Axum Polytechnic College Establish and Maintain Client User Liaison

Training, Teaching and Learning Materials Development Lo-1

AXUM POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

Under

Ethiopian TVET-System

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SERVICE MANAGEMENT
Level V

LEARNING GUIDE # 1
Unit of Competence: Establish and Maintain Client User Liaison
Module Title : Establishing and Maintaining Client User Liaison
LG Code : ICT ITM5 01 0710
TTLM Code : ICT ITM5 01 1010

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LO 1: Determine support areas

INTRODUCTION Learning Guide # 1

Introduction
Once the critical business functions have been identified and analyzed in a business and an appropriate
new system has been implemented you will need to establish and maintain a liaison with the client. This
will enable you to accurately assess the required support needs for the new system. To do this you will
need to develop support procedures and assign suitably skilled people to the various support roles.
This unit will give you the knowledge and skills to analyze business IT systems and identify and establish
appropriate support systems.
The topics for this unit are as follows:

Determine support areas

In this topic you will learn how to identify and record information technology used in the
organization. You will also learn how to identify stakeholders of the system, understand
the organizational structure, culture and politics in relation to support requirements in
order to be able to determine what level of support is required by each organizational
unit.

Develop support procedures

In this topic you will learn how to verify support needs, establish support procedures and
write a service level agreement to meet customer expectations.

Assign support personnel

In this topic you will identify IT skills required to assist each organisational unit with
support activities and assign personnel according to human resource processes. You will
also learn how to provide support using agreed procedures and obtain regular feedback
on allocated support

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Information Sheet 1 Lo1: Determine support areas

Identify information technology
There are many definitions of Information Technology which include processing, storing and
acquiring information using technological systems.
Think of your local bank branch. On most desks, there are one or more desktop computers. Each
computer probably connects to a network. The network consists of devices such as switches, routers,
and servers, most of which have some sort of user-administered operating system. The desktop PC
will also have software applications installed to perform the various tasks carried out by the business.
All of this technology requires support for the following reasons:
1. Technology does not always work as it should. Hardware can fail and software can have bugs.
2. The users of technology do not always know how to perform tasks using the available
technology.
3. The needs of the business may change, and so will their need for and use of technology.
Typically, the technology used by business falls into two groups:
 Hardware: desktop computers, laptop computers, mainframe computers, printers, scanners,
digital photography devices, routers, switches, hubs, external drives, storage media (eg. CDs,
USB Flash Memory Sticks, etc.)
 Software: office software used for word processing, spread sheeting, presentations, database
management systems, network and router operating systems, and firmware contained in small
devices such as cameras.

Example: ABC stationary

ABC Stationary is located in a modern shopping mall on the west side of the city. ABC uses a modern
cash register that links sales to its computerised inventory accounting system (the software is called
‘ExpressBooks’). They also have an EFTPOS terminal that is leased from the bank. Their internet
communication is done by an ADSL connection through an ADSL combination router switch. They
have one workstation at the register and two in the back office. All computers have internet access.
The machines are networked using Static IP addresses on an Ethernet LAN. All networking is peer-
to-peer and all the workstations run the XT operating system. They also have a printer connected to
one of the workstations, a scanner, a digital camera and a fax machine. The telephone system is a
commander system small exchange which is leased from UW Telephony.

Activity 1
To practise identifying information technologies, complete Activity 1 – Identify information
technologies, located in the Activities section of the Topic menu.

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Identify stakeholders
This section deals with the subject of stakeholders. You will learn what a stakeholder is, how to
identify stakeholders in the system you are going to be supporting, and the perils of ignoring or
failing to identify important stakeholders.

What is a stakeholder?

A stakeholder is a person or organisation that has an interest in the system or is impacted by the
system.

How do you identify stakeholders?

As support is often negotiated towards the end of a project, you will have been working and
communicating with important stakeholders throughout the project. The most common stakeholder is
called the sponsor. The sponsor is the person or organisation which
 is the major force behind the project
 provides the funds for the project
 has the authority to make decisions on support issues.
The last point is the most important one. You must find out who has the authority to sign contracts or
agreements and make decisions that will apply to the organisation. This may be a person (usually a
manager or director) or might be a committee (eg. executive management committee or council).
Although this person or committee may have ultimate authority regarding the establishment and
maintenance of client support arrangements, you may also be required to deal with others in the
organisation regarding these issues. This is especially true in our modern business environment where
people expect to be consulted over important business decisions which affect them.
The following are some simple methods for finding those with whom you will consult:
 Meet with the project sponsor(s) and brainstorm; during a brainstorming session, everybody
puts in their ideas without evaluating them. This could help you find important stakeholders
quickly and easily.
 Talk to people in the organisation. Find out who has an interest in the system and who is
affected by it. Who are the main users? Who will be receiving the support? Who will be
providing the support?

Perils of not identifying stakeholders

If you don’t identify your stakeholders, you may find

 that they will find you and insist on having a say in the project or support agreement
 that people will resent the support agreement and not back it
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 that the support agreement you formulate does not identify all of the support requirements,
making it deficient and faulty.

