Like most companies, you rely heavily on your IT support guys to keep everything moving along and to leap into action to sort it all out when trouble rears its, well, troublesome head.
Most often, businesses have an in-house IT support crew, but increasingly enterprises are seeing the benefits of outsourcing this help from companies like Probrand.co.uk as it works out much cheaper and expert assistance is always on hand.
Additionally, outsourcing means you have more freedom over the type of support you get – you don’t have to hire and fire, or train staff. It does mean, though, that you have to recognise great IT support when you see it, so here’s the five main signs that you’ve got lucky.
Your techie guys are always respectful to your employees, even under stressful conditions
You don’t want IT support that’s sniffy or dismissive with your workers – or with you. This means that people won’t want to call them when there’s a small problem as they’ll be worried about being made to feel stupid.
It can also be the techies who end up being brow-beaten as well, though. If someone spills coffee on their keyboard and that deadline is 30 minutes away, they can end up feeling a bit edgy, to say the least. If the IT support can keep them calm and explain (again) that a damp keyboard really doesn’t mean the work is lost…
Your IT team is very detail-conscious
To perform the role fully, there should be reports written after every task, every fix and every routine check. Maintaining this attention to detail helps to maintain IT security and keep everyone in the loop.
Your IT guys are good communicators
It’s something of a joke that IT people don’t speak the same language as the rest of us and to a certain extent it’s true. However, it stops being a joke when a stressed employee doesn’t understand what the techie is saying. It’s important that your support people can talk in layman’s terms so that he or she can explain what’s going on and how Problem X can be avoided in future.
They can admit when they’re stumped
It’s impossible to know everything about everything, even when someone’s been in the industry for years, as there’s always new developments and new bugs. What’s great about outsourcing IT help is that you have a bigger pool of expertise and a wider network of knowledge. It’s also a good sign if your support peeps are often off on courses or they say things like “I’m gonna have to find more out about that…”
They can use their old and new knowledge in new situations and on new problems
IT is an ever-changing industry and its pace of change is always increasing, so while ongoing training is essential, an equally important ability is to be able to apply core problem-solving skills and existing knowledge to new situations. Many people get stuck in a rut with their thinking and are stymied by any problem that’s not the usual run-of-the-mill type. This is when critical thinking and a bit of creativity comes in – your team should have this.