Hdi 2006 Ps Survey

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Practices and Salary Survey
HDI
2006 Practices and Salary Survey
Executive Summary Ron Muns, Founder and CEO, HDI Peggy Libbey, President and COO, HDI Statistical Analysis Executive Editor Editor Art Director Graphic Design Jenny Rains Rich Hand, Executive Director of Membership, HDI Julie Neider Scott Hanson Maggie Adams
Copyright 2007 HDI All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 1-57125-018-2 HDI 102 South Tejon Street, Suite 1200 Colorado Springs, CO 80903 USA U.S. and Canada: (800) 248-5667 www.ThinkHDI.com HDI assumes no liability for error or omission. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of HDI, with the exception of trade publications reporting on the data. In such cases, credit must be given to HDI. HDI is a registered trademark of ThinkService, Inc. www.ThinkHDI.com. ITIL is a registered trademark, and a registered community trademark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. IT Infrastructure Library is a registered trademark of the Office of Government Commerce.
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About our Sponsor
BMC Software delivers the Business Service Management solutions IT needs to increase business value through better management of technology and IT processes. Founded in 1980, BMC has offices worldwide and fiscal 2006 revenues of more than $1.49 billion. Activate your business with the power of IT. www.bmc.com
Contents
8 15 21 31 39 57 67 79 Executive Summary Demographics Tools and Technology Process Measurement Metrics Outsourcing and Costs Incident Management and Training Salary Survey
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Demographics
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Tools and Technology
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Process Measurement
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Introduction
e made changes to the 2006 Practices and Salary Survey in response to comments we received from our membership. Some changes were made so that it would be easier to respond to your future requests, and others were made to make the data easier to find. As always, we encourage your input and feedback to help us make the survey the best it can possibly be. Thank you. As you will notice, in the front of the book we have taken some of the most common industry metrics and put them into an easy-to-read matrix that we hope you will find helpful. We have also laid out the written report in alignment with the way the questions were presented in our 2006 survey. At the beginning of each section, we have a matrix that acts as a quick reference guide to the data to make searching the survey more user-friendly.
In the end, this is your industry survey. We use the data you provide and analyze and interpret it to to better understand the support organization, for the benefit of the entire community. We acknowledge that it takes time to participate in these surveys and we hope that the six iPods given away in 2006 encouraged you to participate. We will continue to do these drawings in the coming year and if you have ideas for other incentives or if you would like to see who won the iPods in 2006, please visit the ThinkHDI.com Web site. We look forward to bringing you this and other surveys throughout 2007 and we would like to thank our sponsor, BMC, for their continued support in helping us to bring you the most comprehensive survey in our industry.
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Metrics
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Outsourcing and Costs
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Incident Management and Training
Executive Summary
Demographics
This year we organized the survey into smaller sections in an effort to reduce the time needed to participate in the survey. We organized it under the following headings; Demographics (who are you?); Tools and Technology (what are you using to do your job?); Process Measurement (what are your key processes and what are you measuring?); Outsourcing and Costs (are you outsourcing and what is support costing your organization?); Incident Management and Training (how are you handling problems and how are you training your staff?); Metrics (what are the numbers for what you are measuring?); and the Salary Survey. A total of 1,141 people responded to at least one section of the survey but most responded to the majority of the survey sections. As with past surveys, a diverse group of industry sectors were represented in the results. We had over 35 industry sectors represented with those that described themselves as part of the Financial Services industry leading the pack at nearly 14%. The Healthcare/Pharmaceutical and Education industries were not far behind at 11.2% and 10.7% respectively. There were 10% that described themselves as Other but based on closer observation the majority of these responses could be categorized within one of the existing categories. The type of support organization responding in the survey remained consistent with last years responses. 66% are calling themselves Internal organizations. Blended (50-50 between Internal and External) is at 19%, rounded out with those providing External Support at 15%.
What organizations call themselves is an important indicator of how they perceive what they do. The percentage that call themselves Help Desks continues to decline in our survey. In 2004, 39% of respondents called themselves a Help Desk which decreased to 36% in 2005, and 34% in this years survey. Interestingly enough, Service Desk has gone from 8.4% in 2004 to 11.6% in 2005, and 15.4% in 2006. With the adoption of ITIL Processes (see Process Measurement section) on the increase, it seems the adoption of the ITIL term Service Desk is a reflection of this movement. We had good representation from organizations that support as few as 100 users to those organizations that support over 50,000 users. Again this year, a majority of organizations responded that they have only 1 support center (57%), with the rest being spread out between 2 support centers (12%) to those that said they had 10 or more support centers (7%).
When it comes to Tools and Technology we have seen consistency with the vendor tools that respondents are using. We do not ask about specific vendor tools but rather the generic tools being used. This year we added a few opinion questions on the tools necessary to have a minimally effective support organization to the wish list of tools to add if budget were not a consideration. With the adoption of the ITIL framework, it is not surprising that respondents are looking for tools that are in compliance with the framework.
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Process Measurement
Metrics
It is rewarding to see the number of respondents that consider their support organization Business Centric (68%). HDI considers being Business Centric as a key indicator of the maturity of the support organization. There are still many (24%) that consider their support organization Reactive. We believe there are many in the Business Centric respondents that are also Proactive. Those calling themselves Proactive are at 8%. Many respondents organizations have adopted at least some of the ITIL processes, mostly the ones with the largest impact on the support organization. ITIL Incident Management has the highest adoption rate at 33% with 49% having an Incident Management process, that is exclusive of ITIL. Only 18% have no Incident Management process down from 26% last year that responded they had no process for handling incidents. We have seen the adoption of each ITIL process increase over the last year. Only 18% do not measure Customer Satisfaction. Almost half (49%) do not measure Employee Satisfaction either (see Metrics section). HDI considers both of these areas to be critical areas in a Balanced Scorecard of Key Performance Indicators. Most of the respondents are measuring all channels of support (53%). The number of those maintaining Service Level Agreements (SLA) or Operational Level Agreements (OLA) remains the majority with only 26% of you that dont maintain either SLAs or OLAs. That number is down from 28% in 2005.
The majority of organizations answer the Phone within 30 seconds (72%). A majority (61%) have an Abandonment Rate of less than 5%. Most incidents are handled over the Phone (70%). Proprietary Applications and Password Resets are the most common requests received by our respondents. A significant majority of organizations do not measure the usage of Self-service Tools (85%). The majority of organizations resolve an incident received via E-mail in 1-3 exchanges with a user (87%). IT/IS Management is the most likely group to see metrics from the support organization (68%). C-level Management is likely to review only a few key metrics (59%).
Ron Muns, HDI Founder and CEO
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A majority of respondents outsource some aspect of support operations (57%) which is up from last year (48%). The most likely area to be outsourced is Hardware Support and Repair (31%). Cost is most often the reason given for not outsourcing (37%), which is interesting as outsourcing is often seen by upper management to be the main reason that outsourcing is considered to be an attractive option. Desktop Support is the most costly service the support organization can provide ($33.71 per incident) with Phone being the next costliest channel of support ($24.08). Organizations are finding ways to increase productivity on the phone. Average costs have decreased from $31.73 in 2004, $27.60 in 2005, to $24.08 in 2006.
Soft Skills are still the most coveted skills for a support professional (98% view them as very important). In comparison, Technical Skills were chosen as runner-up to Soft Skills (66% view them as very important). Overall, the report indicates a support industry that is continuing to mature, is focused on the importance of IT to the business, and continues to learn about and pursue new tools and technologies to get the job of supporting the business done in the most efficient manner possible. There are still some disparities between organizations, but the trend is toward improving IT as a business. We hope you find the new report helpful in your pursuit of knowledge about the support industry. We welcome any and all feedback regarding the survey and we encourage you to share the information with others in your organization. Please visit the Web site to contact us regarding this or any other industry information you would like information on or are willing to share. The HDI Web site is www.ThinkHDI.com.
The number of support organizations responding that incidents are increasing is at (61%) compared to those that say they are decreasing (13%). Changes, such as upgrades, conversions, and installations, remain the reasons most sighted for these increases (75%). For those organizations that do not conduct 24/7 operations, most organizations are forwarding incidents to cell phones and pagers when the support organization is not staffed (44%).
Salary Survey
Peggy Libbey, HDI President and COO
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This year the Salary Survey was based on 216 U.S. and 36 Canadian responses. Overall, the salary information remained consistent with past survey responses. A college degree remains an important credential in the support industry. All support positions show that a college degree can mean as much as 20% more in salary per year. The outlook for employment is good for the IT support professional with 52% of respondents anticipating a hiring increase in the next 12 months. Only 8% are anticipating layoffs and nearly 20% anticipate a lack of qualified workers to fill IT support positions, leaving a positive outlook for qualified IT support professionals but a difficult time ahead for hiring managers. This year we asked your opinion on the value of certifications. HDI believes that certifications based on open industry standards are a value to both the individual and the organizations that pursue and accomplish certification. We have seen an increase in the drive to get certified by both individuals and support centers within organizations. There are a number of reasons driving this trend; personal growth, organizational development, and competitive advantage. Organizations that traditionally compete for business like outsourcers, and vendors, see certification as a valuable marketing tool. In an increasingly competitive global market, certification indicates to the marketplace that an organization has a standard of operation that is published and is accepted in the general market place. By committing the organization to these certification standards, they are showing that they are dedicated to continuous improvement, that they are willing to invest in their organization, and that they want to attract a higher quality of IT professional that values personal development and professional growth. Organizations that pride themselves as industry leaders are most likely to pursue both individual and organizational certification. It is a matter of pride and a badge of honor that the organization has achieved a particular certification standard. Whether it is HDI, ISO, ITIL, SCC, or Six Sigma, it indicates a companys commitment to excellence.
There is a certain segment of individuals in the IT population that is committed to keeping their skills and marketability current by achieving individual certifications. Often companies are willing to support these individuals in their pursuit because the reality is that these individuals provide value to the company. Based on the survey results, individuals that carry an IT certification are sought after by organizations (77%). The number of organizations that see no value in certification is 15%. Only 26% of respondents felt that there was no difference between individuals that are certified and those that held no certification. 32% felt certified individuals were more knowledgeable, 12% independent thinkers, 11% more productive, and 10% potential candidates for promotion. The results indicate that certification impacts pay; 30% of respondents pay more for certified individuals and 52% dont pay more but consider the certification as important. Overall it looks like a challenging year for support organizations when it comes to hiring. The outlook remains strong for the support professional and in particular the certified support professional.
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HDIs Most Requested Metrics for 2006 Support Center Industry Statistics
Industry Metric Average Speed to Answer (Phone) Abandon Rate Average Incidents per Month Percentage of Contacts by Channel Phone E-mail Chat Desktop Walk-up Usage of Self-service Tools Measured? Yes No Average E-mail Response Time 40 minutes to less than 1 hour 1 hour to less than 2 hours 2 hours to less than 3 hours 3 hours or more Number of E-mail Exchanges to Solve One Problem 13 45 67 89 More than 9 Length of Time to Solve One Problem Reported by E-mail Less than 30 minutes 3160 minutes 6190 minutes >90 minutes Percentage of Incidents Solved at: Level 0 (Self-help) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Deskside Support 2006 HDI Survey 15.4 Secs. 7.7% 7,325 2005 HDI Survey 16.6 Secs. 5.2% 7,796 Industry Average 34.6 Secs.(Purdue) 5.50% (Purdue) HDI Recommended Best Practice <=30 Secs. <=5% (STI) <=3.70% (Purdue) N/A
69.7% 22.1% 1.6% 7.4% 5.2%
62.1% 18.9% 1.9% 14.8% 6.0%
15.1% 84.9%
75% (Est.) 25% (Est.)
12.6% 15.1% 6.0% 15.0%
12.6% 12.2% 7.4% 22.3%
87.3% 10.5% 1.5% 0.4% 0.4% 33.2% 31.6% 14.0% 21.2% 75% (Est.) 25% (Est.) X X
6.0% 57.9% 22.0% 9.7% 17.8%
5.5% 57.4% 22.9% 8.7% 14.8%
10% (Est.) 55% (Est.) 18.0% (Est.) 5.0% (Est.) 10% (Est.)
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Industry MetrIc Percentage of Incidents resolved at First contact: 91100% 8190% 7180% 6170% 5160% 4150% 3140% 2130% support customer satisfaction rating: 1 to 1.9 2 to 2.9 3 to 3.9 4 to 4.9 5.0 top Five reasons for outsourcing: Hardware Support and Repair Desktop Support Network/LAN Software Applications After-hours Service Average Fully-burdened cost/Incident: Chat/IM Desktop Support E-mail Fax Phone Self-service Walk-ups
2006 HdI survey 5.5% 14.2% 17.5% 18.2% 9.5% 9.8% 11.4% 7.4% 7.2% 1.3% 20.9% 60.4% 10.2%
2005 HdI survey 4.7% 14.9% 20.7% 16.0% 13.1% 11.1% 8.2% 6.2%
Industry AverAge
HdI recoMMended Best PrActIce
25% 75%
30.5% 16.1% 13.3% 12.4% 11.60% $16.07 $33.71 $19.64 $12.91 $24.08 $12.33 $21.88
21.6% 10.4% 10.4% 9.80% 9.30%
Demographics
The HDI Practices and Salary Survey is the barometer against which I have always benchmarked my support organizations. Whether I am looking for a single data element, doing trend analysis, or simply need a sanity check, this guide has everything necessary to statistically manage your teams.
Dan Wilson
General Manager/CTO, PMV Technologies
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What Industry Best Describes Your Company?
Advertising Agencies Automotive Chemical/Biotechnical Computers Consulting Consumer Products Distribution Education Entertainment Financial Services Food and Beverage
.2 .2 .7 .7 .4 .6 8.9 3.1 .7 1.0 1.0 2.2 8.7 .9 4.0 10.9
10.7
1.5 9.6 2.4 12.2 12.9 13.7
Industries
1.2
Government Healthcare/Pharmaceutical Legal Manufacturing (Non-computer) New Media/Publishing Nonprofit/Association Other Outsourced Services Provider Retail Telecom Travel Utilities/Energy
8.7 11.2 2.2 3 6.9 6.6 .9 1.1 2.6 3.1 6.2 4.2 3.8 3.8
10.1
5.7
2.8 1.9 .7 .9 2.4

