As companies shift to digital solutions, you may discover other tools that perform better and fit their needs better apart from your existing systems.
Let’s take a help desk software migration as an example. Companies conduct help desk migration when they scale, want to boost performance, or improve efficiency.
For starters, here are a few facts to know about. The help desk software market is pegged to hit $11 billion by 2023, according to the Transparency Market research on the help desk solution market research. And innovations come out all the time. The desktop software moves to the cloud while the SaaS vendors keep on improving the feature set. The problem with this upgrade is that your current provider might offer useless options to your company. Or you need to upgrade the plan to get the features you require. That's a bummer.
Why Is Help Desk Data Migration a Way Out?
Data migration takes the spotlight and can become a good investment. Here’s where your story can go two ways:
- Data migration can be tedious and messy, causing more harm than good if not executed well.
- You started with the preparation for this project and spent 60% of all your efforts on getting everything ready: data, agents, and choosing the ideal timing.
The second option is more attractive, right? Still, there’s a vexing question: How does a virtual team go about planning and executing a help desk migration strategy? So let’s find it out together.
Top Reasons to Migrate to Another Software
The first step to help desk migration is to decide whether the migration process is worth doing. And the last thing any small company wants is to change a help desk provider because the other one extended automations or more integration options.
What is an objective basis for making a migration from one help desk service to another? Here are some top reasons to take into account.
Pricing
Help desk solution pricing can vary depending on the services offered, packages you’ll get, and features you need. In some cases, you might be paying too much for a service. That's why many businesses choose a better feature-price correlation and move their records to another help desk platform.
Missing or Overkilling Features
When it comes to software, you want to pay for the features you actually use. So what’s the point of paying for a pricey package where you use only a few options? Or why drag your customer support team down with a poorly performing tool that fits your budget? Instead, take time to compare other help desk vendors, and you’ll definitely find your ideal software that meets your functionality and price requirements.
Compatibility
Integration capabilities are a must for any business solution. Your current software doesn’t integrate well with other business tools you use. Or you buy a third-party service to integrate your help desk platform with other solutions. That brings you:
A) complex workflow
B) additional expenses
C) potential security issues
Most SaaS help desk platforms come along with a bunch of various built-in integrations. If your current software lacks it, look for another solution. You might also find better pricing and performance.
Customer Support
Even help desk software needs to provide reliable customer support. For example, let’s say the current provider offers a support breakdown depending on your pricing plan or works in another time zone. It sounds like nothing dramatic until the problems pop up while running a tool.
IT Expert for My Data Migration Project: Hire or Not?
Most companies ask this question when they plan a data migration. However, using an automated data migration service saves your time and effort and reduces the expenses on the IT expert services.
Hiring a freelance developer or outsourcing agency could do the trick. Next, you need a data migration specialist, one of the subsets of information systems careers, specifically responsible for moving data across platforms, channels, and networks.
On the flip side, you’ll spend more time and money searching the agency, planning the project, running it, and checking the results. But, unless you have no pressing deadline, this plan might go well for you.
4 Things to Mind While Migrating Your Help Desk
If you’ve settled with the idea that it’s time to move your data to a new help desk platform, here’s what you should do next.
#1 Run an Audit of Your Existing Data
Check all your records on your current help desk software: customers, agents, tickets, knowledge base articles. Before making a switch, audit your data for the duplicates, missing fields, and records that can be left behind.
Test your targeted help desk platform. Consider using migration software that moves data quickly and securely. Check the demo option to see both the migration tool performance and a sample of your data on the new help desk tool.
#2 Keep Your Team on the Same Page
When changing customer support software, keep your agents aware of the changes upcoming. Schedule a Demo before the migration to show how the new service works. Then, let your agents use the software before moving the data.
Besides, most help desk service providers have free learning programs that enhance any support team training.
#3 Financial and Technical Requirements
Don’t forget about the technical requirements. If you are running your migration via an automated service, you need admin access on both platforms. Studies show that 64% of data migration projects go over the specified budget, mainly because someone in the team dropped the ball. For example, omitted data audit or kept on using the software during the migration process. Planning will help eliminate those spillovers.
#4 Choose A Perfect Timing
Only 46% of data migration projects get delivered on time. Most times, unforeseen delays could be because of the limitation on specific software. So check the help desk importing reviews to learn what problems other customers might have experienced in the past. That might direct you in your choice of the most suitable migration service.
Making the Help Desk Switch Easier
A lot goes into a help desk migration project: from contact information, ticketing system, and KB articles to a large data pool. Ultimately, good preparation is the key to a successful migration. Hiring experts or outsourcing can be costly.
Instead, a cost-effective, convenient, and safe option is using an automated data migration tool like Help Desk Migration. If you plan to move your records to another software or need some tips on choosing a new tool, reach out to HDM experts. And we discuss your situation and figure out the most appropriate solution.