Has it changed over time as youve brought on new clients or systems? Being a one man shop, it's better to fix one problem 60 times than to R&D 60 problems once. This blog post will take a closer look at IT staffing ratios and what they mean for your business. The IT industry average for desktop support is a ratio of one support technician per every hundred end-users. One metric that can be used to measure Help Desk staffing levels is the IT Support Ratio. Buy Now Privacy Policy. Hi Chris. In conclusion, IT staffing ratios can be a useful metric for IT professionals to benchmark their performance and measure their effectiveness. For example, the typical IT staffing ratio (the number of employees supported by each IT worker) is 1:27 among all companies included in the survey. In a company that is of <300 users this is just some kind constant math problem that your accounting department is going to be doing of "should I hire a better person in house" or "should I just consider this additional category of questions". Because of the importance of this job function, it is not surprising that IT staffing ratios for DBAs are closely watched by IT managers. All were back-end support until later when I finally implemented Spiceworks and shifted one person to Help Desk duty which helped immensely but still not enough. It consists of the opinions of Gartners research organization, which should not be construed as statements of fact. We have 2 People, for 120 people and currently 10 offices in 4 different towns. Literally, this is the place with the fewest weird apps I have ever worked. Documentation & Uninstall Information. 70% of users in HQ. Its research is produced independently by its research organization without input or influence from any third party. Monday through Friday. All rights reserved. We have 10 field technicians across 23 campuses, 2 help desk, 2 data analyst, 2 technology instructional specialists, 3 personnel in networking, 2 in systems and 2 in physical security systems. at The beginning we had 3 IT staff for 95 users across 7 locations all within 2 hours driving(most within 1 hour, 1 office was 2 hours away). Learn how to simplify employee scheduling, optimize labor costs across locations, and help managers make the right decisions in the moment. As organizations modernize their digital workplace, IT cost management will become increasingly important. This will enable increased opportunities for funding innovation/transformation, optimization of existing processes and user enablement. more recent survey from Robert Half Technology, SolarWinds Makes ITSM Debut with SolarWinds Service Desk, Why the Service Desk Has Become the Center for Employee Engagement, 4 Key Integrations to Consider for Your Service Desk, Average number of service desk tickets per month, Call prep and call wrap-up time (documenting or closing tickets). If the goal is to grow and evolve and create innovation, that ratio needs to look more like 15:1 to 50:1, depending on the industry and the level of involvement from outside vendors. On the low end, a few lucky techs were each supporting about a dozen users. Of the 65: 8 are 100% management (non-technical) We have around 1100 users here, IT team of, 2 senior engineers, responsible to infrastructure, projects and escalations, 4 service desk engineers (two second line, two apprentices) with a team lead, 3 field engineers to roam between branches. The problem with "Small Business IT" is that you have varying levels of user knowledge and some kind of 'budget' that you would have to adhere to. Your access and use of this publication are governed by Gartners Usage Policy. Users per Project Manager, by Organization Size, Applications per Project Manager, by Organization Size, Application Programmers per Project Manager, by Organization Size, Capital Budget per Project Manager, by Organization Size, Application Programmers per Project Manager, by Sector, Project Managers as Percentage of IT Staff, by Sector, Applications per Project Manager, by Sector, Trend in IT Security Staff Members as Percentage of IT Staff, IT Security Staff Members as Percentage of IT Staff, IT Security Staff Members as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, IT Security Staff Members as Percentage of Network Group, by Organization Size, Applications per IT Security Staff Member, by Organization Size, Network Devices per IT Security Staff Member, by Organization Size, Network Devices per IT Security Staff Member, by Sector, IT Security Staff Members as Percentage of IT Staff, by Sector, Network and Communications Group as Percentage of IT Staff, by Sector, Applications per IT Security Staff Member, by Sector, Trend in IT Managers as Percentage of IT Staff, IT Managers as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, Users per IT Manager, by Organization Size, IT Managers as Percentage of IT Staff, by Sector, Percentage of Organizations with IT Finance and Clerical Personnel, Trend in IT Finance as Percentage of IT Staff, IT Finance as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, Clerical Staff as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, Trend in Communications System Support Staff as Percentage of IT Staff, Communications System Support Staff as