*By Luciano Costa
Unanswered IT support requests are more than just minor delays in daily corporate life. Each ignored request can stall simple tasks, delay strategic projects, and force teams to resort to makeshift solutions beyond the control of the technology department. The result is an "invisible loss": decreased productivity and internal costs that don't appear in financial reports but erode company efficiency.
Imagine an employee waiting for access to a system: while the request remains in the queue, this employee cannot complete their tasks, which in turn delays team and project deliverables. In many cases, colleagues try to circumvent the problem by taking on extra work or finding "“"technological makeshift solutions"” to move forward. This improvisation may solve the problem temporarily, but it creates new issues – from misaligned processes to safety risks.
Without responsive support, teams are also more likely to experience workflow disruptions and lose focus. Minor technical glitches, such as a frozen computer, an offline printer, software that needs updating, and other common occurrences, become bottlenecks when they don't receive prompt attention from IT.
Thus, downtime ceases to be a rare and critical event and transforms into several daily micro-incidents that, added together, consume a significant portion of the company's productivity. The result is a spiral: the more calls accumulate, the more time is lost on delayed tasks, clarifications, and rework – a hidden operational cost that grows silently.
Drop in productivity
A global survey by Unisys and HFS Research showed that almost half (491,300) of employees estimate losing between 1 and 5 hours of work per week dealing with IT problems, such as equipment failures or unavailable systems. In the Brazilian context, the numbers are equally high. According to the study "The New World of Work" conducted by Edelman, commissioned by ServiceNow, professionals in Brazil say they dedicate 481,300 of their work time to operational tasks that could be automated – including solving IT or connection problems. On average, this equates to 7 hours per week lost on low-value activities that could be avoided or accelerated by digital solutions.
Furthermore, the same Unisys research revealed that 421,300 companies admit they don't even measure the productivity loss caused by IT problems. In other words, almost half of organizations lack visibility into the valuable time wasted due to ineffective support.
The financial burden of reactive support
Although difficult to see in everyday life, research attempts to estimate these hidden costs. A recent survey on IT operations in Brazil revealed that companies with a reactive support approach spend an average of R$ 2,847 per resolved call when all the diagnostic time, specialized labor, business impact, and rework involved are taken into account.
To stem this invisible loss, companies need to adopt best practices in internal customer service, starting with defining a solid internal SLA. An internal Service Level Agreement is nothing more than a clear agreement between the IT department and the business areas, establishing response and resolution times for different types of calls and levels of urgency.
Furthermore, modern systems offer automation and self-service, suggesting solutions to the employee as soon as the ticket is opened, freeing up the support team for more complex issues.
Ultimately, investing in agile and efficient IT support is not a "cost," but rather savings. It means recovering productive work hours, meeting deadlines more consistently, and avoiding emergency or redundant expenses. It also means a less stressful work environment, where technology boosts – rather than hinders – productivity. Internal costs may be invisible on spreadsheets, but their effects on the business are very real. With the right tools, this invisible loss can be contained, transforming IT from a hidden bottleneck into a strategic ally for organizational performance.
*Luciano Costa, co-founder of Setrion and Milldesk Help Desk Software
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
