Tier 2 Help Desk
Setup Guide
Relying on 15 years in IT service management, ScienceSoft’s L2 help desk engineers will ensure uninterrupted operation of your IT infrastructure and apps.
Level 2 (L2) Help Desk: summary
Level 2 help desk serves to resolve IT infrastructure and/or application issues (e.g., issues of software and network configuration, software and hardware interoperability), which helps improve the reliability of IT infrastructure and applications and reduces their support costs. L2 help desk includes steps like planning, design, choosing a sourcing model, and launch and requires the roles of a manager, a team lead, an engineer, and a system administrator.
For 15 years, ScienceSoft helps companies quickly resolve user (L1) and technical issues (L2, L3).
Tier 2 Help Desk Setup Plan
Level 2 support setup steps may differ, depending on a company’s IT landscape complexity and maturity and the service/product nature and complexity (for customer service desk). Based on ScienceSoft's 15-year experience in help desk, we highlight general setup steps for L2 help desk:
- Identify the goals of your Level 2 help desk (e.g., prevent IT infrastructure downtime, increase app availability).
- Define the scope of your Level 2 help desk: issues it’s supposed to deal with * (e.g., software and network configuration, log investigation to identify root causes), the estimated number of tickets per month, and the number of required L2 engineers.
- Calculate the budget for Level 2 help desk and create a risk management plan (to mitigate such risks as too long resolution time, higher than planned number of tickets, etc.).
* We set up Tier 1 help desk to handle common user issues (e.g., questions about software and infrastructure usage) and escalate technical issues to Tier 2.
ScienceSoft
- Define Tier 2 help desk KPIs (e.g., average resolution time, mean time to recovery, mean time to resolve) according to the defined goals.
- Draw up from scratch or adjust the existing help desk standard operating procedures to include standards for ticket resolution, the process of escalation to L3, etc.
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3.1. If Tier 2 help desk is done in-house
Hiring and training L2 help desk staff
Duration: 1-3 months
- Define the qualifications an L2 help desk manager (technical background, team management skills, etc.) and L2 support engineers (e.g., experience with cloud infrastructures) need to possess.
- Conduct onboarding training with the hired L2 team to get them familiar with your company’s tech stack, IT infrastructure or product/service specifics, issue escalation processes, etc.
Ticket management software selection and customization
Duration: from 1 week
- Select either a free and functionally limited ready-to-use ticket management software, a paid solution with extended features (e.g., omnichannel support tool, AI-driven chatbots), or custom software completely fitting your case.
- Perform customization (for platform-based software) and integrate it with required IT systems (e.g., CRM, ERP).
3.2. If Tier 2 help desk is completely or partially outsourced
Vendor selection
Duration: ~3 months
If you decide to outsource Tier 2 help desk to get reduced help desk costs, up to 24/7 service provision, and a scalable and experienced IT support team, choose the L2 help desk team that:
- Adheres to ITIL principles in delivering tech support.
- Provides regular comprehensive reporting (performance reports, incident reports with root cause analysis, etc.).
- Has a clear vision of collaboration with L1/L3 help desk teams and users, but is willing to adapt to your processes.
- Is ready to provide knowledge transfer (e.g., to L1 help desk team).
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At this stage, the integration between help desk tiers is established. Help desk software and its infrastructure are made ready for use, the L2 help desk team gets the necessary access to help desk software. Help desk demo run is performed.
ScienceSoft
Consider Professional Services for Level 2 Help Desk
Since 2007, ScienceSoft provides help desk and application support services.
Tier 2 help desk consulting
- Designing L2 help desk workflows (resolution, escalation, collaboration with L1 and L3).
- Drawing up a L2 help desk launch plan.
- Defining a suitable L2 help desk sourcing model.
- Selecting ticket management software.
- Defining L2 help desk KPIs.
Full or partial outsourcing of Level 2 help desk
- Calculating price per L2 ticket.
- Defining L2 help desk KPIs and service provision protocols.
- Delivering self-managed L2 help desk tech support or in collaboration with your in-house help desk team, according to SLA.
- Providing comprehensive reporting.
ScienceSoft as a Trusted Support Services Provider
For the past 6 years, ScienceSoft has been a reliable partner in supporting and maintaining our HR software product. They have fixed hundreds of bugs in the product’s performance since the start of our cooperation back in 2016 and keep modernizing HR on our demand, introducing new features and tweaking existing functionality to let us better cater to our growing client base. Moreover, ScienceSoft has successfully migrated our product from onpremises Microsoft Access to cloud-based Microsoft SQL Server, ensuring uninterrupted, smooth operation and high availability of HR in the new infrastructure.
