Establishing an IT Support team
Coverage is one of many factors to consider when building an IT support team. A global organization will look very different from a small organization with just one corporate office, but both have the need to provide IT support and one IT support team structure will not work for both.
Another consideration is hours of operation and the two can be looked at together. The following considerations should be part of the overall IT support organization design:
Needs will vary by organization, so the matrix below provides an example of how to graph out the support needs of an organization. This makes the needs more visible and can make it easier to design for the coverage needed in an organization.
For example, consider an Internet based company that provides external web support, high touch business to business support and internal support in both English and Spanish speaking countries. Their support needs could be graphed as follows:
Coverage Type
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Locations Supported
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Hours/Days
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Languages
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External, Internet Customers
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Global
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7x24
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English, Spanish
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External, Business Customers
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Americas, EMEA
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6x21
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English, Spanish
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Internal Employees
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US
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5x15
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English
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Operations Desk
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7x27
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n/a
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There are many different combinations of this type of matrix, the takeaway is to graph organization needs in a matrix of this nature to help with the design process.
Next is to look at the locations where there may be an existing support framework. For example, if this business had corporate offices in the Americas and Europe, a follow-the-sun support arrangement could provide two sets of IT support staff providing 12 hours of coverage each, rather than providing 7x24 support out of a single location. Additionally, the fact that this will be a 7x24 operation to support external Internet-based customers means that the other inputs can assist with determining how many staff are needed on each shift, each day. Finally, if call volumes are low in the US overnight hours, a consideration may be to hire people who can perform both either the service desk or operations role to keep staffing needs to a minimum during periods when lowered call volumes are experienced.
This is a somewhat simplistic view of IT support, as it leaves out the more technical second and third level roles, which should be considered. If the organization has achieved light-out, automated support, on-call rotation may be sufficient to handle the occasional incident that requires intervention. In a less mature organization, technical roles may need to be staffed at higher levels into the evening hours. Thus, is only one of the IT support design decisions to be made. To fully understand and design an IT support organization, the following should be considered:
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IT Support Roles
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Local vs. Remote IT Support
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IT Support team structure
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Hiring for IT Support manager
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Skillset required for IT support
IT Support Roles: IT support roles can be different than positions on an organization chart, as one person may fill several roles. The roles presented below are broken up into the areas of IT support being discussed:
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Production support
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Operational support
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User support
Production/Operations support roles are also often part of the computer operation’s department or network operations center and one person can perform production support while also performing operations duties. Computer operators are trained to perform daily support work and monitor systems and applications for failures. They execute routine, repetitive production support tasks, managing data backups, nightly maintenance and using run books to address known issues that occur in the operational environment. Typically, these roles include:
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Entry-level computer operations positions
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Network operations center (NOC) personnel, with a bit higher technical background
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Data Librarian (manages back up data operations and back up tapes/drives
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Operations and NOC shift leads
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Operations manager
User Support roles will typically start with help desk, service desk or customer service representatives who provide support via the telephone or chat but extend to the second level technicians who provide desktop or on-site support. Application support delivery may be provided via a dedicated second level application support team but is more often provided directly by the application development teams themselves.
Where practical, providing a team that can perform general application support is more cost effective than using programmers for this task. It may have other IT support benefits as well: personnel who are focused on user support are likely to provide a better customer service experience than programmers who have other responsibilities and using programmers to provide user support can make it necessary to add programmers at a higher cost than providing an application support role. A recommended alternative is building sufficient application knowledge articles that enable service desk personnel to resolve at least 80-90% of known application issues, with the others falling into the area of minor defects.
Higher Level Operation roles: IT support teams also need people that can focus on building the knowledge and self-service capabilities the organization needs to support the varied channels and capabilities needed to deliver world-class IT support.
IT support organizations also include technical management and application management teams. Roles within these teams will vary from entry level technical or programming positions to administrator and eventually senior engineering roles. These technical support roles will be responsible for a variety of infrastructure management tasks that go beyond the repeatable operations tasks performed at the entry level:
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System configuration, installation, administration
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Issue resolution, hardware repair
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Troubleshooting and incident management
Application support roles will start with basic coding and second level application support, but in an IT support capacity will typically refer to those roles that provide end user support and defect repair for operational applications.
Key user support roles include:
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Level 1 support analyst (service desk/help desk analyst)
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Level 2 support analyst (desktop and applications)
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Support leads, which can include specialized functions:
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Incident manager focused on end-user incidents
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Major incident manager, which includes escalations and coordination
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Support desk manager
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Knowledge manager
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Self-service administrator (develop self-service capabilities within the ITSM tool or work with the person/people who perform this role)
Remote IT Support: Providing IT support to every location within an organization can be challenging. This is why remote support is a critical feature of every IT support organization. Remote support covers every call taken and resolved at the service desk level for general how-to’s, but also includes remote resolution of configuration and software problems as well as walking users through making small fixes and repairs themselves. Even when hardware repairs are considered, IT support organizations should strive to fix approximately 90% of issues remotely.
