Solutions For Structuring IT Support

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by: concepcion.stivers
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Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 Time: 5:58 AM

Most businesses today are very reliant on computer technology. Many business processes are carried out partly or completely by computers. Much of the critical data of the business is stored on computers. Computer problems and service outages can have a very large negative impact on the business. Good IT support is essential to keep things moving. Let's look at some of the IT support options for business.

The most basic IT support decision that a company must make is how much will be in house and how much will be outsourced. Many companies structure their support into levels. It often makes sense to make the in house vs outsource decision separately by levels. The following is a walkthrough of a typical level scheme and how it might relate to outsourcing.

IT problems generally start at level 1. These technicians have some knowledge of the technology, but not to a great extent. They follow basic processes related to problem resolution. They may have scripts to guide them through resolution of known problems.

An argument for doing level 1 in house would be that since extensive experience and training is not required, the company is more likely to have people available qualified to do this. Also, much computer hardware support has to be done hands on. In house people may very well be positioned to provide better response time for hands on work. In favor of outsourcing level 1 is the existence of large support companies that are dedicated to IT support and who may be able to perform even the most basic support tasks more efficiently than in house people.

Level 2 support is for problems that are not resolved by level 1. The staff in level 2 need to be more knowledgeable on the technology being supported and on problem solving in general. If the company is already doing level 2 support in house and this is working out, then it might well make sense to continue with this, unless there is a major effort to cut costs. If the company does not have the required expertise in house, then outsourcing the work makes the most sense.

Level 3 is generally the highest level of support, for problems that are beyond level 2. Doing level 3 support in house would probably make sense for technology that was developed by the company. In other cases, outsourcing either to a support specialist company, or perhaps to a vendor who developed the technology, would be appropriate.

This has been a brief examination of one aspect of a complicated problem. Each company has its own specific situation that should be researched and analyzed before decisions are made. For the higher levels of support, knowledge of the technology may be hard to come by. Decisions on how to do IT support are often challenging and may need to be revisited from time to time.


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Harry Makepeice

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