosting companies outsource to teams that have both the knowledge of customer care and hosting issues to ensure they provide customers with the level of support they need.

Access to bilingual support

An in-house support team might be incapable of providing bilingual support for multiple languages. For web host companies seeking to compete in many countries, bilingual customer support shows your target audience that you can serve them efficiently. For example, for a web host company such as Domains 4 Less that is based in New Zeland, which is English-speaking, its bilingual support services underline the company’s readiness and capacity for global business and reach.  

There is a benefit of being associated with brand support, which is seen as a sign of dedication to excellent support. Your in-house team is not overburdened with continuous technical issues but focuses on developing innovative web hosting solutions for your customers.

Global availability

When trying to provide services for clients in different countries, the financial resources to provide 24/7 support are often unavailable. You might have a situation where your time zone goes to sleep at the end of a workday and your clients in other time zones are awake and need help, but there’s no one to offer live support.

It is advisable to choose an outsourcing company in a different time zone to ensure your business provides round-the-clock support required for full business operations.

Improve business focus

Outsourcing allows your employees to focus on core responsibilities instead of covering multiple areas. Outsourcing vendors are trained to cover web hosting support. An attempt to cover all areas could be time-consuming and expensive. It also reduces the risk of making the wrong decision, such as hiring more personnel than you need.

Budget-friendly solution

Outsourcing is seen as a budget-friendly solution for reducing operational costs. The perks of being an in-house staff such as pension, holidays, health insurance, and more are avoided when you outsource. You also don’t have to worry about paying a severance package when you let go of a member of staff.

Increase website sales

A live support team has a direct influence on sales. The outsourced team should be able to answer questions regarding pre-sales queries of your web hosting packages. They should sufficiently provide answers that clear all doubts the customer might have about purchasing a hosting plan.

The first impression a prospective customer has with your business could be with your customer support team. Hence, your sales increase when the support team makes the customer happy.

A feedback mechanism

One of the ways a business develops is by collecting feedbacks. It lets you know if customers are happy with your current services and areas where you can make changes. Outsourced customer support helps you collect feedback after resolving problems. They know that customers are more amenable to answering questions once you’ve solved their problems.

Ensure efficiency and promptness

The outsourced support team provides a high level of consistency. The team is trained to be efficient in their turnaround times, working, and deadlines. The team also performs help desk support, server administration, and live chat support.

Key considerations when outsourcing web hosting support

Look for hosting experts and engineers

When you recruit in-house technical support engineers, you check their credentials and physically interview them to ensure they’re the right fit for the job. It’s different when you outsource because they aren’t remotely under your supervision.

Hence, it is crucial to ask the outsourcing company if the support team has the standard qualification required for providing hosting support. A safe bet is to insist on a degree in computer sciences.

Human Capital

Customer support is a humane business that requires building and sustaining relationships with clients. You need highly-qualified empathetic individuals who will listen to the customers and provide solutions that work.

Industry Specialisation

Ensure that you choose an outsourcing company that specializes in providing customer support for hosting companies. Outsourcing companies have different specialties. Choosing the one that is knowledgeable in your field is the only way to guarantee that they have the infrastructure and resources to cater to your web hosting support needs.

The experience of the provider

How long have they been in the business of providing support for web hosting companies? The collective experience of the company is important. They should have a pool of employees who provide faster and better resolution of queries. The engineers and technical support team should be able to handle all sorts of problems and anticipate the problems a customer might have by studying the server setup.

Determine the following

• The average experience level of staff
• The length of time the company has existed
• The collective experience of the entire team
• Security of space to ensure data security

Ask about their office security, both physical and online. What efforts do they take to prevent data theft? They must provide secure entry points and secure infrastructure for safe data access.

A focus on technical and soft skills

Soft skills and technical skills are both important for web hosting customer support. Customer support personnel might know the solution but is ill-equipped to communicate it to the customer properly.

Cross-technology support

There are multiple technologies in web hosting. They include a multitude of OS options, varied options for database, coding languages, cPanels, CMS, and security options. A hosting company is expected to provide support in each of these areas or services they offer. Choose an outsourcing company where engineers or technicians are experts at navigating different OS such as Windows and Linux and can fix all issues arising from CMS platforms.

Conclusion

A good web hosting support team should tick all of these boxes. Outsourcing is the right option for young or mid-level hosting companies who are growing their online brands. You leverage the flexibility of a third party, their expertise, and provide excellent services for your customers.