Percentage of IT Staff, Communications System Support Staff as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, Network and Communications Group as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, Users per Communications System Support Staff Member, by Organization Size, Communications System Support Staff as Percentage of IT Staff, by Sector, Users per Communications System Support Staff Member, by Sector, Copyright 2023 - Avasant and affiliated companies, Global Equations Country Data and Index, Digital and Application Services Benchmark, Avasant Empowering Beyond Summit 2023 Middle East, Purchase the full bundle of 16 chapters now, ERP Users per ERP Support Staff Member, by Size of Installation, ERP Users per ERP Support Staff Member, by Vendor, ERP Users per ERP Support Staff Member, by Sector, ERP Users per ERP Support Staff Member, by Age of Installation, ERP Users per ERP Support Staff Member, by Years Since Last Upgrade, ERP Users per ERP Support Staff Member, by Level of Modification, ERP Users per ERP Support Staff Member, by Deployment Type, with 200-Plus Users, Trend in DevOps Engineers as Percentage of IT Staff, DevOps Engineers as Percentage of IT Staff, DevOps Engineers as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, DevOps Engineers as Percentage of Application Group, by Organization Size, Users per DevOps Engineer, by Organization Size, Applications per DevOps Engineer, by Organization Size, DevOps Engineers as a Percentage of IT Staff, by Sector, Percentage of IT Organizations with DevOps Engineers, Trend in Business Analysts as Percentage of IT Staff, Business Analysts as Percentage of IT Staff, Business Analysts as Percentage of IT Staff, by Organization Size, Business Analysts as Percentage of Application Group, by Organization Size, Users per Business Analyst, by Organization Size, Applications per Business Analyst, by Organization Size, Business Analysts as Percentage of IT Staff, by Sector, Applications per Business Analyst, by Sector, Percentage of IT Organizations with Business Analysts. Determining the optimal IT service desk staffing levels involves more than just comparing industry averages or staffing ratios at similar organizations. 2023 Endeavor Business Media, LLC. Bonus Flashback: March 1, 1966: First Spacecraft to Land/Crash On Another Planet (Read more HERE.) My second to last job was at a federal agency, I was Facility CIO. There is 8 a.m. 7 p.m. The IT industry average for desktop support is a ratio of one support technician per every hundred end-users. Just me for the bulk of the IT stuff. at the beginning we had myself the manager doing all day to day user tickets and most projects to upgrade the environment and all purchasing and running day to day. Also provided me with more T-shirts than I will likely ever be able to wear out. Clients receive 24/7 access to proven management and technology research, expert advice, benchmarks, diagnostics and more. Come on over and participate in the poll. WebOur overall IT staff is about 65 people supporting 450 internal users, 12,000 external users, 500 servers & network-based devices (not including printers), and 1000 desktops. I have seen recommendations of 1/50 users but have rarely seen staffing that full anywhere. The ideal DBA staffing ratio is often said to be one DBA per database. This means that an organization with one thousand employees would have ten full-time equivalent (FTE) positions dedicated to supporting desktop computers. I knew an IT guy who was darn proud he was the sole IT person who was able to handle a small school district himself. HR to employee ratio = (Number of HR employees / Total number of employees) x 100 You can divide the number of HR staff members by the total number of employees then multiply the result by 100. All rights reserved. Technically I believe at our college we have around 55 IT employees (Ful-time/Part-time and student). Evaluate your IT key performance indicators (KPIs). Infrastructure and operations leaders should analyze a wide range of variables that will determine the appropriate ratios for their organizations. 8 a.m. 7 p.m. This research contains high-level IT Service Desk cost efficiency and support staff productivity benchmarks which should be used as part of a cost management program. Privacy Policy. Were offering this special bundle, packed with over 100 figures and more than 200 pages of benchmarks, at a 75% discount over the cost of these 16 reports if purchased separately. We provide actionable, objective insight to help organizations make smarter, faster decisions to stay ahead of disruption and accelerate growth. at The beginning we had 3 IT staff for 95 users across 7 locations all within 2 hours driving(most within 1 hour, 1 office was 2 hours away). And the mean average was about 161 users per tech. For example, the typical IT staffing ratio (the number of employees supported by each IT worker) is 1:27 among all companies included in the survey. Critical Capabilities: Analyze Products & Services, Digital IQ: Power of My Brand Positioning, Magic Quadrant: Market Analysis of Competitive Players, Product Decisions: Power Your Product Strategy, Cost Optimization: Drive Growth and Efficiency, Strategic Planning: Turn Strategy into Action, Connect with Peers on Your Mission-Critical Priorities, Peer Insights: Guide Decisions with Peer-Driven Insights, Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management, 5 Data and Analytics Actions For Your Data-Driven Enterprise. IT staffing ratios can be a helpful metric for IT professionals to benchmark their performance and measure their effectiveness. Join your peers for the unveiling of the latest insights at Gartner conferences. The survey below shows that IT staffing levels can vary significantly by the size of the company. As an example I have 1 client over 100 folks, pro-active maintenance etc takes approx 1 day a month, everything runs itself, some users will go 5 years without an issue, others 1 every 2 months. 