0 2005 2 2006
2.8
4 6 8 10 12 14
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Demographics
What organizations call themselves is an important indicator of how they perceive what they do.
What industry best describes your company? (select one)
Which type of support does your support organization provide? (select one) Type of Support
BLENDEDThe Support Provided is Split 50-50 Between Internal & External 18.8%
The type of support organization responding in the survey remained consistent with last years responses. 66% are calling themselves Internal organizations. Blended (50-50 between Internal and External) is at 19%, rounded out with those providing External Support at 15%.
14.9% 66.3%
INTERNALThe Majority of Support Provided is Internal
EXTERNALThe Majority of Support Provided is External
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Customers/Users Supported Customers / Users Supported

50,000 45,000
What is the total number of support centers in your organization? (select one) Total Support Centers
Number Users / Customers
40,000 35,000
43,447
10 or more 610
6.9 7.6
Number of Centers
30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 3,000
5 3.8 4 3 2 1 5.4 7.1 12.1 57.1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Median
Mean
Percentages
We had representation from organizations that support as few as 100 users to those organizations that support over 50,000 users. Again this year, a majority of organizations responded that they have only 1 support center (57%), with the rest being spread out between 2 support centers (12%) and those that said they had 10 or more support centers (7%).
How many customers/employees does your support organization serve? How many customers/employees does your support organization serve?
Less than 100 100499
5.0 10.2 10.0 7.6 5.3 23.0 12.6 18.7 7.7

0 5 10 15 20 25
Customers / Users
500999 1,0001,499 1,5001,999 20005,000 5,00110,000 10,00150,000 Over 50,000
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Which of the following most closely matches the name of your support organization? (select one)
Support Organization Naming Convention

End-User Call Computer Customer Center Support Service Center Service 3.7% 2.5% Support 3.8% Center 6.1% Customer Support Center 7.4%
What organizations call themselves is an important indicator of how they perceive what they do. The percentage that call themselves Help Desks continues to decline in our survey. In 2004, 39% of respondents called themselves a Help Desk which decreased to 36% in 2005, and 34% in this years survey. Interestingly enough, Service Desk has gone from 8.4% in 2004 to 11.6% in 2005, and 15.4% in 2006. With the adoption of ITIL Processes (see Process Measurement section) on the increase, it seems the adoption of the ITIL term Service Desk is a reflection of this movement.
Help Desk 33.8%
Support Services
7.5%
9.3% Technical Support 10.4% IT/IS Support 15.4% Service Desk
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Does your support center provide support Who Do you Provide Support To? to: (select one)
Users/Customers Worldwide/Global 14.6% 34.4%
Onsite Users/Customers Only Regional Users/Customers
20.4%
8.1% Users/Customers Throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico 22.7% Users/Customers Throughout the United States
How many employees in your entire organization? (did not include two responses of 100,000) Total Employees in Your Organization
8,000 7,000
Number of Employees
6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,775
Median
Mean
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Whether Im considering job titles, salary requirements, staff ratios, or support trends, the Practices and Salary Survey gives voice to a larger perspective which can help me make more balanced decisions for my own organization.
Bill Vriesema
Assistant Director of Technology Support Services, Calvin College
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Summary Statistics for Tools and Technologies
Survey Question Is Your Knowledge Management Tool Integrated Into Your Incident Tracking Tool? The Most Common Self-help Tools Are: FAQs Access to Incident/Problem Status Access to Downloads Documentation Library Knowledge Mgmt. Search Tool Message Boards An Effective Support Organization Includes: Incident Tracking Software (CRM) ACD System Customer Satisfaction Measurement Tool Remote Support Tool Knowledge Management Tool Self-help Tool Support Organization Wish List KM Tool Start Over from Scratch Add an Asset Tracking or CMDB Change Nothing Fully Utilizing CRM Tools? Some, but Not All Features All Features Implemented No or Just One Feature Implemented Yes 48.2%
2006 No 23.0% Yes X
2005 No X
69.7% 55.2% 42.9% 41.1% 37.2% 25.1%
77.2% 52.2% 47.8% 56.6% 49.1% 28.5%
89.8% 79.9% 71.8% 70.4% 62.0% 45.4%
X X X X X
16.8% 15.1% 13.8% 12.2%
X X X X
32.0% 14.8% 15.9%
X X X
What call tracking/problem management system do you use? (select all that apply):
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We have seen consistency with the vendor tools that respondents are using. We do not ask about specific vendor tools but rather the generic tools being used.
Tool Usage by Vendor
Kemma BridgeTrak Tivoli Service Desk Axios DK Systems PeopleSoft Vantive GWI
.3 .4 .6 .9 1.3 2.0 2.3 5.7 5.7 6.7 9.3 10.4 11.1 18.9 25.4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Vendor
Clarify Intuit - Track-It Computer Associates Homegrown Remedy - Magic
FrontRange Solutions' HEAT Peregrine Remedy - ARS Other
Percent of Organizations Using Each Call Tracking/Problem Management System
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Incident Management Software Remote Monitoring/Support Tools Problem/Service Management Software Network Performance Tools Automatic Call Distributors Knowledge Management Software Web-based Knowledge Base/Search Tools Inventory/Asset Management Tools Customer Survey Software Change Control Software Direct Customer Input Reporting of Incidents
90.3 79.4 71.7 66.3 66.0 64.4 62.6 58.3 55.0 52.8 49.8 47.9 43.2 42.8 42.7 42.1 35.4 34.3 33.0 33.0 31.7 31.3 31.3 30.0 29.0 26.2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Technology
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Alert/Prompter/Display Systems Automation of Password Resets Project Management Software Direct Customer Review of Their Requests Self-diagnostic Tools Extranet VOIP Online Chat/Instant Messaging Staff Modeling/Scheduling Software Voice Response Units Distribution of Online Training Programs Self-healing Tools Message Boards Multimedia Applications
Percent Ranking Each Technology as Very Important
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Is Your Knowledge Management Tool Integrated Into Your Incident Tracking Tool?
We Do Not Have a Knowledge Management Tool 23.0% 28.7%
No
Is your knowledge management tool integrated into your incident tracking tool?
48.2%
This response indicates that almost half of support managers are making decisions to purchase products that have integrated capabilities.
Yes
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Do You Provide Any Self-help Tools?

Self-diagnostic (Automated Determinations of Error Conditions) Self-healing (Automated Solutions Based Upon System Findings from System Diagnostics) Message Boards
8.4 8.6 25.1 37.2 41.1 42.9 55.2 69.7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Tools
Knowledge Management/Search Tools Documentation Library Access to Downloads Access to Incident/Problem Status FAQs
Percentages
Do you provide any of the following self-help tools? (percentage based on those that provide self-service tools)
While FAQs are the most utilized type of self-help tool, the number of organizations using them has continued to decline since 2004 (80.9%). This suggests that the adoption of knowledge management is growing in use.
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At a Minimum, An Effective Support Organization includes:

CMDB / Asset Management Tool Self-help Tools Knowledge Management Software Remote Support Tool Customer Satisfaction Measurement Call Center Tracking Tool (ACD System) Incident Tracking Software (CRM) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
38.8 45.4 62.0 70.4 71.8 79.9 89.8

90 100
Percentages
At a minimum an effective support organization includes:
The high response rates for incident tracking software and call center tracking tool (ACD system) indicates the acceptance of these tools as fundamental to support center success. In addition, the high response to customer satisfaction measurement aligns with the increase of the IT industrys focus on the customer experience.
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If Budget Was Not a Consideration, I Would:
Change the Remote Component of My Tools Add a Remote Tool to My Current Tools Change the Asset Tracking or CMDB Component of My Tools Upgrade My Current CRM Tool Change the Knowledge Component of My Tools Change My Current CRM Tool Would Not Change a Thing I Am Satisfied With My Current Tools Add an Asset Tracking or CMDB Tool to My Tools Throw It All Away and Start Over Add a Knowledge Component to My Tools 0
1.0 4.3 5.0 9.4 10.5 11.9 12.2 13.8 15.1 16.8
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Percentages
If budget was not a consideration, I would:
Respondents were asked to select ONE of the above choices. From these, only 12% are completely satisfied with their current tools, while 15% of respondents would throw it all away and start over if budget was not an issue.
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Is ITIL an Important Aspect in Choosing Support Tools?