Identify organizational structure

An organisational structure is usually a diagram showing the reporting and responsibility
relationships between staff of an organisation. As mentioned, most are shown in a graphical form.
Image: Organisational chart. From top down: Business owner. Business owner subordinates: manager
marketing and sales, manager finance, manager production. Manager production subordinates: local worker 1,
remote worker 1, local worker 2, remote worker 2, local worker 2, remote worker 2.

Figure 1: Organisational chart

If you are in a large organisation, you can often find this document on the company’s intranet or by
asking the Human Resources department.
If you are in a small organisation, the organisational structure will often be quite simple. It will often
consist of an owner-manager-workers or something similar. In this type of business, there is often no
documented organisational structure.

Activity 2
To practise identifying stakeholders and project sponsor, complete Activity 2 – Identify stakeholders
and project sponsor, located in the Activities section of the Topic menu.

Organisational culture and politics – what is it? Why identify it?

Organisational culture is the beliefs and values that exist - whether formally or informally - in an
organisation. Put plainly, it is ‘The way we do things around here.’
Organisational politics is closely related to culture. Culture is the values and beliefs; politics is the
things that happen - the informal and formal policies, procedures and working relationships.
‘Office’ and ‘Organisational’ Politics really are the same thing!
Formal politics is defined by the organisation’s official policies, procedures and structure. This is
easily understood from the organisation’s documents.
Informal politics tends to be undefined and undocumented. It consists of a complex interaction of
relationships between people in the organisation. At times, the informal politics is stronger than the
official version.
How can politics work for you, and why are politics and culture important in establishing and
maintaining a support system for business Information Technology?
Most support agreements are based on the official version (i.e. the formal organisational structure).
This is because informal politics are generally regarded as undesirable. However, this can fail if we
are not mindful of informal politics. If harnessed, informal politics can be a help in providing support.

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Example: Politics
Bill was studying an Information Technology course and was excellent at solving computer problems.
He was also very motivated and wanted to help in the IT function of his organisation as much as
possible. However, Tom was the employee who was appointed to look after IT support problems.
People liked Bill more than Tom and tended to go to Bill first with their problems. When a support
agreement was implemented at their organisation, Bill was named as the ‘first level support officer’.
His job description was adapted to incorporate fixing simple computer problems. More complex
problems were to be passed onto Tom. This really just made going to Bill with computer problems
official. The agreement made wise use of existing organisational politics.

Determine level of support required

Why is support important?

As you can see from the diagram, the visible part of customer service (the ‘front line’ delivery) is
only the tip of the iceberg. It is supported by many things such as standards, systems, quality issues,
management support, etc. This is an important concept to grasp when approaching the set up of a
client support agreement. You should understand that by supporting IT systems that run in the
background, you are, in fact, helping make the business more efficient and competitive. Efficient
support of those parts of the iceberg that nobody sees results in better front line service to customers.

Levels of support

There are a number of ways to view levels of support. When discussing level of support, you may
mean the type of support that is to be provided. For example, we could offer the following levels (or
types) of support:
1. Informal peer support – workers help their co-workers with problems. The organisation can
provide training to key workers so that they are able to be called upon for informal support.
2. User support combined with other responsibilities – a dual role of IT support and other
responsibilities.
3. User support as a separate position or group – setting up a dedicated position such as ‘IT
Systems support officer’ or a unit such as ‘Technology Services Group’.
4. Help desk support – an internal or external support function that provides a broad range of
support for business IT systems.
5. Totally outsourced user support – an external provider provides all necessary support.

Example: help desk support levels

If your support is to include a help desk that is staffed, the following structure is common:
 Level 1 help desk – takes the calls, logs details, may solve simple problems or give general
advice for common problems (eg. advising on network availability)
 Level 2 help desk – technicians fix the problem or provide advice on how to fix the problem

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 Level 3 help desk – highly qualified people provide customisation or bug fixes or software or
web-based systems.
By level of support you could also mean a tiered system of problem management, based on the
urgency of a problem. For example,
 gold – problem resolved within one hour, onsite
 silver – problem resolved within one working day
 bronze – problem resolved within three working days.
Finally, when discussing levels of support, we may also mean the exact support functions that are
going to be put in place.
The following is a list of possible support functions:
1. Help desk
2. Technical troubleshooting
3. Training in the use of software
4. Preparation and maintenance of documentation
5. Installation and configuration of hardware and/or software
6. Maintenance of hardware, data, etc. (eg. backups, recovery)
7. Customisation of software
8. Preparation of new web content (eg. text, graphics)

Activity 3
To practise identifying support requirements, complete Activity 3 – Identify support requirements,
located in the Activities section of the Topic menu.

Summary

In this topic we have looked at identifying the information technology in use in a business, the
stakeholders with whom you should consult when establishing a support agreement, the structure,
culture and politics of the organisation and – finally - the levels and type of support that is required.