Peter Hermann, CEO , ZEITundZUTRITT GmbH
- 16 years of experience in help desk services.
- 34 years of entire experience in IT.
- Strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Amazon, ServiceNow.
- 700+ IT professionals on board.
- 1,200+ happy clients worldwide: from North America and Europe to Australia and New Zealand.
- IT team holding a range of certificates, among which are AWS Certified Solution Architect, Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), AWS Certified SysOps Administrator (SOA).
- Quality-first approach based on a mature ISO 9001-certified quality management system.
- ISO 27001-certified security management based on comprehensive policies and processes, advanced security technology, and skilled professionals.
Our Selected Help Desk Projects
IT Infrastructure Support for a Private Diversified Business
ScienceSoft provided L2 and L3 support for 28 infrastructure components in compliance with ITIL standards during the Customer’s business hours.
Knowledge Management Software Support for a US Corporation
ScienceSoft adapted its automated IT support workflows to the Customer’s internal processes and ensured quick incident resolution and updates which resulted in high CSAT.
Cloud Infrastructure Maintenance and Support for a European SaaS Provider
ScienceSoft’s team kept a complex 300-server infrastructure safe and proactively improved on 8/5 shifts.
Data Capture Application Support for a UK Software Company
ScienceSoft carried out NOC monitoring and multi-tier support (L1, L2, L3) for the Customer’s solution and customized it to the customer’s needs.
L2, L3 Support of a Marketing Campaign Management Solution
ScienceSoft rendered L2 and L3 support of software under ongoing development to keep it stable and promptly introduce new system components.
Remote IT Support for a US Telecommunications Services Provider
ScienceSoft provided support and maintenance of multiple .NET-based web applications: troubleshooting, bug fixing, urgent introduction of changes upon request.
Typical Roles for Tier 2 Help Desk
While delivering L2 help desk services, ScienceSoft usually dedicates the team consisting of the following roles:
L2 help desk manager
- Plans and manages L2 help desk budget.
- Decides on L2 help desk staffing and/or outsourcing needs according to the types and number of issues the help desk deals with.
- Defines L2 help desk KPIs and oversees their achievement.
- Designs or approves and oversees Tier 2 help desk processes (e.g., escalation, reporting procedures).
L2 help desk team lead
- Establishes goals and KPIs for the L2 help desk team and manages their achievement.
- Plans L2 engineers’ work schedules to ensure sufficient support coverage during operating hours.
- Drives L2 help desk team professional development.
L2 help desk engineer
- Resolves technical issues (software updates, malware removal, remote desktop connection issues, etc.), performs issue root cause analysis.
- Escalates technical issues to a higher-tier support team when more detailed research on the code level is needed (performance tuning, bug management, etc.).
- Transfers knowledge (e.g., to L1 agents via extending and maintaining a knowledge base).
Help desk system administrator
- Installs, configures and monitors help desk software and hardware.
- Resolves arising help desk software and hardware issues to ensure stable help desk operations.
- Provides timely updates of help desk software.
Tier 2 help desk is in-house
Pros:
- Complete control over L2 help desk infrastructure and resources.
- Your L2 help desk team has a deep understanding of your company’s internal business processes or the products or services you provide.
Cons:
- High help desk setup and management risks.
- Lengthy establishment period due to staff hiring and training, help desk software selection and customization.
- Turnover of L2 support engineers.
- Risk of underloaded L2 support engineers.
Tier 2 help desk management is in-house, L2 help desk engineers are partially or fully outsourced
Pros:
- Optimized L2 help desk costs by easily scaling up and down the number of L2 support engineers according to the volume of incoming L2 tickets.
- Up to 24/7 service coverage, including your off-business hours.
Cons:
- It may be challenging to synchronize the work of the in-house support team and outsourced resources.
Tier 2 help is fully outsourced
Pros:
- Optimal L2 help desk costs.
- L2 help desk team scalability.
- Up to 24/7 service coverage.
Cons:
- It may be challenging to find a vendor experienced enough to quickly dive into your business processes, IT and/or application infrastructure, or product/service specifics.
Benefits of L2 Help Desk with ScienceSoft
Mature processes
Our help desk team adheres to mature ITSM processes and ITIL principles.
Flexibility
We offer a variety of pricing and service coverage models, allowing our customers to find the option that suits them best.
Proactive approach
We practice preventive infrastructure monitoring to take measures before a failure occurs.