No Importance At All It Is A Necessity
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Is ITIL compliance an important aspect of choosing support tools?
61% of respondents report that they consider ITIL compliance an important aspect of choosing support tools. 31% of those consider it to be a necessity. HDI considers this a positive development as it indicates the growing recognition of ITIL as a framework worth accepting. In addition, any framework that fosters a planned, disciplined, and consistent approach to managing a support and IT operation, is a step towards support success and organizational maturity.
12.8% 31.4%
Somewhat Important
25.7%
30.0% Very Important But Not Necessary
Do You Believe it is Important to Continually Improve, Upgrade, or Add Tools to Increase Your Support Organization's Success?
Not Important At All .3% Somewhat Important 30.0%
Do you believe it is important to continually improve, upgrade, or add tools to increase your support organizations success?
The high response (69.7%) selecting It is a must indicates that support managers have embraced the relationship between support tools and support success.
69.7%
It Is a Must
Are You Fully Utilizing All of Your Support Center CRM Tools?
We Have Implemented to the Limits of the Tool We Have No CRM Tool 8.5% 16.6% 3.1% 7.4% We Bought a Tool and Have Not Had Time to Implement It At All We Use One Feature but Know It Can Do More
Are you fully utilizing all the features of your support center CRM tools?
The high response (64.3%) for We use some features, but have not been able to implement to the capability of the tool indicates that support managers and their organizations are still struggling with the areas of selection, implementation, budgeting, and allocation of resources.
64.3%
We Use Some Features but Have Not Been Able to Implement to the Capability of the Tool
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Are You Fully Utilizing All the Features of Your Support Center Knowledge Management Tools?
We Have Implemented to the Limits of the Tool 14.8%
We Have No Knowledge Management Tool 29.9%
Are you fully utilizing all the features of your support center knowledge management tools?
The 32% responding We use some features but have not been able to implement to the capability of the tool indicates similar problems discussed regarding the CRM tool in the previous graph.
32.0% 9.7% We Use Some Features but Have Not Been Able to Implement to the Capability of the Tool 13.7% We Bought a Tool and Have Not Had Time to Implement It At All
We Use One Feature but Know It Can Do More
Are You Fully Utilizing All Features of Your Support Center Asset Management/CMDB Tools?
We Have Implemented to the Limits of the Tool 10.1% We Have No Asset Management/CMDB Tool
33.1%
Are you fully utilizing all the features of your support center asset management/CMDB tools?
31.2%
IT and support operations that have implemented an asset management/CMDB tool (31.2%) are not using the tool to its full capability. This response is another indication that support and IT managers continue to struggle with the implementation of new software tools.
11.9% 13.7% We Use One Feature but Know It Can Do More We Bought a Tool and Have Not Had Time to Implement It At All
We Use Some Features but Have Not Been Able to Implement to the Capability of the Tool
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Process Measurement
Having documented processes and measuring people against them is very important as they clearly define success criteria for our employees. Accountability, accuracy, consistency, efficiency, predictability, and repeatability are all reasons we document, train, implement, and measure against processes.
John Savage
VP of Vendor Relations, San Diego Chapter Manager, IT Client Services
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Summary Statistics for Process Measures

Survey Question Align Support Organizations Measurements to: Organizations Strategic Goals Support Organizations Goals Both Is Your Organization: Proactive Reactive Business Centric Business Continuity Management? No, We Do Not Follow a Process Yes, We Follow the ITIL Framework Yes, but We Do Not Follow ITIL Incident Metrics Measured Incident Management Support Channels Phone and E-mail Phone and Service Tickets Entered Phone Stats. Only Phone, E-mail, and Self-service Customer Satisfaction Measurements: CS Tool Built Into System Special Purpose Surveying None Other Frequency of Customer Satisfaction Measurement: 100% of Closed Incidents Random Sampling of Closed Incidents Monthly Surveys of Customer/User Base Quarterly Surveys of Same Annual Surveys of Same Maintain SLAs and/or OLAs? YesSLAs YesOLAs Both None Other Frequency of Production of Performance Statistics Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Semi-annually Annually Upon Request All of the Above None 2006 29.0% 37.90% 63.3% 19.8% 7.6% 25.5% 29.3% 11.0% 3.6% 41.2% 4.0% 25.5% 26.2% 3.1% 2005 40.2% 48.4% 67.6% 25.6% 11.6% 36.7% 37.3% X 3.6% 2004 38.9% 50.2% 68.7% 28.9% 11.9% 32.6% 38.6% X 4.7% 44.6% 5.1% 21.9% 28.3% X 2003 43.0% 49.9% 74.4% 33.4% 11.4% 36.5% 39.7% X 5.7% 17.3% 43.2% 4.9% 9.0% 21.5% X X X X X 43.3% 33.8% 17.9% 5.0% X X X X 53.9% 25.9% 0.3% 19.2% 9.8% X X X X X 42.7% 10.9% 46.4% 45.1% 6.9% 55.3% 8.0% 23.5% 68.4% X X X 67.9% 17.7% 14.4% X X X 2006 2005
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Process Measurement
It is rewarding to see the number of respondents that consider their support organization to be Business Centric. HDI considers being Business Centric a key indicator of the maturity of the support organization.
Do you align your support organizations measurements and goals to:
Is your organization:
This very high response (67.9%) indicates that support managers have accepted the importance of the concept of business alignment in their organizations work.
Do You Align Your Support Organization's Measurements and Goals to:
Both
The ongoing campaign to convince support and IT organizations that they are part of a parent organization is showing signs of success. The overwhelming response (68.4%) in favor of the Business Centric model suggests that the concept has been embraced by a large number of Is Your Organization: support organizations.
Proactive 8.0%
14.4%
23.5%
17.7%
Reactive
67.9%
68.4% Business Centric
The Operational Goals of the Support Organization
The Strategic Goals of the Organization
33
p r o c e s s
m e a s u r e m e n t
Incident Management
60 50 60
Change Management
53.6 30.9 21.2 25.2 19.8

No,We Do Not Follow Any Process 2006 Yes, We Follow the ITIL Framework
50
48.8
40
47.8
40
Percentages
26.2
33.6
30 20 10 0
Percentages
30 20 10 0
17.6
25.3
No,We Do Not Follow Any Process 2006
Yes, We Follow the ITIL Framework
Yes, We Have a Process, but It Is Not Based On the ITIL Framework
2005
2005
Has your support organization implemented the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) processes for any of the following categories?
While the ITIL framework is gaining acceptance across the IT industry, the respondents to this years survey indicate
Release Management
60 50 40 60 50
Availability Management
51.1
49.1
46.9
Percentages
Percentages
35.9
38.2
30 20
30 20 10 0
10.0
10.5
10 0
13.0
6.4
2005
2005
34
40.4
42.0
40
47.3
49.3
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
Problem Management
60 50 40 60 50
Configuration Management
50.7
47.3
45.3 40.1 40.2 14.6 12.7

No,We Do Not Follow Any Process Yes, We Follow the ITIL Framework
40
Percentages
30.7
30 20 10 0
Percentages
30 20 10 0
24.1
25.1
20.7
Yes, We Have a Process, but It Is Not Based On the ITIL Framework 2005
2005
2006
a low (10% to 34%) level of ITIL implementation. In general, respondents indicate that they are following some form of process framework other than ITIL.
Capacity Management
60 50 40 60 50
Continuity Management
51.2
48.9
40.0
Percentages
Percentages
38.9
30 20 10 0
30 20 10
42.7
10.9
9.9
5.6
Yes, We Have a Process, but It Is Not Based On the ITIL Framework 2005
6.9
2005
35
42.9
40
45.1
46.4
44.7
What Incident Metrics do You Measure?

We Measure All Support Channels for Incident Management We Measure Phone and E-mail We Measure Phone Statistics Only We Measure Phone, E-mail, and Self-service We Measure Phone and Service Tickets Entered 0 .3 10 20 30 40 50 60 9.8 19.2 25.9
53.9
What incident metrics do you measure?
It is good news that over half of the support centers surveyed (53.9%) are measuring all support channels (telephone, e-mail, chat, Web self-service) related to incident management.
Percentages
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How Many Metrics are Reviewed by C-Level Management (CIO,CFO, CEO, etc...)
Other All Metrics Produced 2.4% 16.0% 23.1% No Metrics Produced
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
How many metrics are reviewed by C-level management (CIO, CEO, etc.)?
84% of organizations are reviewing at least a few key metrics. This indicates that support managers and their C-level executives are working more closely together.
58.6% A Few Key Metrics
Do You Have a Process to Measure Customer Satisfaction?

Other 5.0% 17.9% 43.3%
We Do Not Conduct Customer Satisfaction Surveys
CS Tool Built Into System
Do you have a process to measure customer satisfaction?
It is encouraging to see that 82% of support organizations are using some type of tool to measure their customer satisfaction levels.
33.8% Special Purpose Surveying
How Often do You Measure Customer Satisfaction?

Other Annual Survey of Customer/User Base 4.1% 17.3%
100% of Incidents Closed
How often do you measure customer satisfaction?
21.5%
As expected, random sampling of closed incidents (43%) is the most used method of measuring customer satisfaction.
Quarterly Surveys of Customer/ User Base
9.0% 4.9% 43.2% Random Sampling of Incidents Closed
Monthly Surveys of Customer/User Base
37
p r o c e s s
Does Your Support Organization Maintain SLA's and or OLA's
Other 3.1% None Yes, SLA's 26.2% 41.2%
m e a s u r e m e n t
Does your support organization maintain Service Level Agreements and/or Operational Level Agreements?
25.5% 4.0% Both Yes, OLA's
As seen by the large number of support organizations using SLAs (67%), it appears that a large number of organizations are concerned with user satisfaction. However, in order to provide consistent support, organizations should also be utilizing OLAs. Only one-third of organizations are maintaining OLAs, or both.
How often does your support organization produce performance statistics? (select all that apply)
All of the above is a new How response option for 2006. Often Does Your Support Organization Produce Performance Statistics?
Upon Request
29.3 25.5 7.6 11.6 25.6
37.3 36.7
Annually
Semi-annually
Quarterly
19.8
Monthly
63.3 37.9 29.0 11.0 3.6 3.6

0 2005 10 2006 20 30 40 50 60
67.6
Weekly
48.4
Daily
40.2
All of the Above* We Do Not Produce Statistics
70
80
Percentages
38
Metrics
The Practices and Salary Survey gives me a leg up when speaking to executives and peers inside or outside of my company when speaking of processes, measurements, and metrics.
Paul N. Hopkins
IT Project Manager, Hotel Systems
39
Summary Statistics for Metrics

