When the benefits of switching software outweigh the costs

Switching to new software can be both exciting and daunting. There’s often plenty of evidence available as to why a new solution is a great idea (case studies, easily-discoverable research data, etc.), but what isn’t so obvious are the long-term costs of using unfamiliar software.

To figure out the “benefits vs. cost” of switching software solutions to Zendesk, we commissioned Forrester to interview our customers for a Total Economic Impact (TEI) study. They discovered that the eventual return of investment (ROI) of Zendesk can mitigate the expenses that are commonly involved with switching software solutions. We highlighted some of the study’s notable findings below.

1) The slowdown after implementation
A decline in overall efficiency is a big and common cost of switching software solutions. It’s ideally short-lived, since initial trainings and adjustments to older processes smooth out over time. However, costs can compound if employees find the system difficult to use or that it integrates poorly with their established workflow.

Zendesk offsets those costs with a proven increase in agent productivity, including a reduction in average call lengths and time-to-resolution for open support tickets. The TEI report discovered that the surveyed customers had more savings and reduced their need for supplemental agents after multiple years of using Zendesk.

2) New licenses for feature-heavy solutions
New licenses for feature-heavy “catchall” solutions can be a financial headache, especially when an organization needs less than 50% of the software’s features. If an expansive feature set isn’t fully utilized to justify the cost, that’s money wasted.

The TEI report found there was a 0% risk in switching software licenses to Zendesk. There’s no locking in to a full suite of features that will never be used; companies can pick and choose the licenses for the specific Zendesk products they need.

3) Ongoing maintenance
A lot software options require more manpower to oversee deployment and updates, and employee turnover can have a detrimental effect on keeping that cost down. This makes ongoing maintenance a complex expense to predict.

Those surveyed in the TEI report found Zendesk to be an outlier to the traditional costs of upkeep, thanks to simple deployment and ease-of-use. Interviewees reported improvements in overall agent experience, which led to better agent retention. In turn, agents became more familiar with the system and absolved the company’s need for extra administrators.

There’s more to discover in Forrester’s report on the Total Economic Impact of Zendesk, including more details about the benefits and costs of the software.