Is Outsourcing OpenText Exstream Support & Maintenance the Right Choice for Your Organization?
OpenText Exstream is a comprehensive integration platform for enterprise CCM. But like any other enterprise platform, it requires some ongoing maintenance and support to keep it up and running. Many companies have had trouble with these features.
Most organizations outsource the support and maintenance of their OpenText Exstream instances for the following reasons:
1) Lack of strong expertise
Finding qualified full-time personnel to join and manage the in-house maintenance team is difficult. Those who are available may not be willing to work within a company’s limited salary/benefits budget. So, the only options are a) hire under-skilled professionals and “make do”, or b) outsource. The former is more trouble than it’s worth, especially if the company won’t or can’t invest in OpenText Exstream training for new hires, or if it relies on in-house training provided by existing employees.
Cost of outsourcing OpenText Exstream support and maintenance
The cost of outsourcing OpenText Exstream ongoing support and maintenance may vary depending on the complexity of your business processes and needs. The more complex your support and maintenance needs are, the more expensive it will be to outsource your support lifecycle. The less complicated your support and maintenance needs are, the lower your costs will be.
It is important to discuss your requirements with the support and maintenance provider you are considering. OpenText support and maintenance providers can usually structure the cost according to your needs.
2) Higher cost and time investment
In general, the cost and time investment of “locking in” permanent staff can be significant. That money and time could be better spent on other, more strategic, customer-driven, revenue-generating activities. Rather than spending time and money developing in-house resources that may not be needed permanently or on an ongoing basis, organizations seeking the flexibility to leverage these services as needed should outsource.
When it comes to a thorough understanding of OpenText, the professionals at Exstream Bentech bring the right skills, experience, and insights, along with up-to-date knowledge of the latest news and insights to help you overcome your industry-specific challenges. These are key advantages that save time and money when it comes to ongoing maintenance and support.
3) Time-limited availability of resources
Internal teams can only provide services for a certain amount of time. This limited time availability can be a serious drawback unless the organization has multiple teams working in different shifts to meet each user’s CCM needs (and challenges) 24/7. Depending on the contract, outside agencies may be able to provide additional hours of support. This is often the difference between a CCM that works as expected and a CCM that doesn’t.
4) Slow downtime response and slow customer communication
Organizations generally believe that outages can be addressed and resolved more quickly with in-house resources. However, this is only true if in-house staff are experienced and skilled enough to do this. If the company lacks such experienced personnel, outsourcing is a better option. In such cases, downtime-related issues can be minimized by having a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with a response time acceptable to both the customer and the supplier.
If your organization has successfully implemented OpenText Exstream’s CCM solution, then you are already on the path to customer success. However, as your company evolves to adapt to changing business and regulatory environments, you may find that maintaining and supporting the solution cumbersome (and costly). If you are currently facing any of the challenges described in this article, please get in touch. Catch us at info@thebentech.com or Contact us.
Open text Implementation
Most companies will implement a specific OpenText Exstream solution and get it running smoothly after a few months of work. However, as different people come and go in the organization, the system requires regular maintenance and upkeep to keep it running as efficiently as possible.
Your OpenText Exstream solution is only as good as the team that keeps it running. Without the proper expertise, you will have a hard time getting things going and maintaining effective results.
About Bentech
Bentech is an authorized OpenText service partner, helping global customers leverage their investment in OpenText solutions and optimize their business processes. Our main focus areas are Customer Communication Management (CCM) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM). For more information, visit our website.