Survey Question Average Speed to Answer (ASA) Less than 10 seconds 1020 seconds 2130 seconds 3159 seconds 6090 seconds More than 90 seconds Seven Most Commonly Reported Abandon Rates 1.00% 2.00% 3.00% 4.00% 5.00% 6.00% 1015% Average Number of Incidents Reported Percentage of Incidents Received by Contact Channel Phone E-mail Chat Desktop Walk-up Five Most Reported Categories of Service Requests Proprietary Password Resets Standard Desktop Questions and Problems Service Requests Data Distribution of Support Staff Duties Telephone E-mail Desktop Call Wrap-up Research Projects Administrative/Meeting Voicemail Walk-ups Do You Measure the Use of Self-service Tools? No Yes Percentage of Total Incidents Solved by Self-service? Five Most Reported E-mail Response Times in 2006: 3 hours or more 40 minutes to less than 1 hour 1 hour to less than 2 hours 5 minutes or less 5 minutes to less than 10 minutes How Many E-mail Exchanges Does It Take to Solve One Problem? 13 45 67 89 More than 9 87.3% 10.5% 1.5% 0.4% 0.4% X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 22.3% 12.6% 12.2% 9.2% 8.9% 19.1% 12.8% 18.9% 7.6% 7.1% 23.2% 10.5% 16.1% 7.6% 6.8% 18.3% 11.7% 16.1% 8.45 8.5% 84.9% 15.1% 18.9% X X X X X X X X X 50.8% 14.9% 13.5% 8.1% 7.4% 7.1% 4.5% 3.5% 3.4% 52.9% 13.7% X 10.4% 7.6% 7.6% 5.8% 4.1% 6.2% 51.5% 13.8% X 9.6% 8.3% 9.0% 5.5% 4.6% 5.1% 50.2% 11.9% X 8.8% 7.2% 7.4% 5.2% 3.3% 3.9% 20.6% 20.3% 12.6% 12.3% 11.5% 22.2% 18.4% 13.4% 10.4% 10.4% 21.5% 17.2% 13.9% 10.9% 10.1% 15.5% 14.8% 12.0% 8.7% 9.2% 69.7% 22.1% 1.6% 7.4% 5.2% X X X X X X X X X x X X X X X 14.4% 8.1% 11.1% 6.7% 13.8% 7.7% 13.8% 7,325 16.7% 4.2% 7.6% 6.0% 13.1% 5.3% 11.3% 7,796 16.0% 4.7% 6.7% 7.5% 12.7% 2.6% 11.9% 7,561 X X X X X X X X 25.6% 28.5% 17.4% 17.7% 7.6% 3.2% 21.1% 28.2% 18.0% 16.4% 7.3% 8.9% 24.9% 28.2% 19.1% 14.5% 7.7% 5.7% X X X X X X 2006 2005 2004 2003
Survey Question Resolution Time Through E-mail: Less than 30 minutes 3160 minutes 6190 minutes More than 90 minutes First Call Resolution Rate by Contact Channel Telephone E-mail Desktop Support Walk-up Chat Incidents Resolved at the Following Support Levels: Level 0 (Self-help) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Deskside Support Top Five Percentages of Incidents Resolved on First Contact: 91100% 8190% 7180% 6170% 5160% Top Five Percentages of Incidents Resolved During First Call 91100% 8190% 7180% 6170% 5160% Top Five Percentages of Incidents Resolved by Electronic Means at First Contact 91100% 8190% 7180% 6170% 5160% What Is Your Customer Satisfaction Rating? 1 to 1.9 2 to 2.9 3 to 3.9 4 to 4.9 5.0 Do You Measure Employee Satisfaction? Yes No What Is Your Employee Satisfaction Rating? 1 to 1.9 2 to 2.9 3 to 3.9 4 to 4.9 5.0
2006 33.2% 31.6% 14.0% 21.2% 86.0% 46.6% 20.2% 21.4% 4.0%
2005 X X X X X X X X X
6.0% 57.9% 22.0% 9.7% 17.8%
5.5% 57.4% 22.9% 8.7% 14.8%
5.6% 58.7% 21.8% 8.2% 16.2%
3.5% 56.6% 22.8% 7.3% 8.7%
5.5% 14.2% 17.5% 18.2% 9.5%
4.7% 14.9% 20.7% 16.0% 13.1%
5.7% 16.2% 21.1% 15.8% 13.1%
X X X X X
4.0% 17.8% 17.2% 15.6% 12.3% 6.2% 8.6% 11.1% 9.0% 9.0% 7.2 1.3 20.9 60.4 10.2 49.2% 50.8% 29.4 62.9 6.2 1.0 0.5
5.8% 14.4% 19.3% 16.9% 11.1% 7.1% 12.2% 9.6% 11.8% 9.8% X X X X X X X X X X X X
5.2% 16.0% 21.6% 15.8% 11.4% 5.9% 10.6% 16.6% 9.9% 11.3% X X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X X
41
Metrics
IT/IS management is the most likely group to see metrics from the support organization.
Average Speed to Answer
6
25.6
25
More Than 90 Seconds
3.2 7.3 7.6
8.9
6090 Seconds
3159 Seconds
16.4
17.7
2130 Seconds
18.0 17.4 28.2 28.5 21.1

0 2005 2006 5 10 15 20
1020 Seconds
Less Than 10 Seconds
30
Percentages
What is the average speed to answer time (by phone) at your organization? (select one)
28.5% report that their ASA is 10-20 seconds, with 25.6% reporting that they have an ASA of less than 10 seconds. These are certainly speedy responses, but it is necessary to remind support managers and executives that by itself, ASA is only one Key Performance Indicator.
42
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Abandonment Rate
31% or More
.7 0 1.1 .7 2.0 5.4 11.3 4.7 4.0 13.8
2130%
1620%
1015%
9%
1.3
8%
5.0 4.7 5.3 6.0
7%
6%
7.7 13.1 13.8 6.0 6.7 7.6 7.6 8.1 11.1
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
4.2
7.0 14.4 9.8 16.7
Less Than 1%
None 0
.3
2 2005 2006 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Percentages
What is the abandonment rate of your support center (phone)?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions regarding metrics by our members. The abandonment rate provides an indication of how well a support operation is managing the incoming call load. If a support operation is losing a high percentage of calls to hang-ups, customer satisfaction suffers. However, it is important to determine WHEN the callers are abandoning. For example, callers that abandon at 30 seconds were most likely not serious about contacting the support center.
43
Average Incidents per Month

9,000 8,000
Number of Incidents
6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000
What is the average number of incidents (inquiries, problems, service requests, etc.) your support organization receives each month?
2,500
Mean 2005 2006
1,000 0
Median
44
2,500
2,000
7,325
7,000
7,796
H D I 2 0 0 6
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Percent of Incidents by Channel

Chat Walk-up Desktop E-mail Phone 0 20 40
1.6 5.2 7.4 22.1 69.7

60 80 100
What is the percent of incidents that are received through the following contact channels?
Despite the increasing availability of more and more contact channels, telephone (69.7%) and e-mail (22.1%) remain the two most popular means for contacting support centers by a wide margin.
Average Response
What percent of your service requests falls into each of the following categories: Incidents per Category
Voice Communications
4.5 5.0 6.8 6.5 8.5 7.8 7.9 8.0 8.4 8.7 10.8 10.4 10.4 11.5 12.3 13.4 12.3 18.4 20.3 20.6
0 2005 2006 5 10 15 20
Databases
Other
Printers
Operating Systems
Hardware (Except Printers)
13.2
Data Communications/Network
Service Requests
Standard Desktop Software
Password Resets
Proprietary Applications
22.2
25
Average Percent of Requests
45
m e t r i c s Percentage of Time Staff Spends Per Category
Fax
1.4 0.8 2.4 2.6 3.4 4.1 3.5 5.8 4.5 7.6 7.1 7.6 7.4 8.1 10.4 6.2
Chat/Instant Messaging
Walk-ups
Voicemail
Administrative/Meetings
Projects
Research
Call Wrap-up
Desktop*
13.5 13.7 14.9 52.9 50.8

0 2005 10 2006 20 30 40 50 60
E-mail
Phone
Average Percent of Hours
During a typical shift, what percentage of hours does your support staff spend on each of the frontline duties listed?
Phone calls (50.8%) and e-mail messages (14.9%) remain the two largest draws on resources for the surveys respondents. These responses suggest that customers retain a commitment to the telephone as a support tool and are growing more comfortable with e-mail as an alternative to the telephone. *Desktop is a new response option for 2006.
46
Do you measure the use of self-service tools provided to your customer/users?
Self-service tools are an emerging support tool for support centers, but by not gathering basic data on their use, organizations are missing critical information about how the tool is being used. Without data regarding how these tools are being used, informed decisions about Do You and Measure the Use of Self-service Tools implementation utilization cannot be made.
Provided to Customers/ Users?
Yes 15.1%
84.9%
No
If you measure self-service usage, what percentage of the total incidents are solved by self-service? If You Measure Self-service Usage, What Percentage of the Total Incidents are Solved by Self-service?
20
16 14
Percentage
12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Mean
18.9
18
47
m e t r i c s How Long Does it Take to Respond to an Incident or Problem Reported Through E-mail?
3 Hours or More
15.0 6.0 10.3 15.9 15.1 12.1 12.6 5.8 8.8 9.8 7.7 6.8 9.1 8.1 8.4 7.8 7.4 6.3 9.5
0 2005 2 2006 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
17.1
2 Hours to Less Than 3 Hours
1 Hour to Less Than 2 Hours
40 Minutes to Less Than 1 Hour
30 Minutes to Less Than 40 Minutes
5 Minutes or Less
18
Percentages
How long does it take your support organization to respond to an incident or problem reported through e-mail? (select one)
The largest percentage of respondents (15.1%) indicates that they respond to an incident or problem through e-mail in 1 hour to less than 2 hours. 15.0% of respondents report that they respond in 3 hours or more and 12.6% report that they respond in 40 minutes to less than 1 hour. Good customer service suggests that faster is generally better when dealing with customer response times. It appears that the e-mail handling processes used by support organizations have improved. As seen on the graph, the number of organizations reporting to have longer response times has decreased, and the number reporting shorter response times has increased.
48
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
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S a l a r y
S u r v e y
What is Your Target Average Speed to Response to an Incident or Problem Reported Through E-mail?
3 Hours or More
19.1 7.6 7.4 12.2 12.8 12.6 4.8 5.9 8.9 4.3 3.7 8.3 8.9 7.1 8.9 7.6
0 2005 2006 5
22.3
2 Hours to Less Than 3 Hours
1 Hour to Less Than 2 Hours
18.9
40 Minutes to Less Than 1 Hour
9.6
5 Minutes or Less
9.2
10 15 20 25
Percentages
What is your target average speed to response to an incident or problem reported through e-mail? (select one)
Consistent with last years results, the largest number of responses have a target of three hours or more. Choices such as this beg the question, Is e-mail a contact channel that is automatically classified as slower than a telephone call?
49
m e t r i c s Percent of Organizations that Measure First Call Resolution by Channel
Walk-up Phone E-mail Desktop Support Chat 0
21.4 86.0 46.6 20.2 4.0

20 40 60 80 100
Percentages
Do you measure first call resolution for the following channels?
What percent of incidents are resolved at the following points?
Level 1 and level 2 support are resolving the majority of incidents. Other option was not available in 2006, so responses may be slightly inflated compared to 2005.
What Percent of Incidents are Solved at the Following Points?
Deskside Support
14.8 8.7 9.7
17.8
Level 3 Support
Level 2 Support Level 1 Support
22.9 22.0 57.4 57.9 5.5 6.0

0 2005 10 2006 20 30 40 50 60 70
Level 0 (Self-help)
Average Percent of Incidents
50
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How Many E-mail Exchanges Does it Take to Solve One Problem?

89 0.4% 67 1.5% 45 More Than 9 0.4%
How many e-mail exchanges does it take to solve one problem?
10.5%
87% of the survey respondents indicate that they can solve a problem within 1 to 3 e-mail exchanges. This is encouraging because a customers level of frustration and impatience tends to grow significantly after more than 3 e-mail exchanges.
87.3% 13
How Long Does it Take Your Support Organization to Solve a Problem Reported Through E-mail?
More Than 90 Minutes 21.2% 33.2% Less Than 30 Minutes
6190 Minutes
14.0%
How long does it take your support organization to solve a problem reported through e-mail?
31.6%
3160 Minutes
Which of the Following Methods Most Closely Reflects the Way You Calculate FCR?
The Ticket Is Closed Within X Minutes of Being Opened 7.6% Calls Handled Without Escalation to Another Level
Which of the following methods most closely reflects the way you calculate first call resolution?
36.2%
56.3% Customer Calls and the Person Who Receives the Call Resolves the Problem
51
m e t r i c s
What Percentage of All Incidents Are Resolved on First Contact?
91100%
4.7
5.5 14.9 14.2 17.5 16.0 13.1 11.1 18.2 20.7
8190%
7180%
6170%
5160%
9.5 9.8 8.2 6.2 2.2 2.8 2.0 2.2 .7

0 2005 2006
4150%
3140%
11.4
2130%
7.4
1120%
110%
Not Applicable
1.5
5 10 15 20 25
Percentages
Approximately, what percentage of all incidents are resolved on the first contact? (select one)
50% of respondents reported that their support organization is resolving between 61-90% of incidents on first contact.
52
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Percent of First Call Resolution (FCR) Over the Phone
91100%
4.0
5.8 14.4
8190%
17.8 17.2 15.6 16.9 19.3
7180%
6170%
5160%
11.1 11.1
12.3
4150%
8.0 8.0 6.2 6.8 2.2 4.0 2.8 .9