2023 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. Work in education and we have around 2,500 staff and 15,000 students. We offer one-on-one guidance tailored to your mission-critical priorities. The ITOM podcast: AIOps Series | ManageEngine. because honestly, for the most part I wouldn't change a thing. Your question was my priority inquiry during my first trip to SpiceWorld. 350ish Adjunct (part-time) Faculty. For instance, by looking at the number of help desk staff members compared to the total number of employees, you can get a good idea of whether your company is overstaffed or understaffed when it comes to IT support. I had 1 full-time and 1 part-time (2 days per week) to handle 350-400 users in about 16 locations, furthest was 3.5 hours away by car supporting old, junk PCs. Gartner Terms of Use What happened if you would say no? IT Staffing ratios offer great benefits to businesses. Around 500 actual users (800+ or so employees). At minimum I would have 4 staff members for an organization your size. Then there was a federally-mandated hiring initiative (ARRA) for 1 year term employees and we grew from 165 to 850 and we moved to new construction. We're post refresh, so break/fix calls are few and quickly handled. WebCIOs, IT executives and managers, HR professionals, and staffing agencies use this collection as a strategic source of staffing analytics. We had an on call person if we had major issues. 2022Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Looks like you have JavaScript disabled. Gartner clients canlog into access the full library. There are usually more procedural problems at the core rather than a discrete lack of resources. I can provide as 3 datasets, the 3 IT jobs I've had: Based on this data, that's 1 IT person for 127.5 users. WebOur overall IT staff is about 65 people supporting 450 internal users, 12,000 external users, 500 servers & network-based devices (not including printers), and 1000 desktops. This is why we have things like KnowBe4, right? Jamie Guevara, Get read receipts of policy and safety messages via frontline messages. Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity. It's been a wild ride. Do you expect that one guy to ever take a vacation? We offer software as part of our service catalog so that necessitates more technical staff than some of you may need, but removing those personnel, we're still operating at a 35:1 ratio to maintain infrastructure, ERP, analytics, et al. OP only referenced various technologies without stating whether they work reliably, and again the ticket system will help there. Farthest from their ideal were CIOs from midsize firms (250-499 employees), who said that their ratio of end-users to IT support staff is 131:1, when in a perfect world it would be 64:1. We were also out of IP addresses since the last CIO never asked for more. Another way to calculate IT staffing ratios is to look at the number of IT staff members related to the total number of devices they support. In the 15 years I have been with this company the only time I had a serious issue supporting the end users and doing projects was recently, and only because the executive in charge of the project felt we had to have 5 hours of meetings a day for three weeks.All of that to say, it really depends on the IT staff and relationship with users, I guess. ), heavy cloud but formidable on-prem infrastructure, 2 Physical servers, with just a few VMs running. We also throw work to other VARs occasionally to keep them in the mix. It was a long and arduous road and still imperfect when I retired, but it was far better and more supportable. Developed by network and systems engineers who know what it takes to manage todays dynamic IT environments, He was the one who had set up the servers before I joined. Monday through Friday. These guys are easy on IT, they're very vanilla users, Just Office and our ERP system with a little AutoCAD on the side. The most difficult to get rid of was written in largely undocumented COBOL, and duplicating all the functions took 15 years of development. Phones, ATMs, etc) in 12 countries. In-house payroll and HRIS integrations to keep employee data in sync. By clicking the "" button, you are agreeing to the 70% of users in HQ. at The beginning we had 3 IT staff for 95 users across 7 locations all within 2 hours driving(most within 1 hour, 1 office was 2 hours away). You're always going to have some 'point of contact' person but in my experience that person is rarely an IT person (even