Perhaps the biggest challenge for any computer support team is to offer SLAs (Service Level Agreements) that are beneficial for the business customer. Being able to deliver the IT support services within those SLAs is the next big challenge. Thankfully, we have managed to find technology solutions to help us in that regard for the past ten years. Our core computer support environment is RAMMP – Remote Assistance, Monitoring, Management and Protection. A system with a vast array of tools and features that allow us to require an on-site visit rarely. User assistance and training, systems intervention – including remote reboot or start – everything is done mostly remotely, through RAMMP.
Combining RAMMP with additional monitoring and remote access tools and regular on-site visits for a physical check have allowed us to run smooth operations for most of all customers for years. Our philosophy is “simple is better” stems from the more complex a configuration is, the more challenging it is to maintain and repair.
We all know computers can be frustrating at times, with small glitches or significant errors affecting productivity. However, it is particularly upsetting when our employees waste time navigating through a multitude of computer problems that creep up over time. Suppose the computer support team is not responsive or does not have the appropriate knowledge and tools to fix the issues and stop them from happening again. In that case, we can see why business owners are even more frustrated about technology in general. And, they are right.
We want our employees to be efficient, not sit in front of a PC, waiting for the computer support team to fix it or researching the Internet to find a solution themselves. We understand computer programs can have glitches, but we hate when the same glitch comes back again to put an entire business flow on hold because one employee cannot do their job.
Many IT support teams consider fixing what breaks and move on to the subsequent intervention, the main goal of their activity. We believe in having computers that either don’t break or are easy to repair and keep running longer afterwards. Having agreements on service levels with our customers is crucial because they set the expectations and make our activity measurable in more ways. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) tells the customer how fast the team should acknowledge, respond and take action on a reported incident. Internally, the SLA also gives the computer support team manager the tools to measure each technician’s prowess, knowledge and support skills.
IT support is a challenging activity, with many new developments and changes in technology happening constantly, every day. Our team of IT technicians has established internal workflows that allow us to leverage each member’s knowledge and skills when and where needed to respond, take action, and resolve incidents as fast as possible.
We strive to bring value to our customers in many ways, including using our own stocked hardware to replace faulty pieces until they are repaired or replaced.
This way, not only do we keep our SLAs but we fulfill our promise to Make IT Simple.
Yes, that’s true. Most computer incidents can and should be resolved in under 15 minutes. Unless there is an underlying malfunction such as a bug, misconfiguration or hardware fault, most computer incidents come from glitches caused by user misuse or lack of training. Any IT technician worth their while knows it is a good idea to explain the cause of the incident and give the user a few tips on avoiding it in the future. We made this our policy, and it pays off – empowering the user with knowledge keeps reducing the number of reported incidents all the time.
If something repeatedly goes wrong with a computer, it is a sure sign of an underlying problem that your computer support team needs to investigate and fix. Rebooting a computer or using the task manager to kill a process every time the computer is frozen is not a solution. Those mini down-times add up to minutes every day, then hours every month. In the end, you can evaluate quite a big budget spent every year for employees to sit in front of a rebooting computer.
Preventing computer incidents is an approach that should be the goal of any computer support team. For us, it is the most important goal, not only because it makes our lives easier but because it allows us to deliver on our promise. When computers don’t break, everybody has time to make improvements on systems and business processes. Everybody wins.
Let us prevent incidents using our IT Service Management approach, where Incident, Problem and Change Management have workflows focussed on uptime.
What we call our first line of defence is L1 or Level One support. A team of trained technicians, focusing on customer service, initial assessment, incident triage and quick intervention.
The Level 2 team is responsible for resolving problems and incidents. They require a broad and more in-depth set of skills and knowledge. Their main goal is to bring systems back online fast.
The specialists' team are responsible for resolving major incidents, setting up operating systems templates. They also provide assistance with the major applications we support.
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11 Betts StreetÂ
Kellyville Ridge, NSW 2155
9:00 AM – 5.00 PM
Monday – Sunday
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