0 2005 2006
3140%
9.2
2130%
1120%
110%
3.8
Not Applicable
2.5
5 10 15 20 25
Percentages
Approximately, what percentage of incidents taken over the phone are resolved on the first contact? (select one)
The largest percentage (17.8%) of respondents report that 81-90% of their incidents reported via the phone are resolved with the first call. Just over half of the respondents resolve between 61% and 90% of their phone incidents with the first call.
53
m e t r i c s Percentage of Incidents Taken by Electronic Means Resolved on First Contact?
91100%
6.2
7.1 12.2 9.6
8190%
8.6 11.1
7180%
6170%
9.0 9.0 7.1 7.4 6.7 8.0 9.6 8.6 8.4 8.2 10.2 9.8
11.8
5160%
4150%
3140%
2130%
1120%
110%
7.1 1.9 3.8 4.2

0 2005 2 2006 4 6
Not Applicable
14.5
8 10 12 14 16
Percentages
Approximately, what percentage of incidents taken by electronic means are resolved on the first contact? (select one )
44% of respondents are resolving 50% or more of their incidents reported by electronic means on the first contact.
54
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
Do You Measure Employee Satisfaction?
No
Yes
50.8%
49.2%
Do you measure employee satisfaction?
It is gratifying to see that almost half of the respondents (49.2%) measure employee satisfaction, but it is also disconcerting that almost half (50.8%) do not. Measuring employee satisfaction can provide data to aid organizations in improving morale and productivity as well as retaining employees in general.
m e t r i c s What Is Your Employee Satisfaction?
.5 1.0 6.2 8.9 62.9 29.4

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Satisfaction Scores
4 to 4.9 3 to 3.9 2 to 2.9 1 to 1.9
Percentages
What is your employee satisfaction rating?
The low scores indicate a need for more focus on employees.
Who Sees Your Perrformance Statistics?
Other
3.7
6.5
Vendors
5.3 1.3 16.4 21.9 26.5 25.4 30.4 27.8 37.1 46.1 73.7
70 80
Customers Everyone (Stats Posted or Published)
All IT/IS Data Processing Departments
Other Management, Executives
IT/IS Management 0 2005 10 2006 20 30 40 50 60
67.6
Percentages
Who sees your performance statistics? (select all that apply)
56
Of all of the problems and challenges facing IT leaders today, outsourcing and costs rank near the top of the scale of complexity and importance. The Practices and Salary Survey gives managers the data and information they need to research and analyze outsourcing trends and costs.
Robert S. Last
Content Manager, HDI
57
Summary Statistics for Outsourcing and Costs

Survey Question Do You Outsource Some IT Functions? No Yes Top Five Functions Currently Outsourced: Hardware Support and Repair Desktop Support Network/LAN Support Software/Applications Support After-hours Service Top Five Functions Considered for Outsourcing: None Being Considered After-hours Service Desktop Support Peak Call Loads Hardware Support and Repair Reasons for NOT Outsourcing: Cost Customer Backlash Employee Morale Security Issues Other Charge for Support Services? No Yes Support Services that Are Chargeable: Internal Customers Included in Technology Cost Allocation Internal Customers Based on Fixed Allocation Internal Customers Based on Usage External Customers Fixed Fee per Service Contract External Customers Fixed Fee per Support Contract External Customers Length of Call What Is the Average Fully-burdened Cost per Incident, for Your Support Organization? Chat/IM Desktop Support E-mail Fax Phone Self-service Walk-ups Which of the Following Calculations Most Closely Reflects Your Method of Calculating Cost per Incident: Total Annual Support Expenses Divided by the Total Number of Incidents Received per Year Company Overhead Expenses Divided by the Total Number of Incidents Does Your Support Organizaion Calculate the Cost of Down Time? No, We Dont Calculate the Cost Impact of Down Time Yes, We Calculate the Cost Impact of Down Time on the Business of at Least Some Critical IT Applications and Systems 71.% 22.9% X X X X X X $16.07 $33.71 $19.64 $12.91 $24.08 $12.33 $21.88 36.0% 29.9% 23.2% 39.6% 22.0% 5.5% 28.7% 22.7% 23.3% 49.3% 23.3% 10.7% 26.6% 22.9% 10.9% 47.3% 25.7% 7.6% 38.0% 19.9% 17.2% 37.2% 21.9% 7.7% 53.1% 46.9% 66.6% 33.4% 66.7% 32.5% 49.4% 50.6% 37.4% 14.7% 9.2% 19.4% 19.4% 34.8% 18.6% 8.0% 15.3% 23.3% 33.6% 19.9% 5.9% 18.2% 22.4% X X X X X 74.6% 9.1% 5.4% 5.4% 4.8% 61.1% 10.2% 5.3% 3.1% 4.2% 61.5% 9.7% 5.5% 3.1% 3.9% X X X X X 30.5% 16.1% 13.3% 12.4% 11.6% 21.6% 10.4% 10.4% 12.4% 9.3% 21.8% 9.7% 8.8% 11.2% 6.5% 23.5% 9.1% 7.2% 10.2% 8.3% 43.5% 56.5% 51.8% 48.2% 51.4% 48.3% 57.3% 42.7% 2006 2005 2004 2003
57.6% 42.4%
X X
X X
X X
58
H D I 2 0 0 6
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s u r v e y

A majority of respondents outsource some aspect of support operations which
is up from last year.
57
Does Your Support Organization Contract With Outsourcers for Any IT Functions?
60
51.8
50
56.5
Yes
Percentages
30 20 10 0
43.5
40
No 2005 2006
Does your organization contract with outsourcers for any IT functions?
Outsourcing continues to be a presence in the IT sector with an increase in outsourcing contracts of 8.3% from 2005 (48.2%) to 2006 (56.5%).
59
48.2
O u t s o u r c i n g
a n d
c o s t s
Which of the Following Functions Are Being Considered but Not Currently Outsourced?
Support Management
2.2 1.7 5.6 4.0 3.6 3.4 3.1 5.4 4.2 2.5 2.0 1.4 4.2 4.8 3.8 2.3 5.3 5.4 4.9 4.5 3.7 6.2 10.2 9.1 61.1 74.6
0 2005 10 2006 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Software/Applications Support
Peak Call Loads
Network/LAN Support
Internet Support
Hardware Support and Repair
Employees/Customers in Other Countries Desktop Support
Asset Management
All Support Organization Services
After-hours Service
None Being Considered
Percentages
Which of the following functions are being considered but not currently being outsourced?
Some of the population considering outsourcing in 2005 are now currently outsourcing which may explain the reduction in the percentage of respondents considering outsourcing as an option in 2006.
60
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
Which of the Following Functions are Currently Outsourced?
Support Management
2.2 2.0 3.3 2.7 4.7
Peak Call Loads
Asset Management
4.2 4.8 6.5 5.6 9.9 9.3 11.6 13.3
All Support Organization Services
3.1 3.1
Employees/Customers in Other Countries
Internet Support
After-hours Service
Network/LAN Support
10.4 9.8 10.9 10.4 9.8
Desktop Support
16.1 12.4 21.6 30.5

25 30 35
Software/Applications Support
Hardware Support and Repair
0 2005
5 2006
10
15
20
Percentages
Which of the following functions are currently outsourced?
The three highest responses suggest that the break/fix, desktop support, and network/LAN as organic functions to a company/organization is coming to an end and will be replaced by outsourcing. This may not be a bad development as it will allow greater emphasis on more substantial aspects of support.
61
O u t s o u r c i n g Which One of the Following Reasons Most Closely Reflects Your Reason for Not Outsourcing?
Other 19.4 8.0 9.2 18.6 14.7 15.3 19.4 Cost 0 2005 2006 5 10 15 20 25 30 34.8 37.4 35 40 23.3
a n d
c o s t s
Employee Morale
Which one of the following reasons most closely reflects your reason for not outsourcing?
Customer Backlash
Security Issues
Percentages
Which Statement Most Closely Reflects the Impact of Outsourcing on Your Organization?
Outsourcing Has Become a Motivator to Improve Our Internal Processes
17.2%
Which statement most closely reflects the impact of outsourcing on your organization?
13.3%
Outsourcing Has Been a Distraction in Our Support Organization
49.2% 20.3% None of the Above Outsourcing Has Had No Impact on Our Support Organization
Does Your Support Organization Contract With Outsourcers for Any IT Functions?
60
51.8
50
56.5
48.2
Percentages
30 20 10 0
43.5
40
Does your support organization charge for support services?
No 2005 2006
Yes
62
Which Calculation Method is Closest to Your Method for Costing Incidents? Which of the following calculations most closely reflects your method of calculating cost per incident (of those it applies to).
Company Overhead Expenses Divided by the Total Number of Incidents Received
This is a new question in 2006. It is important to note that these two methods are widely used by our participants. The majority (57.6%) use a calculation method that only considers the expenses directly related to the support organization. The rest of the group (42.4%) includes the overhead expenses for the entire organization in their cost calculation. Based on these findings, we anticipate reporting costing results by each of these categories as part of the 2007 Practices and Salary Survey results.
42.4%
57.6% Total Annual Support Expenses Budget Divided by the Total Number of Incidents
63
O u t s o u r c i n g
a n d
c o s t s
What is the Average Fully Burdened Cost, per Incident, for Your Support Organization?
Walk-ups
Median
$16.00 $21.88 $5.00 $5.00 $13.50 $12.33 $16.00 $20.00
$25.00 $29.30
Mean
Selfservice Phone
Median
Mean
Median
Mean
$24.08 $11.50 $15.00 $18.90 $16.00 $21.67 $19.64 $21.00
$27.60
Median Fax Mean
$12.91 $12.00
Median E-mail Desktop Support*
Mean
Median
Mean
$33.71 $10.00 $9.00 $17.90 $16.07

0 2005 $5.00 2006 $10.00 $15.00 $20.00 $25.00 $30.00 $35.00 $40.00
Chat/Instant Messaging
Median
Mean
Dollars
What is the average fully-burdened cost per incident, for your support organization?
*Desktop support was added in 2006.
64
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
Expectations of Future Outsourcing
We Will Reduce Our Level of Outsourcing
5.6
9.0 17.1 17.2 31.8 32.4 41.4 45.6

45 50
We Will Outsource More We Will Not Change Our Current Level of Outsourcing We Do Not Outsource or Plan To 0 2005 5 2006 10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Percentages
Which statement most reflects your expectations for outsourcing as it relates to your support organization? (select one)
Which Support Services Does Your Support Organization Charge For?
External Customers, Based on Length of Call External Customers, Fixed Fee per Support Service External Customers, Fixed Fee Service Contract Internal Customers, Charge to Departments Based on Usage Internal Customers, Charge to Departments at Fixed Allocation Internal Customers, Included in Overall Technology Cost Allocation Other* 0
5.5
10.7 23.3 22.0 39.6 23.3 23.2 22.7 29.9 28.7 36.0 49.3
6.7
10 2005 2006 20 30 40 50 60
Percentages
Which support services does your support organization charge for? (select all that apply)
The percent of respondents charging external customers decreased from 2005, and the percent of respondents charging internal customers increased from 2005. * Other was added as an option in 2006.
65
I have used the Practices and Salary Survey as a benchmark on what the industry norms are for service delivery, to validate if we are meeting or exceeding industry norms, and for determining the salary range we were going to offer new employees in the area to ensure competitive salaries.
Anthony Bigonia
Program Manager, CDO Technologies Inc.
67
Summary Statistics for Incident Management and Training

