Why SLAs Are Getting Harder to Meet
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are commitments service providers make to their end-users, ensuring availability, quality of service, and other performance metrics. However, with rising ticket volumes, growing user expectations, and the expansion of remote work, companies face greater pressure to meet their SLAs.
This is not a matter that can be addressed just by increasing headcount. Rather, it’s a problem with efficiency and workflows, as poor processes can slow down support and make it harder for IT teams to provide the service levels customers are promised.
Fortunately, there is a solution. With the right tools and processes, IT teams can more efficiently meet their Service Level Agreements without needing to increase headcount. Let’s explore…
What Really Breaks IT Support SLAs
First, we must understand where the challenges lie. What problems and difficulties can cause IT teams trouble and make it harder to meet their SLAs?
1. Slow Session Start Times
Sometimes the biggest challenge is getting started. When IT agents struggle to connect to users, such as through remote support workflows that require complex installs, repeated permission prompts, or multiple setup steps, the support process slows down and downtime increases.
2. Too Much Context Switching
Consider all the tools support agents have to juggle. When an IT agent has to switch between ticketing systems, chat tools, email, and other support tools, that inefficiency can slow down support and make it harder for agents to meet their SLAs. A streamlined, unified solution makes it easier to deliver efficient support and maintenance without switching between applications.
3. Repetitive Manual Tasks
IT support involves repetitive manual tasks, such as password resets, software checks, basic troubleshooting, and logging calls. These tasks, while important, can also be time-consuming and inefficient. Automation tools can handle many of these repetitive support workflows, improving efficiency and freeing IT agents to focus on higher-impact issues.
4. Limited Visibility Into User Devices
Visibility into user devices can make all the difference between a fast, efficient support experience and a frustrating slog. Without visibility, IT agents will struggle to diagnose and resolve issues, slowing down the entire process. However, with a solution that provides clear visibility into the end user’s device, agents can efficiently troubleshoot and support users from anywhere.
Why Adding Staff Is Not a Sustainable Fix
When IT teams can’t keep up with demand and meet their SLAs, the usual response is to hire more agents. It’s an understandable reaction; having more agents means there are more people onhand to manage calls. Yet this fails to address the core issues and can often introduce new problems, including:
Onboarding and training take time and resources, delaying the impact of adding staff and introducing additional challenges.
Support demand often scales faster than headcount, so businesses can’t add new agents fast enough to meet growing demand.
Knowledge fragmentation increases as headcount grows, making it harder to connect with experts.
Hiring new agents increases costs without addressing the root causes of service delays and issues.
What Improving SLAs Should Actually Focus On
So if hiring new agents doesn’t improve SLAs, what does? Several elements can improve efficiency and service levels, and organizations can enhance all of them with the right tools and technology. These include:
Faster time-to-first-response, so users can get assistance more quickly when they call in.
Shorter resolution times, which lead to improved customer satisfaction and frees more time for agents.
Fewer escalations, so customers can get the support they need right off the bat.
A consistent support experience, ensuring efficient service every time.
Predictable performance during peak periods, so calls aren’t constantly dropping or seeing extra delays.
How Automation and Remote Support Improve SLA Performance
Now that we’ve identified what the problems are, we can look for a solution. For IT teams looking to improve their SLA performance, the answer isn’t just increasing headcount, but to address the root cause of delays with automation and remote support.
With remote support and workflow automation, such as what Splashtop’s remote IT support software enables, IT teams can provide support more quickly and efficiently
1. Faster Connections Reduce Time to First Response
Little delays and obstacles can add up quickly, leading to slow responses and poor support. Empowering IT agents to quickly connect to end users improves SLA metrics by reducing delays and increasing efficiency on every support interaction.
2. Remote Support Eliminates Travel and Delays
When IT agents need to troubleshoot remote devices, they need a way to access the device from anywhere, otherwise they may have to travel to troubleshoot in person. With remote support, delays and unnecessary travel are eliminated, since agents can quickly connect from anywhere and from nearly any device. This leads to faster resolution and more efficient support sessions, which helps teams meet their SLA requirements.
3. Visibility Reduces Diagnosis Time
You can’t troubleshoot what you can’t see, at least not without great difficulty. Gaining visibility into devices makes it easier for IT agents to provide support and speeds up troubleshooting, leading to faster resolutions.
How Splashtop Helps Improve IT Support SLAs
If your IT team needs help meeting your SLAs and providing the support your customers need, Splashtop has the answer. With Splashtop, IT agents can remotely access and support end users’ devices to provide fast and convenient support anytime, anywhere, and from any device.
Splashtop provides:
1. Quick, Low-Friction Remote Support Sessions
Splashtop makes it easy to support remote endpoints from anywhere, on any device. With low-friction, on-demand remote access, users can launch support sessions without complex installations or lengthy setup, providing a faster and more seamless support experience. This makes troubleshooting easier for both technicians and users, providing a fast, efficient support environment.
2. Cross-Platform Support From One Tool
Remote support shouldn’t be limited to certain devices or operating systems. Splashtop’s cross-platform support ensures IT agents can assist end users on any device, especially in remote and hybrid environments with Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policies. Not only does this support users across devices, but it also reduces the need for separate tools for each device or OS.
3. Integration With Ticketing Systems
Ticketing can be one of the most time-consuming and repetitive parts of customer support. Fortunately, Splashtop integrates with popular ticketing systems to launch remote sessions from tickets and automatically log them, making it easier for agents to support customers and reducing time spent logging calls and support tickets.
4. Secure Unattended Access for Faster Resolution
Splashtop provides both attended and unattended access. With unattended access, IT agents can connect to select remote devices without someone on-site to approve the session, enabling them to provide after-hours support or troubleshoot devices when no one is available to grant access.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Meeting your SLA obligations doesn’t have to be a challenge, but it’s still possible to make mistakes along the way. Be wary of these common missteps, and you can improve IT efficiency and improve your support SLAs:
Measuring effort instead of outcomes: In IT support, results are what matter the most. Measuring outcomes, rather than the effort used to achieve them, provides the clearest metrics for success and for where improvements are needed.
Adding tools instead of simplifying workflows: Using more tools does not equate to greater efficiency. In fact, too many tools can cause unnecessary clutter and complexity. Instead, find ways to simplify workflows; this will lead to more efficient work and better results.
Overcomplicating security at the cost of speed: Speed and security are both essential, but one shouldn’t come at the cost of the other. Overly complicated cybersecurity features can create inefficiencies and bog down IT teams, so it’s important to find a secure remote access platform that meets your security requirements without sacrificing speed.
Ignoring the user experience: IT support shouldn’t be a miserable experience for the user. Finding a support solution with a good UX is important for ensuring user satisfaction and efficient support, as a poor UX will frustrate customers and slow down the support session.
Failing to review SLA data regularly: Data is king, as the saying goes. Reviewing your SLA data doesn’t just show whether or not you’re meeting your obligations, it also helps identify growth, patterns, weaknesses, and more. Regularly reviewing your data is important for tracking your progress and finding ways to improve, so you can confidently meet your SLA requirements.
Better SLAs Come From Better Workflows
Improving SLAs isn’t about increasing your staff; it's about improving your processes. It takes automation, visibility, and remote support to meet your SLA obligations and improve your support outcomes.
Splashtop brings IT teams the power to seamlessly support users from any device, anywhere. Its ease of use, speed, and security make it ideal for companies of all sizes, especially those with SLA-driven IT teams.
With Splashtop, IT agents can efficiently support users across devices without unnecessary friction, complex setup processes, or the need to travel for in-person support. Splashtop remote support software lets agents connect to remote devices directly for hands-on troubleshooting, even when they’re working halfway around the world.
The result? Fast, efficient, and high-quality IT support from anywhere.
Ready to improve your support SLAs without growing your headcount? Try Splashtop with a free trial today.
