Experience has shown that there are different approaches and levels of complexity for the introduction of Zammad.
Some customers only use Zammad for structured recording and documentation and only with very limited agents (ticket processors). In this rudimentary perspective, the introduction of Zammad is almost trivially simple. Other customers go one step further and integrate other departments and decision-makers as agents in Zammad so that each case can always be assigned to the actual processor/decision-maker, so here there are usually additional agents in adjacent departments with intersections in interdisciplinary process chains. Some customers even go beyond this and implement Zammad as a central tool for communication and documentation throughout the company and in the “internal services” and “face to the customer” perspective.
These different perspectives do not have to be decided and implemented initially during the implementation, but it is important to talk about them at the beginning and to take your own vision into account instead of just solving acute problems (e.g. lack of transparency, chaos in tracking, implementing uniform communication and process documentation).
We therefore recommend that all customers consider our services and form their own idea of implementation. We recommend the following standard services in chronological order for implementation projects (incl. contextualization):
1) Select operating variant (onPremise vs. SaaS)
Zammad is an opensource ticket system, the use is free of charge in all operating variants. The Zammad product and the software code are owned by the Zammad Foundation and the purpose of the foundation is to publish and make the software available free of charge. Zammad GmbH only offers value-added services, including support, consulting, training, custom development and SaaS hosting. The usage fees in hosting are pro rata costs for data center operation and support, which also have a significant underlying cost factor.
There is therefore always a free alternative without support for the introduction of Zammad. However, experience shows that the quality of implementation is very limited if customers only set up Zammad on the basis of the documentation according to the “try & error” principle. We always recommend a minimum level of set-up support and the conclusion of a support contract or a SaaS subscription for Zammad application support throughout the product lifecycle.
In SaaS, billing is based on agents (ticket processors), for our onPremise support contracts there are service flat rates per year.
--> SaaS is always cheaper up to 10 agents
--> Between 10-50 agents, the costs/efforts are comparable
--> SaaS is usually more expensive with +50 agents, but significantly reduces the workload in IT (admin of the system/server).
2) Admin training (workshop vs. webinar)
Setting up Zammad at the lowest and medium complexity levels is not rocket science.
Experience has shown that it is sufficient for 1-2 Zammad administrators to attend our basic training (webinar).
If there are several administrators and/or several departments are connected, workshops with individual admin training may be useful. Here, up to 8 people can take part in individual workshops and the content of the training can be focused on the actual needs.
3) Design and configuration
If you want to work with several departments in Zammad and map various interdisciplinary processes, we always recommend an individual workshop for conception and configuration. Here, expectations are underpinned with best practice recommendations and a plan for concrete implementation (step-by-step implementation guide) is developed together.
4) Individual project topics
After the administrator training and the conception workshop, there is usually clarity about the characteristics and depth of detail of the implementation and in many cases further support with the implementation is considered useful and can be commissioned with “Time & Material” at a daily rate.
5) Agent training
Once the configuration and implementation phase is complete, the agents start using the system productively. Depending on the number of agents and departments with individual process details, it may make sense to train the agents as part of a user training course to reduce their fear of using the new software. In smaller implementation scenarios, the administrators can provide this internal training, but we also offer training in the form of webinars or workshops.
6) System review and regular checks for optimization potential
In many companies, there is no or only a very limited agile mindset, and implemented software solutions often have a rigid “never touch the running system” label. This fundamentally contradicts the context of “digital transformation”, which includes a journey over years and possibly decades and actually presupposes that the implemented solutions and concepts are continuously optimized. It is therefore advisable to plan a budget for yourself once a year / every 2 years to discuss new features and new solution concepts in Zammad with a Zammad consultant and to regularly force yourself to self-optimize.
Summary:
The introduction of Zammad is possible in many cases without or with very manageable project costs. In addition to the running costs of the selected operating variant (supported SaaS / self-hosted service contract), in many cases attending the administrator training (1-2 participants) is sufficient to introduce Zammad in the desired perspective. If you want to achieve a little more efficiency and savings potential (time savings for employees), concept and configuration workshops usually ensure an ROI scenario. The investment in the concept and in automation usually generates a benefit through greatly reduced time expenditure for each individual task (ticket). The more you invest at the beginning or over time in the professionalization of the implementation and automation of the processes, the greater the benefit of the ticket system. The less you invest, the lower the efficiency gains will generally be.
Scenario 1: Free of charge
Introduction of Zammad onPremise without a support contract. Design and configuration based on the documentation.
Scenario 2: Basic Complexity & Service Intensity
A lot can be achieved in Zammad with minimal investment. One person at the admin training and a SaaS subscription (support included) mean a one-off investment of €890 and running costs of max. €300 per agent/year. You can expect to reduce the time required to process tickets by around 50% if you focus on the essentials when structuring attributes, text modules and the knowledge base and still classify the cases in all tickets (80% standard cases to be classified in all tickets / 20% edge cases to be additionally classified depending on the situation).
Scenario 3: Standard Complexity & Individual Scope
The standard project for Zammad implementations usually consists of an admin training (optional webinar or workshops) and 2 days of individual workshops (conception, configuration & individual topics). We are talking about an investment of less than €5,000 and increased time savings through individual process designs and automatisms.
Scenario 4: Full service approach
If you consider all conceivable side issues and work through these topics in a structured manner in workshops, an investment of €10,000 to €16,000 (5-10 day workshop) usually takes you to the end of your own horizon. It is recommended to at least take this extended perspective into account and to get the maximum out of Zammad and also to connect Zammad via REST API to all internal and external software solutions and thus ensure that the entire 360° view of all information required for processing is always guaranteed in Zammad.