October 18, 2011 at 11:52About advanced technical support
In this topic, I would like to talk about what we actually do. About extended technical support. What is its essence nevertheless? When it becomes necessary to use technical support. After all, the most important thing is to be in the right place at the right time.
To better imagine the situation, the life cycle of the IT system of any company can be divided into stages: implementation (creation), operation, completion (disposal). This of course applies not only to IT systems, but also to any project, undertaking, action. With details of the "operation" stage, and of other stages. But in this case, we will use a simplified life cycle scheme. This provides a better understanding of both IT services in general and advanced technical support in particular.
Currently, the main trend in society, business, especially in the IT sphere is to create. Creativity, as you know, is the engine of progress. In the IT industry, this is more pronounced, since the sphere itself is at the forefront. Here we see a huge number of IT startups, the time lag between new developments, products, and implementations is unlikely to exceed several weeks.
And if we look at the IT services industry, then most companies also create and implement: new products, new software. Even the introduction of some not entirely new solution can be considered as a stage of creation from the point of view of the customer. And the demand for implementation is very high, because, as a rule, the final stage of the life cycle of an IT system coincides with the stage of implementation of a new system. The need for implementation is clearly expressed, and it seems to cover 2 stages of the life cycle. It turns out that from the point of view of need, the life cycle of the IT system shifts a little: activity begins to appear during the end of the life of the IT system (search for new systems, IT service providers), then something more new is introduced or the old one is greatly modernized , and then you can safely operate.
What happens after the implementation of the system at the operational stage? And here is the fact: the IT company is introducing something to the customer, making sure that the system is working on the first couple, and "goodbye." And then the customer usually understands on their own. Because, what’s complicated here: they’ve implemented everything for you, use your health. However, there are many examples where a new system becomes a real curse, both for users and for IT employees of the company. As a rule, after implementation, the system needs to be supported: that is, integrate with the existing infrastructure, protect databases from “crashes”, update versions, fix errors, etc. This, in fact, is the point of expanded technical support - to ensure continuous operation of the system.
Not so long ago, we carried out a project for a large state customer, on the example of which we can see this principle in action. They introduced the system, and then the problems began: here it “fell off”, then it “closed”. And we made it so that the implemented system could be safely operated without risk that everything else would “fall”. Generally speaking, we can distinguish the following support elements:
- advisory assistance in the "hot line" mode (by phone, fax, e-mail) on the installation, configuration and use of the system;
- identification and elimination of malfunctions, errors in the system;
- regular diagnostics of the system’s performance using test programs and utilities recommended by the system developer;
- restoration of the system in the event of a malfunction in the system software of the servers and the database management system, hardware complex failures, and in other emergency situations;
- optimization of operation in order to improve the operational characteristics of the system;
- informing the customer about detected errors and vulnerabilities in the system;
- implementation of system modifications in order to eliminate errors, deficiencies (defects) of functional tasks detected during operation;
- Advisory and technical assistance on the integration of the system with existing infrastructure;
- and etc.
Here it is our bread - maintenance of systems and databases during operation. In other words, we deal with what we have implemented and not only. And this is a continuous process of improving the system and preventing crashes, and not a one-time computer repair on call.
As for the final stage of the IT system life cycle, the main thing here is to understand in time that the system has outlived itself. But you don’t have to worry about this, we have a lot of implementers, presentations of new solutions are held constantly. It remains to choose the appropriate option, implement it, and everything will be repeated as before.
To better imagine the situation, the life cycle of the IT system of any company can be divided into stages: implementation (creation), operation, completion (disposal). This of course applies not only to IT systems, but also to any project, undertaking, action. With details of the "operation" stage, and of other stages. But in this case, we will use a simplified life cycle scheme. This provides a better understanding of both IT services in general and advanced technical support in particular.
Currently, the main trend in society, business, especially in the IT sphere is to create. Creativity, as you know, is the engine of progress. In the IT industry, this is more pronounced, since the sphere itself is at the forefront. Here we see a huge number of IT startups, the time lag between new developments, products, and implementations is unlikely to exceed several weeks.
And if we look at the IT services industry, then most companies also create and implement: new products, new software. Even the introduction of some not entirely new solution can be considered as a stage of creation from the point of view of the customer. And the demand for implementation is very high, because, as a rule, the final stage of the life cycle of an IT system coincides with the stage of implementation of a new system. The need for implementation is clearly expressed, and it seems to cover 2 stages of the life cycle. It turns out that from the point of view of need, the life cycle of the IT system shifts a little: activity begins to appear during the end of the life of the IT system (search for new systems, IT service providers), then something more new is introduced or the old one is greatly modernized , and then you can safely operate.
What happens after the implementation of the system at the operational stage? And here is the fact: the IT company is introducing something to the customer, making sure that the system is working on the first couple, and "goodbye." And then the customer usually understands on their own. Because, what’s complicated here: they’ve implemented everything for you, use your health. However, there are many examples where a new system becomes a real curse, both for users and for IT employees of the company. As a rule, after implementation, the system needs to be supported: that is, integrate with the existing infrastructure, protect databases from “crashes”, update versions, fix errors, etc. This, in fact, is the point of expanded technical support - to ensure continuous operation of the system.
Not so long ago, we carried out a project for a large state customer, on the example of which we can see this principle in action. They introduced the system, and then the problems began: here it “fell off”, then it “closed”. And we made it so that the implemented system could be safely operated without risk that everything else would “fall”. Generally speaking, we can distinguish the following support elements:
- advisory assistance in the "hot line" mode (by phone, fax, e-mail) on the installation, configuration and use of the system;
- identification and elimination of malfunctions, errors in the system;
- regular diagnostics of the system’s performance using test programs and utilities recommended by the system developer;
- restoration of the system in the event of a malfunction in the system software of the servers and the database management system, hardware complex failures, and in other emergency situations;
- optimization of operation in order to improve the operational characteristics of the system;
- informing the customer about detected errors and vulnerabilities in the system;
- implementation of system modifications in order to eliminate errors, deficiencies (defects) of functional tasks detected during operation;
- Advisory and technical assistance on the integration of the system with existing infrastructure;
- and etc.
Here it is our bread - maintenance of systems and databases during operation. In other words, we deal with what we have implemented and not only. And this is a continuous process of improving the system and preventing crashes, and not a one-time computer repair on call.
As for the final stage of the IT system life cycle, the main thing here is to understand in time that the system has outlived itself. But you don’t have to worry about this, we have a lot of implementers, presentations of new solutions are held constantly. It remains to choose the appropriate option, implement it, and everything will be repeated as before.