Survey Question The Monthly Number of Incidents (Calls, Fax, E-mail, etc.) at Your Support Organization Is: Increasing Decreasing Remaining the Same What are the THREE Most Likely Reasons for Increases in Incidents: Changes More Responsibilities More Customers Customer Demands for Increasing IT Usage New Business/Company Growth Increased Support Organization Awareness Reduced Customer Training Decreased Product Quality Do You Have a Formal Escalation Process for Managing Incidents? Yes, for All Incidents Received Yes, for Specific Categories of Incidents Yes, for Specific Departments No, We Treat All Incidents the Same Methods for Handling After-hours Service: Forward Requests to Staff via Cell Phone, Pagers, etc. Voicemail, Answering Machine, or Service E-mail Forward Requests to Computer Operations No Procedure Specified for Off-hours Most Important Qualities in a Support Person: Soft Skills Technical Skills Soft Skills Certifications Technical Certifications Focus Areas for Formal Training: Customer Service Skills Personal Management Skills Technology and Support Tools Problem Solving and Troubleshooting Skills No Formal Training Other Days of Training for New Support Professionals: 0 1 24 Days 510 Days 1120 Days Over 20 Days 2.4% 3.4% 16.0% 32.7% 24.1% 21.5% 2.2% 3.6% 20.0% 32.2% 23.8% 18.2% 3.8% 4.9% 16.5% 34.3% 23.6% 16.9% 66.7% 35.7% 76.3% 46.6% 11.2% 2.3% 61.8% 33.6% 69.8% 45.6% 15.1% 4.0% 65.5% 41.1% 71.4% 43.3% 12.7% 4.3% 98.2% 66.1% 19.3% 7.6% 98.2% 66.4% 17.7% 6.7% X X X X 44.3% 40.2% 25.8% 16.0% 8.2% 39.7% 47.5% 32.1% 19.3% 12.5% 36.0% 50.3% 36.0% 20.0% 11.4% 64.6% 22.7% 8.9% 7.3% 58.9% 28.2% 12.7% 10.7% X X X X 75.0% 49.0% 42.4% 39.6% 38.0% 21.6% 16.1% 6.0% 72.8% 48.0% 54.8% 39.5% 41.6% 17.8% 3.6% 4.3% 78.2% 45.5% 50.1% 38.7% 40.2% 18.9% 12.3% 5.1 60.9% 13.0% 26.0% 11.6% 62.4% 26.0% 11.8% 57.2% 30.9% 2006 2005 2004
68
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t I c e s
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s u r v e y

The reasons for the increase in incidents continues to be led by changes: upgrades, conversions, and installations.
LengtH oF servIce In A suPPort center call screening/dispatch 12 Years 35 Years Over 5 Years Level 1 support 12 Years 35 Years Over 5 Years Level 2 support 12 Years 35 Years Over 5 Years Manager 12 Years 35 Years Over 5 Years
2006 33.5% 33.0% 27.1% 34.6% 42.4% 20.5% 15.5% 46.7% 36.9% 12.0% 31.3% 56.4%
2005 39.2% 29.2% 22.9% 31.5% 39.2% 26.1% 15.7% 48.0% 35.9% 8.3% 30.2% 60.8%
2004 40.0% 29.6% 23.6% 29.6% 45.4% 24.0% 29.6% 45.4% 24.0% 6.3% 33.1% 60.3%
69
I n c I D e n t
m a n a g e m e n t
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The Three Most Likely Reasons for Increasing Incidents:
Decreased Product Quality Reduced Customer Training or Increased Employee Turnover Increased Awareness of the Support Organization New Business Company Growth Customers Demanding More Service, Increasing Computer Usage More Customers More Responsibilities for the Support Organization Changes: Upgrades, Conversions, Installations 0
4.3 6.0 3.6 16.1 17.8 21.6 38.5 41.6
39.5 39.6 42.4 48.0 49.0 72.8

10 2005 2006 20 30 40 50 60 70
54.8
75
80
Percentages
Reasons for the increase in number of incidents.
The reasons for increases in incidents remain the same and continue to be led by changes, such as upgrades, conversions, and installations.
The Monthly Number of Incidents at Your Organization Is:

70
50
Percentages
The monthly number of incidents (calls, fax, e-mail, etc.) at your support organization is... (select one)
40 30
The continued trend toward increased incidents supports a cause and effect relationship as organizations continue to rely on upgrading, changing, and adding technology in their business which increases the number of incidents generated. This relationship continues to be a signature characteristic of almost every support center.
60.9
62.4
60
26.0 13.0
Decreasing 2005 2006
20 10 0 Increasing
11.6
Remaining the Same
70
26.0
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t I c e s
a n D
s a l a r y
s u r v e y
Reasons for Decreasing Incidents:
Business Functions Outsourced Less Responsibility/Narrower SLAs Business/Workforce Reduction Increased Product Quality Customer Use of Self-help Tools Customers Are More Experienced Proactive Resolution/Troubleshooting Root Cause Problem Elimination (Quality Initiatives) Better Customer Training Systems are More Stable
2.3 3.8 3.4
5.8
10.7
17.3 46.2 32.7
21.6 27.6 17.3
34.1 35.4 35.9 23.1 40.4 48.1
45.3 46.9 57.7

50 60 70
0 2005
10 2006
20
30
40
Percentages
Reasons for the decrease in number of incidents.
The two highest responses (46.9% for Systems are more stable and 45.3% for Better customer training) indicate that improvements are being made in the areas of software and system development. It also indicates that there is value for training users prior to releases, upgrades, and installations.
71
I n c id e n t
m a n a g e m e n t
a n d
t r a i n i n g
Do You Have a Formal Escalation Process for Incidents?

No, We Treat All Incidents the Same Yes, for Specific Departments Within the Organization Yes, for Specific Categories of Incidents Yes, for All Incidents Received 0 2005 10 2006 20 30 40 50
7.3
10.7 12.7 22.7 28.2 58.9

60
8.9
64.6
70
Percentages
Do you have a formal escalation process for managing incidents?
These results are encouraging. Many organizations have developed formal escalation plans (64.6%). The importance of escalation processes appears to have wide-spread acceptance.
After Hour Service When the Support Center is Not Staffed 24/7:
No Procedure Specified for Off-hours Forward Requests to Computer Operations E-mail Voicemail, Answering Machine, or Answering Service Forward Requests to Support Staff via Cell Phones, Pagers, etc. 0 2005 5 2006 10 15 20 25 30 35
8.2
12.5 16.0 19.3 25.8 32.1 40.2 39.7

40
47.5 44.3
45 50
Percentages
When your support organization is not staffed, how do you handle customer requests for service? (does not include those with 24-hour service)
It appears that organizations are moving away from the use of voicemail/answering machines 47.5% in 2005 to 40.2% in 2006. The move toward forwarding requests to support staff via cell phones, pagers, etc. was 39.7% in 2005 and has increased to 44.3% in 2006.
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H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
Soft Skills
100 100
Technical Skills
98.2
98.2
80
80
Percentages
Percentages
40
40
32.6
20
20
1.8
1.8
0 Very Important
1.3
Minimally Important 2005 2006
Somewhat Important
Minimally Important 2005 2006
1.6
Somewhat Important
32.0
How important is each of the following qualities for a support person?
The customer/user experience is just as valuable as the technical proficiency of the analyst. The trend over the last two years (98.2% reporting Very Important) supports a strong need for the Soft Skills in the frontline support analyst. It maintains strong importance right through all levels of support.
Technical Certifications
100 100
Soft Skills Certifications
80
80
Percentages
60
Percentages
60
52.9
50.9
45.1
42.4
39.6
20
20
35.7
40.4
41.8
40
40
19.3
0 Minimally Important 2005 2006 Somewhat Important
66.1
Very Important
0 Minimally Important 2005 2006 Somewhat Important Very Important
6.7
Very Important
73
17.8
7.6
66.4
60
60
I n c id e n t
m a n a g e m e n t
a n d
t r a i n i n g
What Formal Certifications Do Your Staff and Management Hold and / or Are Planned for the Next 12 Months?
BEA Sybase Sun Linux Oracle Citrix Novell Cisco CompTIA ITIL HDI Microsoft Other 0 10
1.3 2.9 5.7 7.8 10.7 13.3 15.6 22.1 29.4 38.3 53.6 63.3 23.4
20 30 40 50 60 70
Percentages What formal industry certifications do your staff and management hold and/or are planned for the next 12 months? (select all that apply)
Microsoft technical certifications are, by far, the most widely held formal industry certifications (63.3%). HDI certification programs are focused on the customer experience (soft skills) and have remained a strong second-place (53.6%) in this category.
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t I c e s
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s a l a r y
s u r v e y
In Which Areas Does Your Staff Receive Formal Training?
No Formal Training
11.2
15.1 45.6 46.6 66.4 69.0 69.8 33.6 35.7 61.8 66.7 76.3
Troubleshooting/Problem-solving Technologies and Systems Used to Provide Support Technologies and Systems Used by Customers Personal Management Stress, Time, Assertiveness, Interpersonal Skills Customer Service Communication, What to Ask, How to Ask, etc. Other 0 2005
4.0 2.3
10 2006 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Percentages
In which areas do your staff receive formal training?
The results here show the recognition of the importance of training (76.3% of respondents provide training on technologies used by customers, 69.0% provide training on technologies and systems used to provide support, and 66.7% receive training in customer service skills). Those with No Formal Training, have decreased (from 15.1% to 11.2%) as well.
On Average, How Many Days of Training Does a New Support Professional Receive Before Functioning Alone at Your Organization?
35 30 25 32.7 32.2 24.1 23.8
Percentages
21.5
20.0
20 15 10 5 0 2.4 2.2 3.4 3.6
On average, how many days of training does a new support professional receive before functioning alone at your organization? (select one)
16.0
18.2
Overall, the trend seems to show an increase in the number of days of training for a new support professional before functioning in the organization.
24 Days 510 Days 1120 Days Over 20 Days
0 2005
1 2006
75
I n c I D e n t
m a n a g e m e n t
a n D
t r a I n I n g
Dispatch
45 40 35 45
Level 1 Support
35 30
30
Percentages
27.1
15 10 5 0
15 10
6.4 8.8
Less than 1 Year 2005 2006
12 Years
35 Years
Over 5 Years
2.5 3.3
12 Years
35 Years
On average, how long do staff remain in your support organization?
Over the years it has remained that the higher levels of support positions retain their employees longer than frontline. As we see this year, in level 1 support the percent of employees on average who remain with the organization 5 years or more is 20.5%, level 2 is 36.9%, supervisors is 46.2% and managers is 56.4%.
20.5
Over 5 Years
20
22.9
20
26.1
25
Percentages
29.2
25
34.6 31.5
33.5
33.0
42.4 39.2
40
39.2
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t I c e s
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s u r v e y
Level 2 Support
60 50 40 60 50 40
Supervisors
Percentages
30 20 10
Percentages
36.9 35.9
30 20 10 0
15.5 15.7
.9 .5
12 Years
35 Years
.6 .8
Over 5 Years
11.9 10.0
12 Years
42.3 40.0
35 Years
Managers
70 60 50
Percentages
40 30 20
.3 .7
12.0 8.3
10
12 Years
31.3 30.2
35 Years
77
56.4 60.8 49.2

Over 5 Years
46.2 49.2
Over 5 Years
46.7 48
I n c I D e n t
m a n a g e m e n t
a n D
t r a I n I n g
Is Employee Turnover an Issue for Your Support Organization?