Activity 1 — Identify information technology

Read the scenario and answer the questions that follow:

Scenario: 4Sale Books Pty Ltd is a bookstore located in the Adelaide central business district. The
business occupies two levels of an office building connected by escalators and lifts. 4Sale Books
employs approximately six sales staff, one manager, one administrative officer, a bookkeeper and a
marketing manager. They have an Ethernet network consisting of six PCs, two switches, a router and
three printers. They use the SlowBooks software to manage their entire business, including sales,
inventory, ordering, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll and employee management. They
also have two EFTPOS terminals (one on each floor).

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4Sale Books has a Linux server that stores all of the data (including the SlowBooks database). The
server is backed up to tape regularly. They also have a website on which customers can browse the
product catalogue and view current specials. They also lease a telephone system from NWR
Telecoms. The phone system consists of a main switchboard and five remote phones with three
incoming lines and a message-on-hold queue system.
List the technology in use in 4Sale Books and consider the following:
 What sort of support does the technology require?
 Who is likely to provide this support?
 Does the support arrangement already exist?
Present the analysis in a table such as the one below. Some rows have been filled in as an example to
assist you.

Table 1: Technology analysis

Technology Description Support Required Provider Already

exists?

SlowBooks software that keeps customisation, training, None No

Software track of all upgrades, bug fixes
accounts, stock, (patching), user support
GST, etc.
PCs Pentium 4 desktop upgrades, repairs, None No
cloned IBM troubleshooting,
compatible maintenance, backup,
customisation

Feedback
Table: Technology analysis

Already
Technology Description Support Required Provider
exists?

Software that
Customisation, training,
SlowBooks keeps track of
upgrades, bug fixes None No
software all accounts,
(patching), user support
stock, GST, etc.
Pentium 4 Upgrades, repairs,
Desktop Cloned troubleshooting,
PCs None No
IBM maintenance, backup,
Compatible customisation
User account management,
Linux Server security policy
Server with tape implementation, home folder None No
backup management, permissions
management, backup and

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restore, operating system
patching, software
installation
Most terminals
Terminal vendor are probably
Troubleshooting of
EFTPOS (eg. leased from the
EFTPOS connection, repair of
terminals Commonwealth vendor so the
hardware
Bank) support comes in
the price
NWR Telecoms
(hardware), Yes – as
Telephone Switchboard, 5 Support of telephony
Optus/Telstra/A equipment is
system phones hardware, line maintenance
APT for the leased
lines
Website hosted Yes – partly –
on an Content writing, server the ISP
Australian maintenance, programme maintains the
Website ISP’s server, code troubleshooting and ISP server to ensure
dynamic and customisation, preparation of that the website
static pages graphics is continuously
using asp.net available

Activity 2 — Identify stakeholders and project sponsor

If you were building a website for the organisation represented by the organisational chart provided
above, who would you identify as the stakeholder in this project?
the business owner
the relevant manager
the local workers
the remote workers
all of the above
Feedback
Correct! All the staff (the business owner, the relevant manager, the local workers, and the remote
workers) are stakeholders as they either affect the project or are affected by it.
Almost! Go to the Reading notes and review the section on Identify stakeholders.

If you were building a website for the organisation represented by the, who would you identify as the
project sponsor?
the relevant business manager
the business owner
the local and remote worker’s union

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the government of the day
Feedback
Correct! The project sponsor in this case is the business owner.
Incorrect. Go to the Reading notes and review the section on Identify stakeholders.

Activity 3 — Identifying support requirements

If you were implementing a website for a customer that consisted of a large number of static and dynamic
web pages such as an electronic store with a database backend, what possible support functions could
you implement?
Feedback
If you were implementing a website for a customer that consisted of a large number of static and
dynamic web pages such as an electronic store with a database backend, you could implement the
following support functions:
 maintenance of content
 writing new content
 checking of links
 database administration – (eg. users, security, backup, recovery)
 version control
 uploading of new content
 troubleshooting site and server based problems
 customisation of site
 web programming
 user and administrator training
Reference

Print

There is no specific text for this topic. The following list contains some suggested texts and manuals
only. There are many software manuals, reference books and user guides available from libraries,
bookshops, CD- ROMS, or on the Internet. Ensure that the manuals used are written for the version
of the software being used.
Note that many textbooks only cover the technical issues of a topic and do not discuss client user
relationships. Techniques to improve client and team communication may be found in books on
management techniques and interpersonal skills.

Internet

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LO1: Test
This quiz will help you review the content you have learned in this topic.
Answer the questions, check the feedback at the end of each question and take note of the areas you
need to review.
1. Give two reasons why technology requires support.
Feedback
Any two of the following would be suitable as reasons why technology requires support:
1. Technology does not always work as it should. Hardware can fail and software can have bugs.
2. The users of technology do not always know how to perform tasks using the available
technology.
3. The needs of the business may change, and so will their need for and use of technology.

3. Answer True or False:

A stakeholder is often the main person in charge of an IT project.
Feedback
Correct. This statement is False! A stakeholder is a person or organisation that has an interest in the
system or is impacted by the system but is generally NOT the main person in charge of an IT project.
Incorrect. This statement is not true – it’s False! Go to the Reading notes and review the section on
Identify stakeholders.

