Don't outsource your customer support

I have a practical outlook on outsourcing, but one function you should never outsource is your customer support.  Set aside the cost factors for a moment and just consider the set of motives that each group operates with and the key difference is that your internal support group is motivated to solve problems while an outsourced outfit is motivated to close tickets.

You need to decide in your own case how important this may be, but in my experience outsourced support fails to deliver when customers have problems that fall outside the norm.  About the only hope is to have a good working relationship that empowers support personnel to escalate tickets to the next tier, which is often you, the paying customer.  Think again about the incentives.  Referring problems back to you, the client, isn't good for the third party support firm but shoehorning ticket closure (with some passing concern about customer satisfaction) serves their interest.

If your business reputation and revenue depends on being able to own and solve problems don't outsource this key function.