TECHNICAL SUPPORT

What Are The Main Responsibilities?

You will be right at the heart of matters as you need to deal directly
with employees and customers who have technical problems such as
trouble with their email accounts, forgotten passwords or viruses.
Typical Technical Support responsibilities include:

 Installation & configuration of a company’s computer hardware

operating systems and applications.
 Maintenance and monitoring of computer networks and systems.
 Logging the queries of customers and employees.
 Analysis of call logs in order to discover any underlying issues or
trends.
 Diagnosing and solving hardware or software faults.
 Testing and evaluating new technology.
 Performing electrical safety checks on the company’s computer
equipment.
 Responding to call-outs in a timely fashion.
 Following instructions, either written or in diagram form, in order to
set up a system or fix a fault.

You could choose to provide after-sales support for software or

equipment suppliers or businesses that specialize in providing
customers with support and maintenance.

What About Work Environment & Schedule?

Your work schedule will depend entirely on the type of IT Support role
you choose. For example, you’ll probably work shifts if you are
involved in customer support. If you are supporting employees you’re
more likely to work traditional 9-5 weekday hours.
If you are responsible for networks or hardware, you may need to lift
heavy equipment and while the dress code is typically casual, you are
still expected to dress smartly and professionally. Depending on the
role, you may be required to travel and overnight absence from home
may also be necessary on rare occasions.

How Do I Get A Job In IT Technical Support?

Although a degree is not strictly necessary, this is an extremely
competitive field so you should look to attain a degree in one of the
following subjects:

 Business IT
 Software Development
 Computer Networking & Hardware
 Computer Science

When applying for a job, you need to find out the programs and
applications used by the employer as they will obviously want
candidates with the requisite experience. Therefore, if your
experience involves Linux or Cisco technologies, for example, you
should only apply for jobs where the employer uses the same
technologies.

There are also postgraduate qualifications such as Microsoft, Linux,

Cisco or Unix certifications which will greatly enhance your
employability not to mention your salary.

Assuming you study a degree course, it is a good idea to get as much

practical work experience as possible. Examples include year
internships or summer placements. Tech Support Specialists are
employed in a number of areas such as:

 Desktop Support
 Managed Hosting Providers
 Contract Hardware Maintenance
 Computer Networks

There are a host of organisations in various fields looking for qualified

IT Tech Support employees including:

 Educational Establishments
 Health Trusts
 Call Centres
 Retail Stores
 IT Maintenance Companies
 Suppliers of Computer Equipment/Software

In terms of career progression, your best bet is to target specific

technologies in order to develop in-depth knowledge and become an
expert in them. Once you have gained the proper certifications, you
will be able to apply for specialist roles within an organization.

Business Information Technology -

The purpose of business information technology is to meet the growing needs of
companies and the expanding expectations of customers. Today’s employers
leverage business information technology to find the right balance between
sound business practices and complex computer systems. This field helps
companies keep up with continual hardware, software, system and procedural
changes. Effective management of technology enables businesses to better serve
customers by increasing employee engagement, access to information and
flexibility in responding to business changes and challenges.
In the modern business world, relevant knowledge and information are non-
tangible commodities that drive success and competitiveness. Efficient
information and communication systems will continually minimize risks,
strengthen organizations and support proactive business strategies. One of the
most important functions of business information technology is to combine
information competencies with communication technology and management
skills. Business information technology professionals offer expertise in data
security, modeling, management and system upgrades.
Computer Software Development

According to IBM Research: “Software development refers to a set of

computer science activities dedicated to the process of creating,
designing, deploying and supporting software.”
Software itself is the set of instructions or programs that tell a computer
what to do. It is independent of hardware and makes computers
programmable. There are three basic types:
System software to provide core functions such as operating systems,
disk management, utilities, hardware management and other operational
necessities.

Programming software to give programmers tools such as text editors,

compilers, linkers, debuggers and other tools to create code.

Application software (applications or apps) to help users perform

tasks. Office productivity suites, data management software, media
players and security programs are examples. Applications also refers to
web and mobile applications like those used to shop on Amazon.com,
socialize with Facebook or post pictures to Instagram. 1
A possible fourth type is embedded software. Embedded systems
software is used to control machines and devices not typically
considered computers — telecommunications networks, cars, industrial
robots and more. These devices, and their software, can be connected
as part of the Internet of Things (IoT).2
Software development is primarily conducted by programmers, software
engineers and software developers. These roles interact and overlap,
and the dynamics between them vary greatly across development
departments and communities.
Programmers, or coders, write source code to program computers for
specific tasks like merging databases, processing online orders, routing
communications, conducting searches or displaying text and graphics.
Programmers typically interpret instructions from software developers
and engineers and use programming languages like C++ or Java to
carry them out.

Software engineers apply engineering principles to build software and

systems to solve problems. They use modeling language and other tools
to devise solutions that can often be applied to problems in a general
way, as opposed to merely solving for a specific instance or client.
Software engineering solutions adhere to the scientific method and must
work in the real world, as with bridges or elevators. Their responsibility
has grown as products have become increasingly more intelligent with
the addition of microprocessors, sensors and software. Not only are
more products relying on software for market differentiation, but their
software development must be coordinated with the product’s
mechanical and electrical development work.

Software developers have a less formal role than engineers and can be

closely involved with specific project areas — including writing code. At
the same time, they drive the overall software development lifecycle —
including working across functional teams to transform requirements into
features, managing development teams and processes, and conducting
software testing and maintenance.3
The work of software development isn’t confined to coders or
development teams. Professionals such as scientists, device fabricators
and hardware makers also create software code even though they are
not primarily software developers. Nor is it confined to traditional
information technology industries such as software or semiconductor
businesses. In fact, according to the Brookings Institute (link resides
outside of ibm.com), those businesses “account for less than half of the
companies performing software development.”
An important distinction is custom software development as opposed to
commercial software development. Custom software development is the
process of designing, creating, deploying and maintaining software for a
specific set of users, functions or organizations. In contrast, commercial
off-the-shelf software (COTS) is designed for a broad set of
requirements, allowing it to be packaged and commercially marketed
and distributed.