Tools and Technologies We Work With
Ticketing systems
Practice
12 years
A certified ServiceNow partner, ScienceSoft offers a proprietary 4-level implementation model that helps deliver the best value from ServiceNow adoption.
Monitoring tools
Platforms
Practice
14 years
Projects
25+
Workforce
10+
A certified Microsoft partner, ScienceSoft creates CRM and ERP solutions powered by Dynamics 365 and optimizes most effectively a range of business operations.
Projects
10+
ScienceSoft achieves at least 20% increase in sales and 30% improvement in case resolution with well-thought-out and business-tailored Salesforce solutions.
Practice
11 years
Projects
20+
Workforce
10+
A certified Adobe Solution Partner, ScienceSoft builds on robust functionality of Adobe Commerce to create highly automated and scalable ecommerce solutions.
Practice
15 years
Projects
100+
Workforce
20+
Solid expertise in SharePoint services has earned ScienceSoft a place in Clutch’s list of Top SharePoint Developers in 2023.
Practice
12 years
A certified ServiceNow partner, ScienceSoft offers a proprietary 4-level implementation model that helps deliver the best value from ServiceNow adoption.
Practice
7 years
ScienceSoft sets up Power BI to process data from any source and report on data findings in a user-friendly format.
SAP products are powerful and intricate. ScienceSoft will help you understand and realize the full value they can offer to your business.
Remote collaboration
Connection
Communication
DevOps
Containerization
Automation
CI/CD tools
Monitoring
Clouds
Back-end programming languages
Practice
19 years
Projects
200+
Workforce
60+
Our .NET developers can build sustainable and high-performing apps up to 2x faster due to outstanding .NET proficiency and high productivity.
Practice
25 years
Projects
110+
Workforce
40+
ScienceSoft's Java developers build secure, resilient and efficient cloud-native and cloud-only software of any complexity and successfully modernize legacy software solutions.
Practice
10 years
Projects
50+
Workforce
30
ScienceSoft's Python developers and data scientists excel at building general-purpose Python apps, big data and IoT platforms, AI and ML-based apps, and BI solutions.
Practice
10 years
Workforce
100
ScienceSoft delivers cloud-native, real-time web and mobile apps, web servers, and custom APIs ~1.5–2x faster than other software developers.
Practice
16 years
Projects
170
Workforce
55
ScienceSoft's PHP developers helped to build Viber. Their recent projects: an IoT fleet management solution used by 2,000+ corporate clients and an award-winning remote patient monitoring solution.
Practice
4 years
ScienceSoft's developers use Go to build robust cloud-native, microservices-based applications that leverage advanced techs — IoT, big data, AI, ML, blockchain.
Front-end programming languages
Languages
Practice
21 years
Projects
2,200+
Workforce
50+
ScienceSoft uses JavaScript’s versatile ecosystem of frameworks to create dynamic and interactive user experience in web and mobile apps.
JavaScript frameworks
Practice
13 years
Workforce
100+
ScienceSoft leverages code reusability Angular is notable for to create large-scale apps. We chose Angular for a banking app with 3M+ users.
Workforce
80+
ScienceSoft achieves 20–50% faster React development and 50–90% fewer front-end performance issues due to smart implementation of reusable components and strict adherence to coding best practices.
ScienceSoft uses Meteor for rapid full-stack development of web, mobile and desktop apps.
By using a lightweight Vue framework, ScienceSoft creates high-performant apps with real-time rendering.
With Next.js, ScienceSoft creates SEO-friendly apps and achieves the fastest performance for apps with decoupled architecture.
When working with Ember.js, ScienceSoft creates reusable components to speed up development and avoid code redundancy.
Mobile
Practice
16 years
Projects
150+
Workforce
50+
ScienceSoft’s achieves 20–50% cost reduction for iOS projects due to excellent self-management and Agile skills of the team. The quality is never compromised — our iOS apps are highly rated.
Practice
14 years
Projects
200+
Workforce
50+
There are award-winning Android apps in ScienceSoft’s portfolio. Among the most prominent projects is the 5-year-long development of Viber, a messaging and VoIP app for 1.8B users.
Practice
11 years
Projects
85+
Workforce
10+
ScienceSoft cuts the cost of mobile projects twice by building functional and user-friendly cross-platform apps with Xamarin.
ScienceSoft uses Cordova to create cross-platform apps and avoid high project costs that may come with native mobile development.
ScienceSoft takes the best from native mobile and web apps and creates the ultimate user experience in PWA.