One key tool for remote IT support is remote control capabilities. Remote IT support tools enable the service desk or centralized desktop support technician to take control of the PC and directly work on and/or repair configuration and software issues, even re-installing software or reimaging computers. This capability makes it possible for IT support to remotely handle everything except the larger physical computer failures that require installation of internal parts.
Remote break/fix for small items may involve shipping replacement cables, accessories and small part and walking the end user through their installation. Some of this can be performed by operating a depot-style operation, where end users can use self-service to identify the issue, obtain parts from IT support and install them, using instructional videos and even chat bots for installation support.
For larger items, the IT support organization needs to have a plan for on-site support. This can range from a single individual supporting a number of sites in a region to outsourcing support to a vendor who performs this function. A third way of performing this is by shipping replacement devices, then repairing and restocking the returned device. While this increases shipping costs, it may be more cost effective than the other options in some organizations, primarily depending on scale and volume.
IT Support team structure: IT support organizations will vary, but the most effective structure will be one that separates IT support from development, for the reasons addressed concerning application developers. Once separated, the IT support organization can have a single reporting structure with two managers, Operations and Support. A typical organization follows, but IT support organizations can take many formats, depending upon organization size.
Hiring for IT Support managers: When hiring for IT Support managers, it’s important to consider customer service or business skills along with the technical. While the technical skills needed to do the job are important, there are several capabilities that should be sought in an operations manager, along with the process knowledge needed for the role:
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Innovative support thinking: open to new support technologies
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Proactive approach: understands the importance of feedback loops and problem management
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Leadership skills: setting a good example and ability to lead teams
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Analytic knowledge: ability to determine what data is needed to manage the team and ability to provide it
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Customer service skills: really #1 on the list, but the manager should be a customer advocate
IT support managers have a tough job, they are the personnel on whose shoulders operational issues will fall, even if they are simply coordinating the efforts of others. They need to have a high energy level and the ability to manage stressful situations, while leading a team and growing the skill sets of their employees.
Skillset required for IT support: IT support roles are high visibility and high stress, with the need to provide great customer service. Whether the person is in operations or end user support role, they will need to be able to manage system outages, upset callers and executive communications. It’s not unusual for a key stakeholder to call IT support directly when there is an extended outage, even if it’s just to get the most recent update. Thus, the people on the front lines needs to be able to communicate well and clearly with customers of every level within the organization. Typical skills to consider include:
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Sufficient technical capabilities to perform the task
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Good communication skills:
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Ability to follow written instructions (run books or knowledge articles)
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Writing, documentation capabilities
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Empathy, customer service skills
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Ability to learn quickly
Anyone with a basic technical background, who can learn technology quickly can be trained to support the systems and applications in use in the organization. The softer skills, such as communication and customer service skills are more difficult to train. Good knowledge articles can help get a relatively smart technician with good customer service skills on the phones quickly and help them be effective at the entry level in only a short period of time.
Career path of IT Support professional: There are many career directions available to IT support personnel, depending upon their interests. They can certainly grow to manager and executive level roles within their organization (in most cases a college degree will be needed for this). Those with leadership capabilities, who enjoy providing support are well-suited for this direction.
Many IT support team members join an organization in an entry level role as a way of building their career in technology and then join technical or application teams. Organizations can benefit by making these growth opportunities available to IT support team members as they understand the organization and the services provided and can provide a valuable perspective to the technical teams they join, as compared to qualified external candidates.
Others may be interested in a career that focuses on service management and specialize within certain process areas like change management, or within process design.
The key is that many IT support positions give a junior employee the ability to understand the organization and see what types of roles might interest them. They can then combine education, certification and on the job training to build their career. Effectively, there are three directions they might take:
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Growth to management positions within IT Support
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Technical or development careers
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IT/Enterprise service management careers
There are many certification and career development programs available for IT support personnel who wish to grow their careers. Once they have the technical knowledge they need, certifications in service management frameworks like ITIL will help them take the next step. ITIL certification provides a common language and provides a foundation in what good IT support looks like, making it a great way to begin building a longer-term career planning effort.
Certification in service management helps people understand the role of IT support and the benefits it provides to an organization. It also provides a background on support processes and how they work together to provide the key foundation for great IT support:
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Alignment of services with business initiatives
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Design of services that are stable and appropriately designed for their intended function
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Knowledge of the operational issues that could be experienced in using a service/application and instructions on how to address them
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Proactively managing operational issues and errors
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Constantly improving support and products offered by IT
These foundational elements help organizations establish world-class IT support. Understanding them and being able to provide them on a daily basis distinguishes the IT support organization.