4. A project sponsor is
a person or organisation that will take ultimate responsibility for the project
the person or organisation approving the funding for the project
all of the above
Feedback
Correct. A project sponsor can be a person or organisation that will take ultimate responsibility for
the project, or the person or organisation approving the funding for the project.
Almost! Go to the Reading notes and review the section on Identify stakeholders.

5. According to your readings, organisational culture refers to

the systems that exist in a workplace
the beliefs and values that exist in an organisation
the unique processes within a workplace
the priorities within an organisation
Feedback

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Correct! Organisational culture refers to the beliefs and values that exist, whether formally or
informally, in an organisation.
Incorrect. Go to the Reading notes and review the section on Identify organisational structure.
6. In your own words, what is organisational politics?
Feedback
Organisational politics is closely related to culture. Culture is the values and beliefs; politics is the
things that happen - the informal and formal policies, procedures and working relationships.
Formal politics is defined by the organisation’s official policies, procedures and structure. This is
easily understood from the organisation’s documents. Informal politics tends to be undefined and
undocumented. It consists of a complex interaction of relationships between people in the
organisation. At times the informal politics is stronger than the official version.
7. What are the non-visible elements that support customer service? Why are they important?
Feedback
The (non-visible) background supports for customer service are standards, systems, quality issues and
management support. They are important because they improve business efficiency and
competitiveness which results in better customer service.

8. On a help desk, which is the less technically challenging job?

level 1
level 2
level 3
all of the above
Feedback
Correct! Level 1 help desk is the least technically challenging job. These people take the calls, log
details, may solve simple problems or give general advice for common problems (eg. password resets
or MS word problems).
Incorrect. Go to the Reading notes and review the section on Determine levels of support required.

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Information Sheet 1 Lo2: Develop support procedures

Verify support needs

In order to verify support needs, you should contact the organisation and check that you have all the
relevant documentation. This would include a list of all the hardware and software that needs support,
as well as input from key stakeholders.
Verification is a quality assurance technique. You will not only do it before you draft the agreement,
but after as well. If you are thorough with your consultation, you will be less likely to miss things.
A support agreement that has missing key elements would be generally considered unworkable in
today’s present IT environment.
Tip: Sometimes it is difficult to document all the necessary components within a system (especially if
you are new to a workplace or you are a contractor hired to do a specific job). Attempt to understand
and view the system from a few different aspects.
Often IT staff state that a system or a format may be a certain type (eg when designing for the web, a
manager might say all resolutions are 800 x 600 and there is no need to design for any other types).
Try and check with a wide variety of users and see what they have. The time spent doing this may
save a lot of rework or support later!
Be thorough with your investigations and ensure you have all the resources and parameters for your
support project.

Customer expectations

When providing IT services, customer expectations can be a major challenge and often difficult to
define - particularly in the IT industry where change is constant.
Perceptions of performance can differ from customer to service provider. If customers believe that
your service is below standard or that you are unresponsive, then you are - regardless of your own
assessment.
Customer satisfaction levels can fluctuate, often depending on customer expectations or your
performance in providing service. It is important that you, as an IT service provider, monitor both
satisfaction and performance carefully. If satisfaction is increasing, you need to work out what has
changed in the way you provide service. If it is decreasing, go back to customer expectations and look
at how well you meet them. Changes in your business environment and that of the customers also
need to be closely observed.
Source: adapted from http://www.nkarten.com/mce.html

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Establish procedures
What sort of procedures need to be established?

Incident management (for help desk) is actually one of the best ways of answering questions and
providing a professional support service.
Typical incident management involves the following steps:

Image: Typical Incident management procedure: 1 receive, 2 prescreen, 3 authenticate, 4 log, 5 screen, 6
prioritise, 7 assign, 8 track, 9 escalate, 10 resolve, 11 close, 12 archive.

Figure 1: Typical incident management

In the diagram above, the user contacts the help desk or other support position. When the help desk
receives the call, the first step is to authenticate the call (i.e. that the caller is entitle to support and
that the problem is legitimate). The help desk should also give advice about problems that are
currently affecting all users (such as server outages).
Incident management or help desk software is used to log a call. The call is then screened to
determine priority and severity. Problems such as interruptions to a critical system (eg a flight check-
in system at an airport) need to be dealt with swiftly.
Finally, the incident is assigned to the appropriate person to deal with that particular problem.
Support staff can determine who is working on a problem, what action they have taken, and whether
or not they have resolved it through the use of tracking software.
(Adapted from: Beisse, F., A Guide to Computer User Support for Help Desk and Support Specialists
(2nd ed.) (Course Technology, Boston MA, 2001), p. 145-151)

Procedures – questions to be answered

Developing procedures for each of the incident management functions involves answering the
following questions:
 What will be done? (the scope of the procedure)
 Who will do it?
 How will it be done? (eg onsite, over the telephone, etc.)
 How long will it take?

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In addition, we need to know the answers to the following in order to establish the overall support
procedures:
1. What is the primary method of contact? (eg phone, email, fax, web)
2. When - and by whom - will the procedures be reviewed?
3. What performance targets are set by the procedures? (eg respond to priority one requests
within one hour)
4. What reports should be generated by the support function?
5. How will the support function be reviewed and improved?
When you have answered all of these questions, you have basically written your procedures. All that
is left to do is to put them into a standard format. The following is suggested:
 Title of procedure:
o Reception of support calls
 Scope of procedure:
o This procedure covers the initial reception, screening and logging of help desk calls at
ABACUS Computer Support Services Pty Ltd.
 Procedure details:
o Contact with Help Desk: ACSS shall staff a help desk that enables supported clients to
contact it by phone or email.
o Phone contact: Help Desk staff shall establish the legitimacy of the caller and the potential
incident. If legitimate, then the call shall be logged on the Incident Management System.
o Email contact: Help Desk shall acknowledge email requests, then screen and log in the
same manner as phone requests.
 Performance indicators and targets:
o Help Desk staff should answer the telephone within three rings.
o Help Desk staff should acknowledge email requests on the same working day they were
sent.
 Review of procedure:
o This procedure shall be reviewed every six months.
o Date of approval and name of the person responsible for the procedure.
These documented procedures can then be used as part of the agreement with your client. An
agreement has traditionally been called a contract. However, as delivering IT support is a service and
a business expense that managers often want to monitor and measure, it has become popular to use a
service level agreement to document the type and level of support, the procedures and the targets that
must be used and achieved.

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Activity 1
To practise, complete Activity 1 – Customer support procedures, located in the Activities section of
the Topic menu.

Activity 2
To practise, complete Activity 2 – What makes great support?, located in the Activities section of the
Topic menu.

Reflect
Reflect on why performance indicators are important. What would occur if they were not included in
the SLA?
Feedback
Performance indicators are needed to clarify the process expectations and the customer experience.
This helps to quantify the process. Without it, management would find it hard to measure the
outcomes.
A performance indicator could be the amount of time taken to acknowledge an emailed help request.
The performance target in this case could be that all emailed requests are to be acknowledged within
one working day of reception. This enables managers to quantify the quality of the service by
measuring how much the service varies from its performance targets.
The indicators also help to measure services and staff performance. For example, they allow them to
offer bonuses, adjust training strategies and handle customer complaints better.

Write the service level agreement

A service level agreement (SLA) is essentially a contract that binds a service provider to giving a
certain level of service. An SLA has the same legal standing as a contract, in that it legally binds two
parties.
An SLA is usually written; however, two organisations could agree verbally about the level of service
to be provided or could exchange emails. Verbal SLAs or those agreed upon via email are harder to
enforce, and it is easier for misunderstandings to occur using these more informal means.

Why use a written SLA?

 To clarify expectations: The SLA describes in detail the terms of service and the
responsibilities of the customer and service provider.
 To incorporate indicators of quality: This is done by specifying performance indicators
and performance targets. For example, a performance indicator could be the amount of
time taken to acknowledge an emailed help request. The performance target in this case
could be that all emailed requests are to be acknowledged within one working day of

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reception; this enables managers to quantify the quality of the service by measuring how
much the service varies from its performance targets.
 To assist communication and prevent disputes: Written documents can still be
disputed, but less than verbal agreements.

What does an SLA contain?

The broad structure of an SLA contains

 the name of the service provider, customers, etc.
 the objectives of the service
 the process of requesting service (eg method of contact, forms to be used, etc.)
 the service provider’s responsibilities
 the customer’s responsibilities
 service measurements and targets (discussed earlier)
 maintenance and review of the agreement (includes how often the agreement will be reviewed
and the date on which the agreement will cease (for example, it may only have a life of one
year if it is not an ongoing agreement))
 signatures of the customer and service provider and the date on which the agreement was
signed.
In general, an SLA should consist of the following:
 a brief general statement summarizing the services to be provided
 definitions of the two parties to the agreement – who is providing the services to whom
 the duration of the agreement
 the arrangements for monitoring and review
 a procedure for settling disputes
 what resources, information or other help the user may have to provide
 contact points for both parties
 the basis of any charges – what has to be paid and how this is to be paid.

Specifying the services

Specifying the services to be provided puts flesh on the bones of the SLA. Specifications for all types
of support services could set out the following:
 the precise nature of each function or service provided
 the volumes and quality to be achieved for each of these services
 whether optional services are on offer – and, if so, what they are and what they cost

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 what procedure should be followed if it becomes necessary to vary the agreement or
specification
 where applicable, the response times to be achieved by the provider when receiving requests
for assistance
 sanctions for non-supply or poor quality.

SLA examples

Go to http://my.bigpond.com/internetplans/broadband/adsl/plans/ to look at Telstra’s Big Pond ADSL

Service.
This SLA only has some of the parts we have detailed, but it will give you some idea of the type of
quality indicators and targets that can find their way into an SLA. It also shows that SLA’s can be an
effective way of combating bad publicity.
Another example of an SLA is available at this web hosting: http://www.anchor.net.au/dedicated-
sla.py

Summary

This topic covers the development of support procedures for the new system you have implemented
in an organisation. It addressed issues such as procedures, quality issues and standards and how we
incorporate these into a support agreement.

Activity 3
To practise, complete Activity 3 – Establishing a service level agreement, located in the Activities
section of the Topic menu.

Activity 1 – Customer support procedures

Think about one positive and one negative assistance with a telecommunications company an ISP or a
computer supplier. What support aspects were professional and unprofessional in each? (Your
experience may be via telephone, email or even voice recognition). Think about the following
questions: How long did the support process take? Were the steps logical? Did they solve your
problem? Was the call deflected to another area? Can you think of a strategy to deal with the negative
service situation that you described?
Feedback
There is no specific feedback for this activity.
However, you may have discussed how you felt as a user waiting on the phone, in voice activated
loops or even in websites where you could not understand the terminology.

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Activity 2 – What makes great support?

Identify a company that has what you consider a great support philosophy and gather evidence to
support your viewpoint. Download support information such as a service level agreement and the
company’s mission statement. What is positive about the support philosophy in this company? One
example could be http://www.adobe.com/support/programs/policies/sla.html
Feedback
Look back at the Reading. What does an SLA contain? Check that the SLA for the company you have
identified meets the criteria for service level agreements set out in the Reading.

Activity 3 – Establishing a service level agreement

Review the document ‘Key Steps in Establishing a service level agreement’ available at the following
website: http://www.nkarten.com/sla.html#key
Comment on whether or not you agree with these steps.
Feedback
There is no specific feedback for this activity.

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References

There is no specific text for this topic. The following list contains some suggested texts and manuals
only. There are many software manuals, reference books and user guides available from libraries,
bookshops, CD- ROMS, or on the Internet. Ensure that the manuals used are written for the version
of the software being used.
Note that many textbooks only cover the technical issues of a topic and do not discuss client user
relationships. Techniques to improve client and team communication may be found in books on
management techniques and interpersonal skills.

Internet

http://h20219.www2.hp.com/services/cache/10909-0-0-225-121.aspx (HP.com: example of types and

levels of support)
http://www.nkarten.com/sla.html (Naomi Karten: Article on service level agreements and customer
expectations)
http://www.nkarten.com/mce.html (Naomi Karten: Article on service level agreements and customer
expectations; excellent readings on SLA’s and customer expectations)
http://www.cio.com/archive/111598/sla.html (CIO.com: Article on the benefits of an SLA’s)
http://www.dba.co.uk/main/tips.htm (Diane Bailey Associates -Training Consultants: interesting
readings on SLA’s and change management)

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LO2: Test

This quiz will help you review the content you have learned in this topic.
Answer the questions, check the feedback at the end of each question and take note of the areas you
need to review.
1. What is an SLA?
Feedback
A service level agreement (SLA) is essentially a contract that binds a service provider to give a
certain level of service.

2. When developing support procedures for help desk staff, which point would – generally - not be
clarified?
What will be done? (the scope of the procedure)
Who will do it?
How will it be done? (eg onsite, over the telephone, etc.)
How long will it take?
What is the business case underlying the changes in the support procedures?
What actions will be taken first?
Feedback
Correct! When developing support procedures for help desk staff, the business case underlying the
changes in the support procedures would generally not be clarified.
Incorrect. Go to the Reading notes and review the section on Establish procedures.
3. What is often included in an SLA?
Feedback
The following are often included in an SLA:
 the name of the provider, customers, etc.
 the objectives of the service
 the service provider’s responsibilities
 the customer’s responsibilities
 the process of requesting service (eg method of contact, forms to be used, etc.)
4. In your own words, why is a service level agreement necessary?
Feedback
A service level agreement is necessary for the following reasons:

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 To clarify expectations: The SLA describes in detail the terms of service and the
responsibilities of the customer and service provider.
 To incorporate indicators of quality: This is done by specifying performance indicators and
performance targets. For example, a performance indicator could be the amount of time taken
to acknowledge an emailed help request. The performance target in this case could be that all
emailed requests are to be acknowledged within one working day of reception; this enables
managers to quantify the quality of the service by measuring how much the service varies
from its performance targets.
 To assist communication and prevent disputes: Written documents can still be disputed,
but less than verbal agreements.
5. Suggest two reasons why authentication is important for help desk staff.
Feedback
Reasons why authentication is important for help desk staff include the following:
 to assist with security policies and password protection
 to quickly identify the user and understand their specific IT environment
 to help track and escalate user.
6. What would a typical incident management process/report outline in an IT environment include?
Feedback
A typical incident management process/report outline in an IT environment would include the
following:
 the name of the provider
 the name of the customers
 the objectives of the service
 the service provider’s responsibilities
 the customer’s responsibilities
 the process of requesting service (eg method of contact, forms to be used, etc.)