No Problem Serious Issue 6.3% 5.4%
25.0%
63.4%
Minor Issue Moderate Issue
Is employee turnover an issue for your support organization? (select one)
7
Salary Survey
There are few areas of concern greater to an organizations managers and employees than questions about compensation. If compensation is too high, the organization risks the wrath of the CFO, if it is too low, it risks losing the lifeblood of the organization, its people. The data in the HDI Salary Survey allows me to balance these sometimes competing challenges with objective, industry information that I can use to assist my organizations C-level managers.
Joyce Jardine
Compensation Manager
79
Summary of Salary Survey Statistics

Question What Best Describes Your Opinion on Certification? We Do Not Perceive a Value to Certification We Require Formal Certification We Seek Individuals with Certification Of Your Certified Employees, Which of the Following Best Describes Them? More Knowledgeable No Difference from Employees that Are Not Certified Independent Thinkers More Productive Potential Candidates for Promotion Team Leaders Self-motivated Do You Pay More for Employees or Potential Hires that Are Certified? No, but We Do Consider Certification as Important Yes, We Feel They Are Worth More No, We Dont Feel There Is Any Added Value Do Help Desk/Support Center Staff and/or Management Receive Any Form of Bonus? Both Management and Staff Receive Bonus Compensation No Bonus Compensation Is Received Yes, Management Receives Bonus Compensation Yes, Staff Employees Receive Bonus Compensation Is Bonus Compensation Based on Individual Performance or Provided to All Employees on an Equitable Basis? Both Individual and Company-wide Bonuses Are Available Company-wide Bonus Distribution if Company Meets Goals Based on Individual Performance Only Does Your Company Financially Reward/Pay Employees for: Overtime Pay After-hours Pager After-hours On-site Call-in Service-request Pay What 5 Factors Are Most Important in Determining Salary Increases for the Position of Call Screener? Customer Service Skills Help Desk or Support ExperienceOverall Quality of Work Meeting Job Metrics or Standards Specific Technical Knowledge What 5 Factors Are Most Important in Determining Salary Increases for the Position of Level 1 Support? Quality of Work Customer Service Skills Help Desk or Support ExperienceOverall Meeting Job Metrics or Standards Specific Technical Knowledge What 5 Factors Are Most Important in Determining Salary Increases for the Position of Level 2 Support? Quality of Work Customer Service Skills Specific Technical Knowledge Help Desk or Support ExperienceOverall Meeting Job Metrics or Standards 64.4% 49.5% 45.1% 39.4% 33.4% 69.1% 68.8% 60.9% 38.5% 38.2% 42.6% 41.3% 36.6% 22.1% 18.6% 58.5% 31.1% 21.7% 5.0% 44.3% 34.3% 21.4% 43.2% 37.7% 16.9% 2.3% 51.8% 30.2% 17.9% 32.6% 26.8% 11.6% 10.9% 10.1% 7.6% 0.4% 14.8% 8.6% 76.6% 2006
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
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S a l a r y
S u r v e y
2006 Salary Survey

The outlook for the support professional and in particular the certified support professional remains strong.
Question What 5 Factors Are Most Important in Determining Salary Increases for the Position of Level 3 Support? Quality of Work Specific Technical Knowledge Technical Certifications Customer Service Skills Meeting Job Metrics or Standards What 5 Factors Are Most Important in Determining Salary Increases for the Position of Support Manager? Management or Leadership Skills Customer Service Skills Quality of Work Help Desk or Support ExperienceOverall Meeting Job Metrics or Standards What 5 Factors Are Most Important in Determining Salary Increases for the Position of Senior Support Manager? Management or Leadership Skills Continuing Education Quality of Work Customer Service Skills Help Desk or Support ExperienceOverall What Motivates You to Do Your Job? Contribution to the Company Compensation Work Performance/Work Experience Management/Recognition from Management Training Opportunities What Are Your Anticipations and/or Plans for the Next 12 Months for Your Support Organization? Increased Hiring Lack of Qualified Workers to Fill Positions Hiring Freeze Increased Outsourcing Salary Freeze Layoffs Eliminated Bonuses 52.5% 19.5% 19.2% 13.5% 8.5% 7.9% 2.2% 34.0% 28.4% 27.7% 19.0% 2.0% 76.3% 64.4% 48.6% 43.8% 38.8% 78.9% 57.4% 55.5% 45.7% 36.9% 50.2% 41.6% 35.6% 31.2% 31.2% 2006
81
USA
2006
JOB LEVEL
Total US Surveys: 216

Average Salary Support Related Work Experience Average Years
Call Screener/Dispatch Level 1 Support Level 2 Support Level 3 Support Desktop Support Analyst Support Manager Senior Support Manager 2005
JOB LEVEL
$30,768 $36,205 $45,891 $53,050 $44,485 $64,720 $82,205
3.3 3.7 4.9 6.2 4.9 7.2 10.4 Total US Surveys: 289
Average Salary
Support Related Work Experience Average Years
Call Screener/Dispatch Level 1 Support Level 2 Support Level 3 Support Desktop Support Analyst Support Manager Senior Support Manager 2004
JOB LEVEL
$30,280 $36,004 $43,239 $51,455 $45,607 $65,760 $83,715
3.9 4.1 5.5 6.9 5.8 7.8 10.7 Total US Surveys: 455
Average Salary
Call Screener/Dispatch Level 1 Support Level 2 Support Level 3 Support Desktop Support Analyst Support Manager Senior Support Manager
$28,519 $35,139 $42,125 $53,037 $44,347 $62,641 $79,301
3.0 3.7 5.1 6.9 5.5 8.6 11.6
82
CANADA
2006
JOB LEVEL
Total Canadian Surveys: 36

limited data $41,818 $50,199 $57,500 $49,104 $65,180 $81,192
2.6 2.9 4.9 5.7 4.2 6.9 8.9
2005
JOB LEVEL
Total Canadian Surveys: 33

$30,833 $40,478 $48,962 $59,588 $46,338 $66,864 $86,125
2.8 5.3 5.7 6.8 6.9 8.6 12.1 Total Canadian Surveys: 37
2004
JOB LEVEL
Average Salary
$26,333 $38,288 $44,937 $49,571 $41,679 $62,396 $81,400
3.3 3.0 4.9 5.6 4.8 7.3 11.0
83
s a l a r y
s u r v e y
Percentage Table USA under $15k 15-20k 21-25k 26-30k 31-35k 36-40k 41-45k 46-50k 51-55k 56-60k 61-65k 66-70k 71-75k 76-80k 81-85k 86-90k 91-95k 96-100k 101-125k over $125k
Call Scrn 2006 3% 3% 24% 24% 25% 9% 3% 5% 1% 1%
Call Scrn 2005 6% 27% 21% 29% 8% 4% 2% 2%
Call Scrn 2004 6% 9% 23% 28% 17% 11% 3% 2% 2%
Level 1 2006 1% 3% 7% 18% 27% 18% 14% 7% 3% 1% 1%
Level 1 2005 1% 1% 8% 19% 26% 23% 11% 9% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%
Level 1 2004 2% 2% 8% 17% 28% 21% 13% 5% 1% 1% 1%
Level 2 2006 1% 2% 5% 17% 24% 17% 14% 9% 4% 4% 3% 2% 1% 1%
Level 2 2005 1% 10% 13% 23% 20% 13% 10% 5% 4% 1% 1% 1%
Level 2 2004 1% 3% 5% 15% 25% 22% 14% 6% 4% 2% 1%
Percentage Table CANADA under 25k 25-30k 31-35k 36-40k 41-45k 46-50k 51-55k 56-60k 61-65k 66-70k 71-75k 76-80k 81-85k 86-90k 91-95k 96-100k over 100k
Call Scrn 2006 limited data
Call Scrn 2005 33% 33% 33%
Call Scrn 2004 33% 33% 33%
Level 1 2006 3% 6% 18% 27% 24% 3% 12% 6% 2%
Level 1 2005 4% 11% 14% 32% 7% 21% 7% 4%
Level 1 2004 11% 21% 11% 29% 18% 7%
Level 2 2006 6% 18% 27% 12% 9% 9% 9% 6% 3%
Level 2 2005 8% 8% 27% 23% 15% 12% 4% 4%
Level 2 2004 7% 11% 4% 11% 15% 41% 4% 4% 4%
84
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
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Level 3 2006 1% 1% 5% 15% 17% 18% 7% 11% 10% 5% 7% 1% 1% 1% 1%
Level 3 2005 1% 9% 17% 12% 16% 10% 14% 9% 3% 7% 1% 1%
Level 3 2004 1% 2% 10% 10% 15% 18% 15% 12% 7% 6% 2% 2% 1%
Desk Top 2006 1% 2% 2% 5% 14% 19% 19% 14% 9% 7% 5% 3% 1%
Desk Top 2005 1% 3% 12% 22% 22% 19% 9% 6% 3% 3% 2%
Desk Top 2004 1% 1% 5% 13% 16% 18% 17% 12% 7% 4% 1% 1% 1% 1%
Sup. Mgr 2006 2% 6% 5% 11% 8% 15% 11% 10% 12% 5% 7% 3% 3% 2% 1%
Sup. Mgr 2005 3% 4% 9% 12% 7% 18% 11% 10% 8% 4% 6% 3% 1% 2% 2%
Sup. Mgr 2004 1% 1% 4% 7% 12% 12% 12% 12% 15% 7% 6% 5% 2% 1% 2% 1%
Sr. Sup. Mgr 2006 1% 3% 3% 3% 4% 4% 6% 16% 14% 7% 13% 5% 10% 9%
Sr. Sup. Mgr 2005 1% 1% 2% 4% 6% 6% 6% 10% 15% 11% 12% 7% 6% 11% 3%
Sr. Sup. Mgr 2004 1% 2% 4% 4% 5% 8% 9% 12% 11% 12% 13% 4% 7% 7% 2%
Level 3 2006 limited data
Level 3 2005 6% 12% 35% 18% 6% 12% 6% 6%
Level 3 2004 14% 7% 14% 21% 29% 7% 7%
Desk Top 2006 limited data
Desk Top 2005 15% 15% 23% 15% 23% 8%
Desk Top 2004 14% 7% 29% 36% 14%
Sup. Mgr 2006 15% 18% 15% 12% 9% 9% 6% 9% 6%
Sup. Mgr 2005 4% 4% 4% 12% 12% 24% 8% 8% 4% 4% 16%
Sup. Mgr 2004 11% 4% 11% 18% 14% 18% 18% 4% 4%
Sr. Sup. Mgr 2006 3% 7% 3% 10% 7% 7% 17% 7% 14% 10% 7% 7%
Sr. Sup. Mgr 2005 4% 4% 4% 13% 17% 13% 8% 4% 13% 21%
Sr. Sup. Mgr 2004 10% 15% 10% 15% 15% 10% 15% 10%
85
s a l a r y
s u r v e y
2006
JOB LEVEL EAST (49 surveys) CENTRAL (94 surveys) WEST (19 surveys)
$28,963 $36,987 $54,200 $56,257 $46,432 $66,104 $84,500
$30,655 $35,053 $42,401 $50,805 $41,151 $61,463 $78,913
limited data $38,650 $44,676 $57,824 $50,214 $70,478 $88,529
2005
$32,007 $36,807 $45,345 $54,962 $44,291 $65,320 $85,300
$28,182 $34,309 $40,325 $47,210 $43,811 $57,639 $79,271
$30,300 $41,337 $49,069 $61,000 $52,753 $97,030 $94,524
2004
$30,305 $34,981 $42,502 $49,307 $47,998 $70,289 $79,853
$26,857 $34,546 $41,113 $54,702 $43,294 $59,725 $77,907
$29,143 $39,120 $46,283 $57,811 $46,928 $69,376 $85,096
86
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
2006
Less Than 12 Years High School Graduate Some College (no degree) Technical School Degree 2-Year College Degree 4-Year College Degree Advanced Degree
JOB LEVEL
Call Screening Level 1 Support Level 2 Support Level 3 Support Support Manager Senior Support Manager
no data no data no data no data no data no data
$29,038 $33,415 $40,080 no data no data no data
$31,000 $35,288 $42,289 $48,250 $68,923 no data
no data $37,417 $43,915 $47,820 no data no data
no data $37,899 $47,062 $48,533 $58,883 no data
no data $38,218 $49,438 $56,618 $65,769 $81,894
no data no data no data no data $63,533 $87,793
2005
JOB LEVEL Less Than 12 Years High School Graduate Some College (no degree) Technical School Degree 2-Year College Degree 4-Year College Degree Advanced Degree
$28,043 $32,910 $42,067 no data no data no data
$31,059 $35,098 $42,034 $46,593 $57,960 $77,471
no data $36,870 $43,264 $48,041 $54,000 no data
no data $38,878 $40,561 $51,344 $61,017 $75,261
no data $38,528 $46,333 $54,497 $70,467 $85,846
no data no data no data no data $66,692 $83,500
2004
JOB LEVEL Less Than 12 Years High School Graduate Some College (no degree) Technical School Degree 2-Year College Degree 4-Year College Degree Advanced Degree
$25,831 $34,465 $36,992 $46,683 $67,000 $893,333
$29,387 $34,068 $41,369 $64,533 $60,878 $73,863
$33,299 $33,586 $41,866 $46,925 $57,936 $80,250
$34,000 $36,355 $41,241 $49,618 $58,227 $80,890
$36,833 $39,337 $44,667 $52,177 $63,859 $78,004
no data no data no data $60,500 $70,163 $86,251
87
* The number of responses in 2006 is too low to report for call screener/ dispatch in the west.
Call Screener/Dispatch Salary by Region
East
$30,305 $32,007 $28,963 $26,857 $28,182
Central
$30,655
West * $0 2004 $5,000 2005 2006 $10,000 $15,000 $20,000 $25,000
$29,143 $30,300
$30,000 $35,000
88
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
Level 1 Salary by Region
East
$34,981 $36,807 $36,987 $34,546 $34,309 $35,053 $39,120 $41,337 $38,650

