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Karen Cohen

By: Karen Cohen on July 30, 2022

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Important Characteristics of IT Support: 3 Must-Haves

IT Support

Everyone knows that unexpected IT issues can disrupt the flow of business. We all understand the important role IT plays in accomplishing even the most mundane daily tasks. IT support is here to help, right?

Business and IT leaders do their best to have contingency plans in place to avoid long-term business disruption. But, just because you have an internal or external IT support organization in place doesn’t necessarily guarantee good service

How do you know that your provider has the characteristics you need to effectively solve issues that arise? 

At Kelser, we provide managed IT support services and we get asked this question a lot. But the purpose of this article isn’t to talk about Kelser’s services. 

Instead, we want to provide the information business leaders like you need to make the right decision for their organization. We figure we don’t really do anything to help if all we do is talk about ourselves.

At Kelser, we’re all about understanding what you need and helping you decide what’s right for you. And, when it comes to IT support, there are a lot of things to consider. 

In this article, I’ll cover 3 of the most important characteristics IT support organizations must have. 

IT Support: 3 Must-Haves 

When things are going smoothly and your IT infrastructure is operating normally, sometimes your IT service organization can get lost in the shuffle of daily crises. But, I can assure you that the time and energy you spend to put the right IT support in place today will pay dividends when something goes wrong in the future. 

Your IT support organization, whether internal or external, must be:

1.Proactive

As with routine car maintenance, proactive IT support can help detect problems before they turn into costly, widespread issues.

While options exist for break/fix solutions (or those in which something breaks and you call someone to fix it for a fee), proactive IT support ensures that your infrastructure and devices receive the maintenance and care they need on an ongoing basis. 

From the latest cybersecurity fixes to performance upgrades, strategic advice, and even employee security training (and more!), proactive IT is all about having a partner who works with you to determine how technology can best support your business goals. 

2.Comprehensive

You want to be sure that no matter whether your IT support team is internal or external, they have all of the skills you need to care for your critical IT infrastructure. 

You may have a small internal team that is very effective at working with users to resolve everyday issues. You may have a strategic internal team with broad industry knowledge that strictly handles IT planning and budgeting. You may not have an internal staff at all

No matter what your IT support situation, make sure you have resources looking out not only for your daily needs like efficiency and productivity but also for the technology solutions that will help your organization successfully achieve its future goals

3.Responsive 

Nobody wants to feel like their IT ticket goes into a black hole. When your device isn’t working, time seems to stand still. 

Make sure that however you handle IT support, the provider (internal or external) operates within a service level agreement that provides a guaranteed response time.

You and your users will be bound by that agreement, so make sure everyone on your team understands what the response timeline would look like. 

Find out when service requests are escalated. What is the process for that? 

How many tickets does your IT support provider resolve on the first try? How many service calls does it take before the issue is fully resolved?

You owe it to your users (and your business) to work with IT support organizations that track their responsiveness. 

As with any other service, there should be a means for your users to provide feedback on your service experience and the IT support organization should be measured on its responsiveness: both how long it takes to resolve an issue and the effectiveness of the solution. 

Is Your Organization Getting The IT Support It Deserves?   

In this article, we’ve explored three critical characteristics that every IT support organization must have. Top-level service organizations must be: proactive, comprehensive, and responsive. 

Here are a few signs that it might be time to explore other IT support options:

  1. It often feels like your IT service requests fall into a black hole. 
  2. You don’t know the last time your data was backed up or where the backups are stored.
  3. You have support for devices, but not your infrastructure (or vice versa).
  4. You only see your IT support person when something is broken.

Your IT environment is the lifeline of your organization. Make sure your IT support provider is looking out for all of it. 

At Kelser, we provide a full complement of managed IT solutions. While we know that managed IT is not the right solution for every business, it is one way to keep your IT infrastructure available, efficient, and secure.

If you decide to pursue managed IT support, we encourage you to explore several providers, so that you can find the right fit for your business.

Want to know more about the differences between break/fix and managed IT? Read this article: Break/Fix Vs. Managed IT: Cost, Reliability, Security, Productivity.

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About Karen Cohen

Karen brings unending curiosity to her role as Kelser's Content Manager. If you have a question, she wants to know the answer.

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