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Information Sheet 1 LO3: Assign support personnel

Identify IT skills
The skills that may be required will vary greatly depending on the technology to be supported.
However, we can classify skills into two categories:
 Technical skills – knowledge of particular hardware (build shells) and software (experience
in Novell, Linux, MS Office or Dreamweaver). This could include other technical skills such
as the ability to write technical documentation, do programming and analyse databases.
 ‘Soft’ skills – communication skills (eg. being a clear communicator, being customer
focused); time management skills; problem solving skills; and the ability to learn new
procedures quickly and ability to work in teams.
In order to determine the skills you require, you should examine the service level agreement (or
contract). The SLA will tell you which particular hardware and software needs to be supported.
Remember: it is very rare these days that individuals are experts in all areas of IT. The sub-areas have
become so specialised that most IT professionals in the last decade have selected a few key areas to
train in (eg databases, multimedia or networks etc).
In addition, the organisation must consider which skills mix is necessary. If the job involves
explaining or demonstrating complex IT concepts to prospective business clients, then they must be
able to communicate and motivate effectively. In the past, some businesses have left this task to IT
developers (who may be great programmers); however, if they also have the skills to ‘sell’ the
product and win over the client, then the project will even make it to first base.
In some areas of the IT industry, soft skills have been undervalued. Remember: communication and
explanation of systems is a vital component of the project, along with the technical aspects!

Activity 1
To practise identifying skill categories, complete Activity 1 – Skills categories, located in the
Activities section of the Topic menu.

Find the right person

Having listed the technical and ‘soft’ skills required to deliver the support, you must now find the
person or people who have these skills.
There are several alternatives:
1. The person you need already works in the organisation either in an IT role or a non IT role.
You may be able to negotiate to obtain that person for the support team.
2. The person you need does not yet work in your organisation. If you find yourself in this
situation, you have several options. For example, you could
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 advertise for a new employee and go through the interview and selection process
engage an employment agency to find the right person for you (eg
http://www.seek.com.au/
3. The skills you require are too diverse, and it is therefore unlikely that any one person has all
of the required skills. If you have this situation you could
 employ more than one person
 outsource part or all of the support function.
Again, it is vital to realise that the interview process is often a poor way to select the best applicant.
Interviews generally favour applicants that are confident, can verbally express themselves, know the
jargon and sell their ‘assets’.
If at all possible, attempt to ask for samples of their work or employ them for a short period to assess
them. Generally, one can gain a good idea of someone’s skill levels within a few days.
If this is impossible, then attempt to look at short-term contracts before offering full-time
employment. This also works both ways, as the employee is able to gain an idea of the work
environment and can assess whether it suits them.

Activity 2
To practise reviewing and writing job placement advertisements, complete Activity 2 – Review job
placement ads, located in the Activities section of the Topic menu.

Technical skills
In the IT industry, technical knowledge, experience and hands-on skill is essential in most areas.
These days, most staff specialise in particular fields:
 security
 web (eg web design, flash, multimedia)
 desktops
 operating systems (eg Windows/Linux)
 networks (eg Novell)
 databases (eg Oracle)
 project management
 business analysis
 software development/programming.
These areas are not always distinct areas of the industry. Many IT professionals’ skills are broad and
encompass many of the above areas. However, it should be noted that few have comprehensive
experience in all.

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It is imperative that before you hire your ‘guru’, you must a have a reasonable idea of what is
expected and be able to measure this in their initial interview and their subsequent work performance.
This is easier said than done.
Many projects have not been completed on time as a result of poor selection of staff and unrealistic
management expectations. If you don’t know about programming then how are you going to be able
to judge pay rates, timeframes, coding quality etc.?
In truth, as some software changes occur every 12-24 months, your new ‘guru’ may be in fact
learning along the way, just as much as you are!

Verify availability

The person or people you decide you want on your support team may or may not be available.
Normally, when you offer somebody a position of employment, they must tell you if they accept that
offer or if they decline the offer.
The person you want may be available but there may be complications, such as the following:
 they may not be available full-time
 they may not be available to work at the times your customer needs support
 they may not be available to start immediately
 they may be in the process of attending numerous interviews and they could play one
employee against each other.
In these cases, you may decide to offer the position to somebody else or negotiate with the person you
have chosen.
Also, as many services are now available twenty four hours a day and technology is changing to
make telecommuting easier, it may be worthwhile discussing other possibilities such as part-time, late
or early starts, telecommuting, etc.
Remember: a satisfied worker often proves to be a productive worker, and if your objectives are
being met, sometimes some flexibility is a useful strategy. This may not work in all industries, but it
certainly has merit in the information technology industry.

Provide support
Now that you have the support agreement and suitably skilled staff, you are ready to start providing
the support. The support will be provided in accordance with the service level agreement.
You will not only provide the customer with support, but you will also do some reporting. This is
covered under the next heading ‘Obtaining feedback’.
You will probably find that there will be some tension between you and the customer regarding the
provision of the service.
The most common problem is a lack of clarity regarding what is supported and what is not or the
customer’s expectations regarding the support.

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Generally you should avoid sticking to the letter of the law by merely quoting the agreement and
refusing to go beyond it. Remember: the user just wants their problem fixed!
However, often you may have to inform your customers on the boundaries of the agreement.
The best way to do this is proactively. Possibly advertise the available support (eg. posters, by email
or internet/intranet). The advertisement could contain the parameters of service contained in the
agreement.
Good customer service skills come into play here too. If your customers are asking for support that is
beyond the scope of the agreement, you could suggest where they could find that help and even help
them navigate to an alternate source of support instead of just saying: ‘It’s beyond our SLA, sorry I
can’t help you.’

