Helpdesk Managed Services Category Procurement Intelligence Report

The market for IT Management and Change and its sub-segments such as Helpdesk Managed Services are at an interesting intersection. Rise in the cost of certain essential assets and supplies required to deliver Helpdesk Managed Services is making a significant addition to the supplier's overall expenditure. This could have an inflationary impact on buyer's procurement expenditure in the Helpdesk Managed Services market.

Stringency in the regulatory norms pertaining to data protection and cybersecurity has increased compliance and security burden on suppliers. These additional costs have a potential to drive marginal increase in prices across the key geographies.

The ecosystem of Helpdesk Managed Services is part of an industry which is developing a host of new transformative technologies. Billions of dollars are being invested into this industry, and companies are in cutthroat competition to discover the next game changing technology, hardware, software, and services.

Trends like these and many others discussed in this report are necessitating a relook at the way Helpdesk Managed Services is procured and the procurement cost saving opportunities that exist.

Helpdesk Managed Services procurement best practices are moving towards a level of sophistication which is typically seen in traditional procurement categories. Category managers now have an attractive opportunity to adapt the best practices seen within this category as well as those being leveraged in other non-related categories. This report summarizes the best practices picked from across multiple categories that could work well for category managers involved with Helpdesk Managed Services procurement strategy.

For example, Investing in benchmarking studies not only helps category managers to improve their knowledge about market pricing or billing rates but also in negotiating with suppliers. In fact, this holds true for all technology procurement sub-categories.

Transferring to a new supplier can be often costly and can further get exacerbated by instances of vendor lock-ins. Buyers must scrutinize the offerings of service providers for any possibilities of vendor lock-ins and demand client testimonials from service providers to assess such possibilities. Watch out for products/services that are priced excessively low, as they can often result in costly lock-ins.

It is important for category managers to track and measure the performance of suppliers against a defined set of KPIs that are agreed upon by both parties. Buyers should engage with providers that offer mobile applications and online dashboards to monitor essential performance parameters of the products and services procured.

Helpdesk Managed Services procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Helpdesk Managed Services procurement. Some examples include: