In the face of IT specialist shortages and growing demand for reliable IT infrastructure, Ukrainian businesses are seeking alternative ways to ensure technical support. Expanding staff isn't always economically feasible, making innovative models of obtaining IT expertise particularly relevant. Today, we'll discuss these challenges and their solutions with Serhiy Podrushnyak, Head of Technical Support at Span Ukraine. We'll explore how Span Ukraine's comprehensive technical support services can effectively replace or complement internal IT departments, helping businesses remain competitive without excessive personnel costs.
- Podrushnyak, from your experience, what key advantages does a company gain by choosing Span Ukraine IT support services instead of expanding their own IT department?
Currently, maintaining a large staff of highly qualified technical specialists across various domains is becoming less feasible for many companies. This situation has become particularly acute in Ukraine, where we're currently experiencing a significant talent shortage, partly due to the ongoing mobilization processes in the country.
Moreover, from a financial perspective, it's becoming unprofitable, and often impossible, for most enterprises to maintain a wide range of specialized experts across different areas of their IT ecosystem. Modern corporate IT infrastructure includes numerous components, each requiring specific knowledge and experience: cloud services, network technologies, information security, data storage systems, disaster recovery technologies, identity management, and many others.
Bringing in experts for each of these areas would lead to a significant increase in personnel costs, while the workload for individual specialists might be uneven. That's why there's a growing demand for versatile IT professionals who combine technical knowledge with an understanding of business processes and innovative thinking. Such valuable personnel should primarily focus on strategic tasks: business development, implementing digital transformations, and improving products and services through advanced technologies.
However, routine tasks such as ensuring uninterrupted system operation, maintaining existing IT infrastructure, and resolving user requests often distract from these key areas. With limited human resources, this becomes even more critical. That's why we recommend considering outsourcing such functions to Span Ukraine. This will allow your IT professionals to focus on developing innovations and digitalization projects that directly impact your business growth. Meanwhile, Span Ukraine certified specialists will ensure timely and quality execution of ongoing technical tasks. Thus, you get a dual benefit: your internal resources focus on strategic objectives, while routine but no less important technical issues are resolved by professionals with a guaranteed level of quality and efficiency.
- Could you tell us about the types of companies that most often seek technical support services from Span Ukraine? Are there representatives of certain industries or companies of a particular scale among your clients who are especially interested in your services?
Our technical support services are in demand among companies of various scales - from small organizations with 30 workstations to large corporations with up to 3,000 employees. It's important to note that our clients represent a wide spectrum of economic sectors - from finance and manufacturing to retail, healthcare, and the IT industry.
For small businesses, our services are particularly valuable as they often don't see the economic feasibility of creating their own IT departments. We provide them access to highly qualified technical support without the need to maintain in-house IT specialists.
Large companies come to us when they lack internal expertise in certain components of IT infrastructure. Our team complements their internal resources, ensuring comprehensive support for all aspects of IT systems.
What unites our clients, regardless of their size or industry, is the aspiration for development and innovation implementation. We not only provide technical support but also satisfy companies' needs for training - both technical specialists and regular users - in the latest technologies.
It's worth noting that a significant portion of our clients use Microsoft technologies. This is not surprising, as Span has been a Microsoft partner for over 30 years. Our experience and deep expertise in Microsoft products allow us to provide high-quality support specifically in this area, which is critical for many modern businesses, regardless of their specialization.
- Could you please describe the most common IT tasks that Span technical support specialists perform for Ukrainian client companies?
Span technical support specialists perform a wide range of IT tasks. Our main areas of work include:
- Comprehensive support for infrastructure and cloud services based on Microsoft products, including Office 365 and Azure. This covers user identity management, access rights configuration, and corporate portal maintenance.
- Support for network infrastructure and its components, including monitoring of server and network infrastructure status, as well as interaction with internet service providers.
- Resolving users' technical requests, from troubleshooting software and hardware issues to providing assistance with PCs and peripheral devices.
- Ensuring uninterrupted operation of IT infrastructure through timely installation of updates, patches, drivers, and transitions to new operating system versions.
- Providing expert consultations on infrastructure modernization and development, applying best practices, and conducting compliance audits.
- Organizing consultative and architectural sessions, including workshops on the latest Microsoft solutions for both users and IT teams.
Given the current situation, considering the state of war in Ukraine, constant cyber threat risks, and the need for rapid business adaptation to new realities, the following services have become particularly relevant:
- Data security and disaster recovery:
Developing and implementing disaster recovery plans in case of physical infrastructure damage due to military actions.
Setting up geographically distributed backup systems to minimize the risk of complete data loss.
Consulting on protection against cyber attacks, which have increased during wartime.
- Business continuity support:
Assistance in rapid deployment of cloud solutions for companies forced to relocate their business.
Setting up remote access and communication systems for employees working from various locations, including abroad.
- IT infrastructure optimization under energy crisis conditions:
Consulting on energy-efficient solutions and optimizing IT system resource consumption.
Setting up automatic switching to backup power sources in case of power outages.
- Support in organizing secure communication channels:
Configuring VPNs and other encryption tools to ensure secure data exchange in high-risk conditions.
These services demonstrate Span Ukraine adaptability to the challenging circumstances faced by Ukrainian businesses, providing crucial support for maintaining operations and security in a complex environment.
- Do you encounter non-standard technical tasks that require special approaches? How does your team handle such challenges?
Undoubtedly, in the IT industry, we often encounter non-standard technical tasks that require special approaches to solve them. This is natural for such a dynamic and complex field.
When such non-standard requests arise, our team has a well-established algorithm of actions. First and foremost, our technical specialists make every effort to solve the problem on their own, applying their experience and expertise. If the task proves to be too specific or complex, we don't hesitate and move to the next stage - escalating the request directly to software or hardware manufacturers.
It's important to emphasize that at this stage, we don't just redirect the request, but take full responsibility for its management. Our specialists carry out all necessary communication with the manufacturer, track progress, and ensure timely problem resolution.
I'd like to highlight a unique advantage that our clients receive. Span has a premium technical support contract with Microsoft, known as Advanced Support for Partners (ASfP). This high level of partnership involves a dedicated technical support manager from Microsoft, allowing us to guarantee quick resolution of technical issues with the involvement of Microsoft's expert team.
It's important to note that Microsoft no longer provides free basic support for customers, instead offering paid support packages. In this context, collaboration with Span becomes even more beneficial for our clients. Having Advanced Support for Partners, one of the highest levels of technical support contracts with Microsoft, we can effectively translate our customers' tickets directly to the software manufacturer.
This means that even the most complex and non-standard tasks related to Microsoft products are resolved as efficiently and promptly as possible. Our clients get a double benefit: on one hand, they have access to the expertise of Span's certified specialists, and on the other hand, to Microsoft's technical specialists through our ASfP program. This combination provides a comprehensive approach to solving any technical issues, guaranteeing the highest quality of support and optimal solutions for our clients' businesses.
- Considering the diversity of services your company provides and the individual needs of clients, how is the pricing policy for technical support formed? Do you offer standard service packages, or is the price formed individually for each customer? What factors influence the cost of services?
Our approach to pricing policy is quite transparent and based on a simple principle: the cost of services depends on the number of person-hours spent by our technical support specialists.
We understand that for many companies, it can be difficult to independently predict the necessary amount of time to solve technical tasks. Therefore, we guarantee strict control and reporting on the time spent by our specialists, ensuring full transparency for the customer.
Given that each company is unique and has its specific needs, we offer three standard service packages to help clients orient themselves:
1. "Basic" Package - 10 hours of technical support for 500 USD excluding VAT*. It includes support for infrastructure and cloud services based on Microsoft products, as well as the ability to escalate requests to Microsoft as a vendor.
2. "Extended" Package - 20 hours for 1000 USD excluding VAT*. In addition to the services of the basic package, it includes support for the network and its components.
3. "Premium" Package - 40 hours for 2000 USD excluding VAT*. In addition to all the services of the previous packages, this package includes consultative and architectural sessions involving Microsoft representatives, as well as Span workshops on the latest Microsoft solutions such as Copilot, Modern Workplace, Security, and others.
*Prices are given in USD for reference. Calculations are made in the national currency of Ukraine (hryvnia) at the exchange rate set on the day of payment.
It's important to note that these packages are a starting point, and we are always ready to discuss individual terms that will best meet the needs of a specific client. Our goal is to ensure the optimal balance of price and quality of services for each customer.
- To conclude our conversation, Mr. Serhiy, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the future of IT support. Considering the rapid development of technologies and changes in the business environment, especially in Ukraine, how do you think technical support services will evolve in the coming years? What innovations or trends do you expect to see, and how does Span Ukraine plan to adapt to these changes?
I'm convinced that the future of IT support will be closely tied to several key trends.
Firstly, we're observing the rapid development of artificial intelligence and machine learning. These technologies are already beginning to transform the field of technical support, allowing for the automation of routine tasks and speeding up the resolution of typical problems.
Secondly, we see the growing importance of cybersecurity. In the face of constant cyber threats, especially in Ukraine, technical support will increasingly focus on protecting clients' data and infrastructure. We're already investing in developing our specialists' competencies in cybersecurity and plan to expand our services in this direction.
The third trend is the further transition to cloud technologies and hybrid infrastructures. This will require even greater expertise from us in managing complex, distributed systems.
Also, we expect an increase in demand for proactive support. Instead of reacting to problems when they've already occurred, the future lies with systems that predict potential failures and prevent them. We're already working on implementing such approaches in our practice.
Regarding Span Ukraine adaptation to these changes, our strategy is based on three key elements: continuous learning and development of our specialists, investment in the latest technologies and tools, and close collaboration with our clients to understand their changing needs.
We also recognize the special role of IT in the reconstruction and development of Ukraine after the war. Therefore, we plan to expand our services focused on supporting critical infrastructure and helping businesses quickly adapt to new conditions.
For advice on technical support services, please contact Span Ukraine at the address: info.ua@span.eu.
More information on the website: www.span.eu/ua.
