Help Desks Need Much More Help

CIOs were asked, "What is the ratio of internal end users to technical support employees at your company?" The mean response was 136:1.

CIOs also were asked, "What would be the ideal ratio of internal end users to technical support employees at your company?" The mean response was 82:1.

That means on average, the tech support function is understaffed by about 40 percent.

Survey results also indicated that CIOs from the largest companies (greater than 1,000 employees) were closest to their ideal level of technical support, with a ratio of end users to IT staff of 118:1 versus an ideal of 82:1. Farthest from their ideal were CIOs from midsize firms (250-499 employees), who said that their ratio of end users to IT support staff is 131:1, when in a perfect world it would be 64:1.

Back in our August 2006 survey on IT organizations, 30 percent of midsize companies were planning to increase hiring for their help desk/tech support function. (Only 18 percent of companies over $1 billion were planning to do so.) Apparently, the hiring that took place fell far short of the real need.

Posted by Allan Alter on August 29, 2007 9:22 AM