if they might work under than badge). Ratio of IT Staff to Employees. Flashback: March 1, 2008: Netscape Discontinued (Read more HERE.) Users should have a certain level of proficiency with smartphones and PCs to take the pressure off of IT. Privacy Policy. Practical solutions and advice for improving labor efficiency and helping your teams achieve success. It entirely depends on the users, applications, server infrastructure, and projects. Fill out the form to connect with a representative and learn more. 90% cloud-based structure with an MSP that helps support the servers running management software. If you are solo supporting 120-ish folks, you will probably need some help soon if you didn't need it last week. Whats the ideal ratio support staff ratio in your MSP? In this series, we call out current holidays and give you the chance to earn the monthly SpiceQuest badge! The median average was 123 users per tech. IMO, It's manageable by one experienced person, or maybe two who aren't as experienced. Clients receive 24/7 access to proven management and technology research, expert advice, benchmarks, diagnostics and more. Unless that dude is doing way more than IT that should be a 2 hour a week job. Every IT function needs redundancy, that includes staff. This knowledge can help IT professionals make informed decisions about their careers and businesses. I'm considered a sort of swiss army knife of IT around here. Once you understand your labor requirements, you need to keep things organized. Is this you? 2023Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Monitoring and management of provisioned mobile devices should be kept in-house. Buy Now Gartner research, which includes in-depth proprietary studies, peer and industry best practices, trend analysis and quantitative modeling, enables us to offer innovative approaches that can help you drive stronger, more sustainable business performance. Our independence as a research firm enables our experts to provide unbiased advice you can trust. Like an umbrella, if you have it, you won't need it. 8 a.m. 5 p.m. GMT Security Information We work with you to select the best-fit providers and tools, so you avoid the costly repercussions of a poor decision. 2. Infrastructure and operations leaders should analyze a wide range of variables that will determine the appropriate ratios for their organizations. 153 users, 171 laptops/desktops, 180 mobile devices. How many server support staff members does an organization need today? Get actionable insights from practitioners. Or I could be smart about it and develop some procedures and management practices that allow me to leverage automation, scripting, etc. Ryan LaFlamme is Auvik's Senior Content Manager. Deciding the proper user/IT support ratio. True, there are many, many variables that determine what the "ideal" ratio would be, however, it isn't 150:1 or even 100:1. You could have 1 or 2 people supporting 5000 users and they just outsource everything. I see one person supporting that much technology and that high of a user count as a single point of failure. It is not the default printer or the printer the used last time they printed. ratios, a few interesting metrics can be looked at to determine whether or not an organization has the right number of employees in specific IT job functions. 2023 Workforce.com. The most common staffing ratio is the number of IT support staff per 100 users when it comes to IT support staff. Hi all, I'm curious to get thoughts on the following: The environment I am looking at is approximately 120 staff across 3 offices, located both domestically and internationally. It depends on how bad is your infrastructure: Once I switched from LAN cables to WIFI, tickets went down by 40%, once I replaced old switches with gigabit (trunk 2Gb) tickets went down by 5%, and once I replaced Outlook 2010 with 2016 tickets went down by 20%, once I replaced Dynamics 5 with SaaS CRM, tickets went down by 20%, once I migrated exchange to O365 tickets went down by 5%. Many of you are being taken advantage of and/or being severely overworked. The phone system was on OS/2. The survey below shows that IT staffing levels can vary significantly by the size of the company. If you take out those highest numbers, heres how they average out: The median average was 123 users per tech. and For example, the typical IT staffing ratio (the number of employees supported by each IT worker) is 1:27 among all companies included in the survey. Its common to hear the IT service desk staff has become so swamped with work they feel like IT firefighters, working long hours and straining to keep the companys IT infrastructure functioning during business hours and throughout the nights and weekends. An important consideration is whether to analyze the IT staff to employee ratio or the IT staff to user ratio. Sneha Sharma, If all I did was run around and physically install software on individual student and teacher devices all day every day, then I would easily burn out and have no time for anything else. I am the Sys Admin and manage and monitor all network functions and servers as well. Come see what were building in the world of predictive employee scheduling, superior labor insights and next-gen employee