P2 - explain the impact of organisational policies and procedures on the provision of technical support

Jacques Harris - P2 - explain the impact of organisational policies and procedures on the provision of technical support.

Task: Understand how organisational policies and procedures influence technical support

Working procedures and policies:

Organisational guidelines

Reporting of faults:

In IT support, reporting a fault the sooner it happens, will give you a better chance of fixing it (depending on what it it), and it will mean that whatever it has affected, won't be disrupted for that long. Reporting faults also allows the team leader to prioritise his faults, so the one that is of more importance, can get done as soon as possible. If a fault has occurred, it should be reported to the next in command to allow them to make the necessary decisions on how about solving it.

Internet use:

All company policies are fairly similar when it comes to internet use (from what i have found when researching). The internet should only be used for work, not for personal or pleasure. Looking at illegal sites or playing games during work hours is breaking company policy and should be dealt with accordingly. If you're caught doing these things, you can potentially lose your job, or lose pay for the hours you have wasted.

Security:

Now, security is a major policy in any organisation, especially in IT. In IT support, they will not take any precautions. Backing up data to another server or outsourced company will be done on a regular basis, to make sure that if anything goes down or gets tampered with, they have multiple spares located elsewhere. Some companies have policies on USB sticks and external hard drives at work, some allows this, and others, not so much. The risks that come with this is that work can be stolen and copied onto memory sticks, also, unsafe USB sticks can have viruses on them, which can potentially be harmful to the system.

Having an anti-virus software of some type is also a must, as this will stop any malicious software, hackers or viruses from accessing the companies system, and it's the same with a Firewall as well, as this will stop anything from breaching the network.

Doing a regular virus check is needed in any company, not just in IT.

Service level agreements (SLA): 

The SLA will be different depending on the company. It is the contract between the company and what the IT support staff need to do with their job. An example of an SLA for IT support would be found on page 1:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/its/help/documentation/pdf/public/sla.pdf

 • Manage and develop a secure, resilient and high performance College network

Infrastructure for data and voice (including provision for remote and wireless access)

• Provide a set of core C&IT services which are secure, up-to-date, easy to use and meet the actual and perceived needs of users. These include:

o Authentication and authorisation (user account provisioning)

o Email

o Web (institutional websites, intranets and web content management system)

o Virtual learning environment (Blackboard)

o General purpose application software

o Data storage and backup

o Network printing

o Anti-spam and virus protection

o Workstation rooms for open access and teaching

o Management information and administrative systems

Confidentiality: 

Confidentiality is really important in IT technical support as data about the company can easily be uploaded to the web or stolen by employees if they choose to. Having a policy in place, will not stop anyone from doing this, but it will make them think twice about what will happen if something like this is done. Confidentiality between the company and the customers is also part of the policy. The company is not allowed to give or display any of the customer personal details with anyone without their consent. Doing so can result in a law suit or fine.

Sensitivity of information:

This comes into confidentiality, as in you cannot make the companies personal information public to anyone or share it with unauthorised people. Breaking this would be a breach in the company’s security and will most probably get you fired and/or you will have to pay a fine of some sort. In IT support, sharing out personal company information can mean that not only will the company's system be at risk from hackers, it will also allow competitors to know what rival companies have.

Organisational constraints

Costs of:

Not all companies have millions of pounds to buy all the best equipment, so when it comes to IT support will have to find the tools, software, and hardware as cheap as they can, but also that allows them to do the job effectively and efficiently. This of course will mean that it may take more time to do certain job because they don't have all the tools, or it may mean that they cannot do the job altogether of they don't have the correct software etc.

Resources required:

Having the correct resources to do the job is important for efficiency in IT support, but if they don't have enough of something then it will mean that it will take longer to do a certain job. For example, if they don't have enough staff, or the correct software and hardware, they will have to find alternate routes to get the job done.

Time:

Prioritisation is key in IT support, as the bigger jobs need to be done first in order for everything to work. Having a log or a spreadsheet to keep everything can really help you out on time as you don't have to think about what needs to be done. Having the correct equipment can also save you time, for example, if you have a really slow PC to do a job on, it will take a considerably more time to get a job done obviously.

User expertise:

When it comes to IT technical support having someone who knows what they are doing is always a bonus. If the employee is asked a question by the customer, but he cannot ask it due to not having the knowledge, he will potentially lose that customer, therefore, the company will lose out on profits, and that customer will probably ask for help elsewhere. When it comes to the maintenance of the PC, having someone who knows about the problem in hand will help you dramatically and will not waste as much time as someone who has to research the problem to find out how to fix the problem.

Outsourcing of support services:

Having an outsourced company to do IT support for you may have its benefits, but it will also have its downsides. Having a company that specialise in IT support could mean that they can get the job done faster, they have all the necessary tools required to do the job, etc. the down sides from this is that the outsourced company is representing your company so if they mess up, it will look bad on you. Also, it will cost your company a fair bit of money depending on who you go with.