Obtain feedback

Feedback is a necessary part of the delivery of the support function. It is information that you receive
from the following people regarding the delivery of the support service:
 your support team
 your customer
 any other appropriate person (eg. hardware or software vendors).

Why?
Why do we need feedback on delivery of support?
 to learn of problems occurring in the delivery of the service. This can help you be proactive
and head-off conflicts before they occur.
 to improve your service to the client by finding out where the problems are occurring and
fixing them. These problems may be recurrent problems in the system you are supporting or
problems with the delivery of the support.

How?
Feedback may take the following forms:
 reports – as detailed in the SLA. These may include the number of support issues dealt with
over a fixed period of time, the time taken to resolve problems and any outstanding support
issues.
 meetings – may be detailed in the SLA, but in any case, it is a good idea to meet with your
support team and your customer to discuss the support service you are providing. This can be
an informal meeting over coffee or a formal meeting with an agenda.
 impromptu feedback – you should always be open to receive feedback from any source at
any time, especially if it means that – ultimately - you can improve the service you deliver.
Many professionals believe that comments received back in forms or evaluation sheets are not always
completely honest, as many do not like criticising via writing. Speaking to a cross-section of users in
an open and frank way is a much better way of obtaining accurate, substantive feedback.
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Here is an example:
ETSA Utilities, South Australia’s electricity distributor, provide online reports detailing how they are
performing against the performance indicators they have set for themselves in their customer charter.
Go to http://www.etsautilities.com.au/default.jsp?xcid=96
This feedback may come
 by phone call
 by email
 by text message
 by fax
 verbally
 by web form
 or any other process you have set up for contact between you, your customer and your team.

Summary

In this unit, we have looked at the delivery of support to users. In order to assign appropriate support
personnel, you need to identify the IT skills required, find the right person and verify their
availability.

Activity 1 – Skills categories

Complete the online matching activity on skills categories (3KB dd_2833_Activity03.htm).

Activity 2 – Review job placement ads

Log on to an online recruitment site such as https://jobs.nsw.gov.au. Look at how their

advertisements are written for IT roles and non-IT roles. Are the ads effective? What could be
improved? Select two or three samples and analyse them. What is it that makes them
effective/ineffective?
Feedback
You should have discussed some of the following points:
 language
 length of ad
 jargon
 skill mix (is too much expected?)
 sales pitch (did it motivate or excite you?)
 title (did it grab your attention?)

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 positioning (was it the first on the list or 131st?).

References

Internet

http://www.nkarten.com/indepth.html (Interesting articles on managing clients and providing

support)
http://www.recruitersnetwork.com/articles/article.cfm?ID=1361 (Article about writing job ads)
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,303959,00.html (Article about writing job ads)
http://www.etsautilities.com.au (Details about ‘Customer Charters’ – go to customer service – look
for customer charter (pdf doc).

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LO3: Test

This quiz will help you review the content you have learned in this topic.
Answer the questions, check the feedback at the end of each question and take note of the areas you
need to review.
1. What are technical skills?
Feedback
Knowledge of particular hardware (building shells) and software (experience in Novell, Linux, MS
Office or Dreamweaver) are considered technical skills. This could include other technical skills
such as the ability to write technical documentation, programming and analysis of databases.
2. What are soft skills?
Feedback
Soft skills are things such as communication skills (eg. being a clear communicator, being customer
focused, etc.), time management skills, problem solving skills, the ability to learn new procedures
quickly and to work in teams.
3. What would you do to recruit IT support staff?
Feedback
What would you do to recruit IT support staff? Possible answers:
 use an online job site because IT staff usually look for employment through this type of
technology
 advertise in papers only
 try and find someone in your organisation, as they will already have a strong understanding of
your business
 use whatever tools and resources you can to find the best person for the job
 divide the task up and bring in specialist consultants for each specific task (as it is now so
diverse)
 hire contractors.
4. According to your readings, why is feedback about the support you are providing so important?
Feedback
Feedback about support provision is important for the following reasons:
 to learn of problems that are occurring in the delivery of the service. This can help you to be
proactive and head-off conflicts before they occur.
 to improve your service to the client by finding out where the problems are occurring and
fixing them. These problems may be recurrent problems in the system you are supporting or
problems with the delivery of the support.
5. What are some of the important issues to consider when writing job advertisements?
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Feedback
Some of the important issues to consider when writing job advertisements include
 language
 length of ad
 jargon
 skill mix (is too much expected?)
 sales pitch (did it motivate or excite you?)
 title (did it grab your attention?)
 positioning (was it the first on the list or 131st?).
6. Why is it important to understand the technical environment when hiring someone to work within such
an environment?
Feedback
Why is it important to understand the technical environment when hiring someone to work within
such an environment?
It is imperative that before you hire your ‘guru’, you must have a reasonable idea of what is expected
and be able to measure that both during their interview and by observing their work performance.
(Note – this is easier said than done).
Many projects have not been completed on time as a result of poor selection of staff and unrealistic
management expectations. If you don’t know about programming, for example, then how are you
going to be able to judge pay rates, timeframes or coding quality?
R

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