We’ve all been there, particularly when dealing with personal consumer affairs. We are unhappy with the service we receive from a great big company that we deal with, like a telecoms provider, an energy supplier or an e-commerce giant. We try to get the company to rectify the situation, we may often find that we are still not satisfied that the outcome is fair.
That’s a slightly provocative title for this blog. After all, there are two elements here. ‘IT’ refers to the technical bit, the ‘hard’ skills, while ‘Support’ speaks to the ‘soft’ skills of dealing with people, the context of any problem and managing it through to resolution.
For any given problem to be resolved within an acceptable time-frame requires the support person to be able to deliver on both counts equally well.
So why do we make the assertion that there is a greater emphasis on Support skills rather than IT skills?
Today’s tablets are powerful, flexible and handy computing devices. It’s hard to think that the first tablet to gain popular mainstream acceptance, the original Apple iPad, only debuted on April 3rd 2010.
Since then the market has exploded with devices from the big hardware manufacturers as well as those from hundreds of new market entrant brands. There are a lot of size options and the smallest 3/4G capable ones blur the line between the phone and the tablet – quite literally where does the tablet end and the smartphone begin?
Tablet computers are ubiquitous and seem to have conquered practically all markets. But can you run a business from one?
In a company of perhaps 20 people or so, many will have taken the view that staff numbers mean there is enough work to recruit an IT manager. However, what do you do before you reach this size?
Many small companies choose to engage external consultants to provide hands-on support. Often these are solo operators, one-man bands. While they may be competent and well-intentioned, there are a number of inherent problems which may prevent them from responding with the appropriate service levels you need to run your business.
One of the key HR concepts in business is to avoid person dependence. Many businesses have experienced difficulties resulting from the inability to access vital skills and expertise, from specific individuals, relied on to deliver services to clients and customers.
IT security is one of the biggest concerns of our time. It might be identity theft from individuals or the hacking of business and corporate networks on an industrial scale by unscrupulous nation states trying to obtain commercial IP or military secrets. Whatever the threat, securing networks against attack is high priority for IT teams.
Besides viruses, malware and hacking, if we look at other factors that impact operational availability of business dependent IT systems, then there are a range of issues which need to be addressed.
Server status and Windows Services, disk space and database sizes are all factors that could influence a business-critical failure. Storage and back up, the availability of network devices, satellite offices and websites are all hugely relevant.
Last year saw no let-up in the anxieties over cyber security. Criminal enterprises seem able to distribute malware via email to steal identities unimpeded by the international cyber law enforcement authorities; hackers continue to crack open customer databases of businesses as diverse as TalkTalk and Ashley Madison. It is a necessity for any business on the internet to be able to effectively defend against today’s agile threat environment.
The legal profession and exemplary compliance practice for data
HTL Support specialises in providing technology solutions for the professional services sector. Perhaps above all others, the legal profession needs to demonstrate exemplary practice. Poor practice may have very serious consequences measured in a currency that exceeds the value of mere money.
World Space Week was first introduced by United Nations declaration in 1999 and has grown into the largest public space event on Earth. More than 1,400 events in 80 countries celebrated space exploration in 2014.
Unless they are a square peg in a round hole, which means they should get out of it and do something different, it’s a good bet IT managers have their career sights set on moving up in the world. For an IT professional this might ultimately mean the role of CIO (Chief Information Officer) or CTO (Chief Technology Officer).