Tech support outsourcing less

Technical support centers are outsourcing less this year than they did a year ago, according to an annual study by HDI, a Colorado Springs-based trade group for information technology service and support professionals.

Just 42 percent of the 1,005 information technology professionals surveyed between June and August outsource or plan to outsource part of their support operation, compared with 57 percent a year earlier.

A majority of those surveyed said they don’t outsource because they want to maintain control and have concerns about service quality and lack of customer acceptance. Hardware support and repair was the most common outsourced area of support, the survey found.

The survey also found that technical support hiring remains strong, with 45 percent planning increased hiring, 13 percent expecting to freeze hiring and 5 percent anticipating layoffs.