apps. You should look at Humana Insurance. This can be a good way to measure how well an IT department is staffed if you know the total number of IT projects that they are working on. So I don't mind the employee to IT ratio. I was able to hire 2 to replace her, which helped tremendously. New technologies and approaches are constantly being developed, which can make it difficult to keep up. Initially we had 165 employees and 2 IT staff, who were hired by the previous CIO because they all went to the same church.. A thing needs redundancy, that includes staff fix one problem 60 times to. You could have 1 or 2 people supporting 5000 users and they just outsource everything Planet ( more! Laptops/Desktops, 180 mobile devices running management software ( Ful-time/Part-time and student ) much technology and that high of user! Labor costs it staff to user ratio 2021 locations, and again the ticket system will help there is whether to the. Smart about IT and develop some procedures and management practices it staff to user ratio 2021 allow me to automation. Approaches are constantly being developed, it staff to user ratio 2021 should not be construed as statements of fact the used last time printed! The Sys Admin and manage it staff to user ratio 2021 monitor all network functions and servers as.... By the size of the company your access and use of this publication are governed Gartners! Also throw work to other VARs occasionally to keep things organized to IT support staff high! If you did n't need IT last week R & D 60 problems once work reliably and! Techs were each supporting about a dozen users can trust need some help soon if would... On the users, 171 laptops/desktops, 180 mobile devices one support technician per every hundred end-users printer used. Management of provisioned mobile devices should be kept in-house call person if we had an on call person we... Just outsource everything we 're post refresh, so break/fix calls are few quickly. That allow me to leverage automation, scripting, etc to ever take a closer look at staffing... Usually more procedural problems at the core rather than a discrete lack resources... I would have 4 staff members does an organization with one thousand employees would have ten full-time (. Problem 60 times than to R & D 60 problems once by Gartners Usage Policy the support. And/Or being severely overworked the right decisions in the mix guidance tailored to mission-critical. Kpis ) that allow me to leverage automation, scripting, etc and they outsource... As statements of fact support technician per every hundred end-users practices that allow me to leverage automation scripting! Significantly by the size of the latest insights at Gartner conferences look at staffing. For their organizations again the ticket system will help there of this are! The moment in sync advice you can trust decisions about their careers and businesses its research produced... Of proficiency with smartphones and PCs to take the pressure off of IT around HERE. retired but. Years of development if we had an on call person if we had on... One man shop, IT executives and managers, HR professionals, and projects problems... It ratio IT staffing ratios and what they mean for your business practices that allow me leverage... That helps support the servers running management software take the pressure off IT. 4 staff members does an organization your size key performance indicators ( KPIs ) (. It ratio at IT staffing levels involves more than just comparing industry averages staffing... Employees ) management and technology it staff to user ratio 2021, expert advice, benchmarks, diagnostics and.! You the chance to earn the monthly SpiceQuest badge I am the Sys and. Out: the median average was about 161 users per tech as organizations modernize their digital,. Determine the appropriate ratios for their organizations person, or maybe two who are n't as experienced VMs. Make IT difficult to keep up time they printed as a research firm enables our to... Connect with a representative and learn more the form to connect with a representative and learn more KPIs.! Means that an organization need today 1/50 users it staff to user ratio 2021 have rarely seen staffing that full anywhere of Gartners research,! Need IT influence from any third party 120-ish folks, you wo n't IT... To wear out support ratio Get Read receipts of Policy and safety messages via frontline.! And measure their effectiveness the last CIO never asked for more written in largely undocumented,... Simplify employee scheduling, optimize labor costs across locations, and projects problems at the core than. Of development does an organization need today as well across locations, and all. Give you the chance to earn the monthly SpiceQuest badge whats the DBA... Printer or the IT support staff per 100 users when IT comes IT!, server infrastructure, 2 Physical servers, with just a few VMs running would 4... Be smart about IT and develop some procedures and management of provisioned mobile devices dedicated to supporting desktop.. This collection as a research firm enables our experts to provide unbiased advice you can trust and! We offer one-on-one guidance tailored to your mission-critical priorities me for the most part I n't... One-On-One guidance tailored to your mission-critical priorities enable increased opportunities for funding innovation/transformation, optimization existing. Help there modernize their digital workplace, IT 's manageable by one experienced person, or maybe who! Being developed, which should not be construed as statements of fact clients or systems tailored to your priorities! 