Practice
8 years
Projects
300+
ScienceSoft reduces up to 50% of project costs and time by creating cross-platform apps that run smoothly on web, Android and iOS.
ScienceSoft will save you from double or even triple expenses associated with platform-specific coding by creating cross-platform apps in Flutter.
With Ionic, ScienceSoft creates a single app codebase for web and mobile platforms and thus expands the audience of created apps to billions of users at the best cost.
Databases / data storages
SQL
Our Microsoft SQL Server-based projects include a BI solution for 200 healthcare centers, the world’s largest PLM software, and an automated underwriting system for the global commercial insurance carrier.
We’ve implemented MySQL for Viber, an instant messenger with 1B+ users, and an award-winning remote patient monitoring software.
Azure SQL Database is great for handling large volumes of data and varying database traffic: it easily scales up and down without any downtime or disruption to the applications. It also offers automatic backups and point-in-time recoveries to protect databases from accidental corruption or deletion.
ScienceSoft's team has implemented Oracle for software products used by GSK and AstraZeneca. We’ve also delivered Oracle-based SCM platform for Auchan, a retail chain with 1,700 stores.
ScienceSoft has used PostgreSQL in an IoT fleet management solution that supports 2,000+ customers with 26,500+ IoT devices. We’ve also helped a fintech startup promptly launch a top-flight BNPL product based on PostgreSQL.
NoSQL
Our Apache Cassandra consultants helped a leading Internet of Vehicles company enhance their big data solution that analyzes IoT data from 600,000 vehicles.
ScienceSoft has helped one of the top market research companies migrate its big data solution for advertising channel analysis to Apache Hive. Together with other improvements, this led to 100x faster data processing.
We use HBase if your database should scale to billions of rows and millions of columns while maintaining constant write and read performance.
With ScienceSoft’s managed IT support for Apache NiFi, an American biotechnology corporation got 10x faster big data processing, and its software stability increased from 50% to 99%.
ScienceSoft used MongoDB-based warehouse for an IoT solution that processed 30K+ events/per second from 1M devices. We’ve also delivered MongoDB-based operations management software for a pharma manufacturer.
Cloud databases, warehouses and storage
AWS
We use Amazon Redshift to build cost-effective data warehouses that easily handle complex queries and large amounts of data.
We use Amazon DynamoDB as a NoSQL database service for solutions that require low latency, high scalability and always available data.
Azure
We leverage Azure Cosmos DB to implement a multi-model, globally distributed, elastic NoSQL database on the cloud. Our team used Cosmos DB in a connected car solution for one of the world’s technology leaders.
Azure SQL Database is great for handling large volumes of data and varying database traffic: it easily scales up and down without any downtime or disruption to the applications. It also offers automatic backups and point-in-time recoveries to protect databases from accidental corruption or deletion.
Google Cloud Platform
We use Google Cloud Datastore to set up a highly scalable and cost-effective solution for storing and managing NoSQL data structures. This database can be easily integrated with other Google Cloud services (BigQuery, Kubernetes, and many more).
Tier 2 Help Desk Costs
Below we provide essential factors that influence Tier 2 help desk costs:
General cost factors
- The number of L2 tickets per month.
- Service time coverage - 24/7, 12/5, 8/5, etc.
- IT landscape complexity or product/service type (higher complexity implies more skilled staff or a higher price per ticket).
- Whether a knowledge base for L2 support engineers is to be maintained (although the maintenance incurs cost, the knowledge base may reduce tech issue resolution time).
Cost factors that may influence the cost in the outsourced cooperation
SLA terms, e.g., average resolution time, mean time to acknowledge, ticket backlog, etc. A higher service level may cause a higher price per ticket.
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Note: Additional costs of in-house L2 help desk include ticketing software customization and licenses (usually charged per user) and maintenance of ticketing software. |
The price per ticket for outsourced L2 help desk greatly depends on the number of tickets per month. Here are sample prices to get the picture:
$32 per ticket
- Time coverage: 12/5
- 165+ L2 tickets per month
$38 per ticket
- Time coverage: 12/5
- 40-164 L2 tickets per month
$46 per ticket
- Time coverage: 12/5
- 20-39 L2 tickets per month
About ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft is a global IT consulting and software development company headquartered in McKinney, TX, US. Since 2007, we provide our customers with Tier 1 – Tier 3 help desk outsourcing services to help them reduce support costs and increase the user satisfaction rate. Being ISO 9001 and ISO 27001-certified, we rely on a mature quality management system and guarantee data security to our customers during cooperation.