$0 2004 $5,000 2005 $10,000 2006 $15,000 $20,000 $25,000 $30,000 $35,000 $40,000 $45,000
Central
West
East
$42,502 $45,345
$54,200
Central
$41,113 $40,325 $42,401 $46,283 $49,069 $44,676

$0 2004 $10,000 2005 2006 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000
West
East
$49,307
$54,962 $56,257
Central
$54,702 $47,210 $50,805 $57,811 $61,000 $57,824

$0 2004 $10,000 2005 2006 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000
West
89
s a l a r y
s u r v e y
Desktop Support Analyst Salary by Region
East
$47,998 $44,291 $46,432 $43,294 $43,811 $41,151 $46,928
Central
West $0 2004 $10,000 2005 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000
$52,753 $50,214
$50,000 $60,000
2006
Support Manager Salary by Region
East
$70,289 $65,320 $66,104 $59,725 $57,639 $61,463 $69,376 $70,478

$0 2004 $10,000 2005 $20,000 2006 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000
Central
West
$97,030
$90,000 $100,000
Senior Support Manager Salary by Region
East
$79,853 $85,300 $84,500 $77,907 $79,271 $78,913 $85,096
Central
West
$94,524 $88,529
$90,000 $100,000
$0 2004
$10,000 2005
$20,000 2006
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000
90
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t I c e s
a n D
s a l a r y
s u r v e y
In 2006, 38% of companies reported that they do not offer bonuses to any of their employees. This has gone up slightly from 2005 (33%). Of the organizations that give bonuses, a third of them base their bonuses solely on the company meeting its objectives. Another 44% of organizations base bonuses on company as well as individual performance. Only 22% provide bonuses based on individual performance alone. These results are similar to last years findings of 32%, 46%, and 22% respectively.
Do help desk/support center (or comparable function) staff and/or management receive Do Help Desk/Support Center (or Comparable Function) Staff any form of bonus? and / or Management Receive Any Form of Bonus? lp Desk/Support Center (or Comparable Function) Staff and / or Management Receive Any Form of Bonus?
Yes, Staff Employees Receive Bonus Compensation Yes, Staff Employees Receive 2.3% Yes, Management Bonus Compensation Receives Bonus 2.3% Both Management Compensation and Staff Receives Bonus Compensation 16.9% Both Management and Staff Receives Bonus Compensation
Is bonus compensation based on individual performanceIs or provided to all employees Bonus Compensation Based on Individual Performan on an equitable basis? or Provided to All Employees On An Equitable Basis Is Bonus Compensation Based on Individual Performance or Provided to All Employees On An Equitable Basis
Based on Individual Performance Only 21.4% 21.4%
anagement es Bonus ensation
Based on Individual Performance Only
Both Individual and Company-wide Bonuses are Available 44.3% 44.3%
Both In and Com Bonuses a
16.9% 43.2% 43.2% 34.3% 37.7% 37.7% No Bonus Compensation is Received Company-wide Bonus Distribution if Company Meets Objectives 34.3% Company-wide Bonus Distribution if Company Meets Objectives
us Compensation s Received
Most Important Factors in Determining Salary Increases
Respondents were asked to choose the five most important factors in determining salary increases for each level of employee (call screener/dispatch, levels 1, 2, and 3, support manager, and senior support manager).
Quality of work is in the top three factors selected for every level of employee. Management/leadership skills is the number one factor for both levels of managers. Customer service skills are considered very important factors for lower levels of support (call screener, level 1, and level 2) while technical knowledge becomes important in the higher levels as well (level 2 and level 3).
91
Overall help desk or support experience is an important determining factor for almost all levels of employees. For level 3 support, it is only used as a determining factor by 21% of companies, while it is used by between 39%-61% of companies for all other levels of employees. Meeting job metrics/standards is not the number one factor for any employee level, however, it is one of the top five factors for all levels except level 3 support.
s a l a r y
s u r v e y
The graph below illustrates the percent of respondents who rated the following factors as the number one reason they are motivated to do their job. Contribution to company is the number one motivation at 34%, while 28% of respondents selected Compensation as their main motivation. (Note: It was possible to select more than one factor as their first choice, so percents will not add up to 100%.)
What motivates you to do your job? What Motivates You to Do Your Job?
Contribution to the Company Compensation Work Performed/Work Experience Management/Recognition from Management Training Opportunities
34.0 28.4 27.7 19.0 2.0

0 10 20 30 40
Percentages
Best Describes Your Opinion On Certification?
Do you pay more for employees or potential hires that are certified? Do You Pay More for Employees or Potential Hires that are Certified?
duals n but e It 14.8%
We Do Not Perceive a Value to Certification We Require Formal Certification
Yes, We Feel They are Worth More
No, But We Do Consider Certification as an Import Criteria for Hiring and Promotion
30.2%
76.6%
8.6%
51.8%
17.9% No, We Dont Feel There Is Any Added Value
92
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t I c e s
a n D
s a l a r y
s u r v e y
Looking at the Support Industry in the Next Year
When asked, What are your anticipations and/or plans for the next 12 months for your support organization? over half of the respondents said that they planned to increase hiring in the next 12 months. However, 20% of respondents believe that there is a lack of qualified workers to fill these positions. In regards to outsourcing, 14% of organizations plan to/anticipate that they will increase outsourcing. This may be reflected in the 19% of organizations that anticipate a hiring freeze and the 8% that are predicting layoffs in the next 12 months. As for salary adjustments, only 9% of organizations anticipate a salary freeze. Just over 2% will eliminate bonuses.
Certification in the Support Industry
More than two-thirds of respondents believe that the certified employees within their organization have skills that exceed those of employees who are not certified. For example, 33% of respondents believe that certified employees are more knowledgeable than non-certified employees. 12% say certified employees are independent thinkers, 11% say they are more productive, and 8% say that certified employees are team leaders. In addition, 10% consider certified employees as potential candidates for promotion.
When hiring, 77% of organizations that responded seek certified individuals over non-certified individuals, but only 8% actually require a formal certification. In almost one-third of the support organizations, employees with certifications are paid more than employees who are not certified.
Describes Your Opinion On WhatWhat bestBest describes your opinion onCertification? certification?
Do You Pay More for Employees or Potential Hires that are
We Seek Individuals with Certification but Do Not Require It 14.8%
We Do Not Perceive a Value to Certification We Require Formal Certification
Yes, We Feel They are Worth More
No, Conside as an Im Hiring a
30.2%
76.6%
8.6%
51.8%
17.9% No, We Dont Feel There Is Any Added Value
93
H D I 2 0 0 6
P r a c t i c e s
a n d
S a l a r y
S u r v e y
102 South Tejon Street, Suite 1200 z Colorado Springs, CO 80903 USA U.S. and Canada: 800.248.5667 www.ThinkHDI.com

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Practices and Salary Survey

2006 Practices and Salary Survey

About our Sponsor

Ron Muns, HDI Founder and CEO

Outsourcing and Costs

Peggy Libbey, HDI President and COO

69.7% 22.1% 1.6% 7.4% 5.2%

62.1% 18.9% 1.9% 14.8% 6.0%

75% (Est.) 25% (Est.)

12.6% 15.1% 6.0% 15.0%

12.6% 12.2% 7.4% 22.3%

6.0% 57.9% 22.0% 9.7% 17.8%

5.5% 57.4% 22.9% 8.7% 14.8%

HdI recoMMended Best PrActIce

21.6% 10.4% 10.4% 9.80% 9.30%

What Industry Best Describes Your Company?

.2 .2 .7 .7 .4 .6 8.9 3.1 .7 1.0 1.0 2.2 8.7 .9 4.0 10.9

1.5 9.6 2.4 12.2 12.9 13.7

2.8 1.9 .7 .9 2.4

What industry best describes your company? (select one)

INTERNALThe Majority of Support Provided is Internal

EXTERNALThe Majority of Support Provided is External

Customers/Users Supported Customers / Users Supported

Number Users / Customers

30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 3,000

5 3.8 4 3 2 1 5.4 7.1 12.1 57.1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60

5.0 10.2 10.0 7.6 5.3 23.0 12.6 18.7 7.7

500999 1,0001,499 1,5001,999 20005,000 5,00110,000 10,00150,000 Over 50,000

Support Organization Naming Convention

Help Desk 33.8%

9.3% Technical Support 10.4% IT/IS Support 15.4% Service Desk

Users/Customers Worldwide/Global 14.6% 34.4%

Onsite Users/Customers Only Regional Users/Customers

6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,775

Tools and Technology

Summary Statistics for Tools and Technologies

2006 No 23.0% Yes X

69.7% 55.2% 42.9% 41.1% 37.2% 25.1%

77.2% 52.2% 47.8% 56.6% 49.1% 28.5%

89.8% 79.9% 71.8% 70.4% 62.0% 45.4%

16.8% 15.1% 13.8% 12.2%

32.0% 14.8% 15.9%

Tools and Technology

Clarify Intuit - Track-It Computer Associates Homegrown Remedy - Magic

FrontRange Solutions' HEAT Peregrine Remedy - ARS Other

Percent of Organizations Using Each Call Tracking/Problem Management System

Percent Ranking Each Technology as Very Important

Do You Provide Any Self-help Tools?

8.4 8.6 25.1 37.2 41.1 42.9 55.2 69.7

At a Minimum, An Effective Support Organization includes:

38.8 45.4 62.0 70.4 71.8 79.9 89.8

At a minimum an effective support organization includes:

If Budget Was Not a Consideration, I Would:

If budget was not a consideration, I would:

Is ITIL an Important Aspect in Choosing Support Tools?

Is ITIL compliance an important aspect of choosing support tools?

30.0% Very Important But Not Necessary

We Have No Knowledge Management Tool 29.9%

We Use One Feature but Know It Can Do More

Summary Statistics for Process Measures

Do you align your support organizations measurements and goals to:

68.4% Business Centric

The Operational Goals of the Support Organization