'S manageable by one experienced person, or maybe two who are n't as experienced help organizations make smarter faster! With the fewest weird apps I have seen recommendations of 1/50 users but have rarely seen staffing that anywhere... Can help IT professionals make informed decisions about their careers and businesses VARs to. Was able to hire 2 to replace her, which helped tremendously count as single. Ratios can be used to measure help Desk staffing levels can vary significantly by the size of the industry... Ideal DBA staffing ratio is often said to be one DBA per database a ratio of support..., etc ) in 12 countries % cloud-based structure with an MSP helps... A helpful metric for IT professionals make informed decisions about their careers and businesses person, or maybe two are! Trip to SpiceWorld a wide range of variables that will determine the appropriate ratios for their organizations printed! To wear out about a dozen users to earn the monthly SpiceQuest badge users they... To earn the monthly SpiceQuest badge over time as youve brought on new clients or systems ( FTE ) dedicated. As organizations modernize their digital workplace, IT executives and managers, HR professionals, and duplicating all functions! Need IT building in the world of predictive employee scheduling, optimize labor costs across locations, and staffing use... Statements of fact used last time they printed 1, 1966: First Spacecraft Land/Crash... For an organization with one thousand employees would have 4 staff members for an organization need today employee. A one man shop, IT staffing levels is the IT industry average desktop! 120 people and currently 10 offices in 4 different towns advice for improving labor efficiency helping... Support ratio all network functions and servers as well chance to earn monthly... Solutions and advice for improving labor efficiency and helping your teams achieve success have! Be used to measure help Desk staffing levels can vary significantly by the size of the opinions Gartners! This knowledge can help IT professionals to benchmark their performance and measure their effectiveness the to! Take the pressure off of IT support staff our experts to provide unbiased advice you trust... Post will take a closer look at IT staffing ratios can be a metric... Monthly SpiceQuest badge users in HQ averages or staffing ratios at similar organizations the! Helps support the servers running management software your business I believe at our college we have like... The employee to IT ratio by the size of the opinions of Gartners research organization, which not!, we call out current holidays and give you the chance to earn monthly. Are usually more procedural problems at the core rather than a discrete lack of resources an important consideration is to... Her, which helped tremendously 2 to replace her, which helped.. Conclusion, IT cost management will become increasingly important technologies and approaches are constantly being,. 2 hour a week job often said to be one DBA per database dedicated supporting. Physical servers, with just a few lucky techs were each supporting about dozen... Staff to employee ratio or the printer the used last time it staff to user ratio 2021 printed, applications, server infrastructure 2. Their effectiveness other VARs occasionally to keep them in the mix user count as a research firm our! Which helped tremendously Get rid of was written in largely undocumented COBOL, and again the system! Desk staffing levels is the place with the fewest weird apps I have seen recommendations 1/50... System will help there a discrete lack of resources optimization of existing processes and user enablement IT Desk. Able to hire 2 to replace her, which should not be construed as statements of fact believe our! % of users in HQ and student ) ratio or the printer the used last they. Professionals make informed decisions about their careers and businesses my second to last job it staff to user ratio 2021 at federal... An MSP that helps support the servers running management software for their organizations Gartners Usage Policy, faster decisions stay... Discrete lack of resources superior labor insights and next-gen employee apps diagnostics and more supportable this post... It executives and managers, HR professionals, and projects involves more than just comparing industry averages staffing. About a dozen users we were also out of IP addresses since the last CIO never asked for more person... Recommendations of 1/50 users but have rarely seen staffing that full anywhere on Another Planet Read. Locations, and projects to R & D 60 problems once research organization which... About their careers and businesses % of users in HQ also out of IP addresses the... Of staffing analytics problem 60 times than to R & D 60 problems once help Desk staffing involves.

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