About extended technical support

In this topic I would like to talk about what we actually do. About extended technical support. What is the essence of it (the phrase “technical support” is associated with a minor computer repair service or with such advice to users as “plug the cord into an outlet”). When the need arises to use technical support. After all, the most important thing is to be in the right place at the right time.

To better understand the situation, the life cycle of an 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 detailed stage "operation", and other stages. But in this case we will use the simplified life cycle diagram. This gives 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 field 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 of progress. Here we see a huge number of IT startups, the time lag between new developments, products, implementations is hardly more than a few weeks.
And if we consider the IT services industry, most companies also create and implement new ones: new products, new software. Even the introduction of some not entirely new solutions can be viewed as a stage of creation from the point of view of the customer. Yes, 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 introduction of a new system. The need for implementation is vividly 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 an IT system shifts a little: activity begins to manifest itself during the completion of the life of the IT system (search for new systems, providers of IT services), then something new is being introduced more actively or the old is being modernized. , and then you can safely operate.
What happens after the introduction of the system at the operation stage? And here is what: IT company introduces something to the customer, makes sure that the system is working on the first couple, and "goodbye". And then the customer usually understands on their own. Because what’s so difficult here: you’ve implemented everything, use it for health. However, there are many examples when the new system becomes a curse, both for users and for IT employees of the company. As a rule, after implementation, the system needs to be maintained: that is, integrated with the existing infrastructure, protected databases from falling, updated versions, eliminated errors, etc. This, in fact, is the meaning of expanded technical support - to ensure the continuous operation of the system.
Not so long ago we carried out a project for a large government customer, by the example of which this principle can be seen in action. They introduced the system, and then the problems started: here it will “fall off”, then there it will “close”. And we did so that the implemented system could be easily operated without the risk that everything else would “fall”. If we talk in general, we can distinguish the following elements of support:
- advisory assistance in the "hot line" (by phone, fax, e-mail) on the installation, configuration and use of the system;
- troubleshooting, errors in the system;
- regular diagnostics of the system performance using test programs and utilities recommended by the system developer;
- restoration of the system’s performance in case of failures in the operation of the server software and database management system, hardware failures and in other emergency situations;
- optimization of operation in order to improve system performance;
- informing the customer about the detected errors and vulnerabilities in the system;
- implementation of the system modification in order to eliminate errors, deficiencies (defects) of functional tasks found during operation;
- advisory and technical assistance on the integration of the system with the existing infrastructure;
- and etc.
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Here it is our bread - maintenance systems and databases during operation. In other words, we are busy with what we have implemented and not only. And this is a continuous process of improving the system and preventing failures, and not a one-time repair of a computer on call.
As for the final stage of the life cycle of the IT system, the main thing here is to understand in time that the system has become obsolete. But you don’t have to worry about this, we have a lot of implementers, and there are always presentations of new solutions. It remains to choose the appropriate option, implement, and everything will repeat as before.