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Tier 2 Help Desk
Setup Guide
Relying on 17 years of experience 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
Tier 2 help desk is the level of technical support that handles software, hardware, and network issues requiring investigation and advanced configuration.
Typical tasks managed by L2 engineers are:
- Setting up and managing multi-factor authentication and multi-tier access management.
- Preparing the digital workplace upon user onboarding.
- Setting up network’s endpoint devices (e.g., printers).
- Resolving network connectivity issues.
- Managing server upgrading and patching.
- Server troubleshooting.
- Database troubleshooting.
- Software license reconciliation, solving license activation issues.
L2 help desk setup includes steps like planning, design, choosing a sourcing model, and launch. The project requires the roles of a manager, a team lead, an engineer, and a system administrator.
Tier 2 Help Desk Setup Plan
Tier 2 IT 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).
1.
Tier 2 help desk planning
- Identify the goals of your 2nd level support (e.g., prevent IT infrastructure downtime, increase app availability).
- Define the scope of your processes: issues to solve (server administration, network management, app configuration, database troubleshooting, etc.), the estimated number of tickets per month, and the number of required L2 engineers.
- Calculate the budget 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 basic user issues (e.g., account creation and removal, app login issues) and escalate technical issues to tier two support.
2.
Tier 2 help desk design
- Define Tier 2 support 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 standard operating procedures to include standards for ticket resolution, the process of escalation to L3, etc.
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3.
Choosing Tier 2 help desk sourcing model
3.1. In-house
Hiring and training staff
Duration: 1-3 months
- Define the qualifications a 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. Complete or partial outsourcing
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 technical 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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4.
Launch
At this stage, the integration between help desk tiers is established. The software and its infrastructure are made ready for use, the team gets the necessary access to help desk software. Help desk demo run is performed.
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Consider Professional Services for Level 2 Help Desk
Since 2007, ScienceSoft has been providing help desk and application support services.
Tier 2 help desk consulting
- Designing workflows (resolution, escalation, collaboration with L1 and L3).
- Drawing up a launch plan.
- Choosing a suitable sourcing model.
- Selecting ticket management software.
- Defining KPIs.
Full or partial outsourcing of Level 2 help desk
- Calculating price per second-level support ticket.
- Defining KPIs and service provision protocols.
- Delivering self-managed second-line support or working in collaboration with your in-house team, according to SLA.
- Providing comprehensive reporting.
Our Selected Help Desk Projects
Why ScienceSoft as an IT Help Desk Service Provider?
- 17 years of experience in help desk services.
- 35 years of the entire experience in IT.
- Strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Amazon, ServiceNow.
- 750+ IT professionals on board.
- 1,200+ satisfied customers worldwide: North and South America, Europe, the Gulf, Asia, Australia.
- 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.
What Our Clients Say
We hired ScienceSoft to provide support for our client during non-business hours and didn't regret the decision. ScienceSoft has been a valuable asset for our in-house IT team. Their agents have demonstrated a remarkable ability to handle tasks swiftly and always maintain excellent availability and responsiveness.
To alleviate some of the burden on our inhouse engineers, we sought out a professional team of Tier 1 support staff with a technical background. We partnered with ScienceSoft, and it turned out to be an excellent match. Within just two weeks, their support agents seamlessly integrated into our processes and became an invaluable asset to our team.
BPC had to outsource a Tier 2–3 support team. ScienceSoft has been filling this role for over a year, and their work has made all the difference for our IT operations. They are true engineers who think long term and propose strategic decisions instead of micro-fixes, and, what is equally important, they carry them out as planned.
With their assistance, we optimized a significant part of our IT infrastructure and reduced the share of manual work.
Typical Roles and Responsibilities for Tier 2 Help Desk
Manager
- Plans and manages the budget.
- Decides on staffing and/or outsourcing needs according to the types and number of issues the help desk deals with.
- Defines KPIs and oversees their achievement.
- Designs or approves and oversees help desk processes (e.g., escalation, reporting procedures).
Team lead
- Establishes goals and KPIs for the team and manages their achievement.
- Plans L2 engineers’ work schedules to ensure sufficient support coverage during operating hours.
- Drives the team's professional development.
L2 help desk engineer
- Resolves technical user issues and simple infrastructure problems and requests (network configuration, MFA management, server patch and update management, etc.), performs root cause analysis.
- Escalates technical issues to the L3 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).
System administrator
- Installs, configures and monitors help desk software and hardware.
- Resolves arising software and hardware issues to ensure stable help desk operations.
- Provides timely software updates.
Level 2 Help Desk Sourcing Models
Tier 2 help desk is in-house
Pros:
- Complete control over the help desk infrastructure and resources.
- Your support 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, software selection and customization.
- Turnover of L2 support engineers.
- Risk of underloaded L2 support engineers.
Help desk management is in-house, support 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 help desk costs.
- On-demand 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.
Get Efficient L2 Help Desk
How You Benefit from ScienceSoft's Services
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 clients 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
Costs
The average cost of tier 2 help desk services ranges from $3,200/month to $5,200+/month.
Below we provide essential factors that influence the cost.
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 of 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 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
Let Us Calculate a Help Desk Price for Your Case
Please answer a few simple questions about your help desk needs. This will help our team estimate the cost for your unique case much quicker.
Thank you for your request!
We will analyze your case and get back to you within a business day to share a ballpark estimate.
In the meantime, would you like to learn more about ScienceSoft?
- 17 years in IT support: check what we do.
- 4,000 successful projects: explore our portfolio.
- 1,300+ incredible clients: read what they say.
More Details on Setting Up an Efficient Help Desk
Complete Guide to Establishing L1 Help Desk
Learn how to set up the first line of support that will deal with basic user issues.
L3 Help Desk Setup: Roadmap, Costs, Skills
Explore our overview of the support level that handles advanced technical and infrastructure-related issues.
5-Step Process to Launch Enterprise Help Desk
Check a help desk setup plan designed for the needs of a large enterprise.
About ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft is a global IT consulting and software development company headquartered in McKinney, TX, US. Since 2007, we have been providing our clients 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 clients during cooperation.