In our daily office jobs, each employee uses up to five software applications a day and at least one of them is business crucial. The working of companies relies on the use of these different software packages ever more and we are used to them working perfectly, even flawless I would say. But what if one of them lets us down?
Why do we need end user support?
More and more companies are starting to work paperless, develop their own applications or use tailor-made software. That is why IT departments have seen a serious rise to their workload and staffing these recent years. Which also resulted in a shift of their workload, not only do they need to take care of IT infrastructure they are also seen as the experts when it comes to software applications.
And while we end users expect our app’s to run flawlessly we see in practice that errors or bugs sneak into the software from time to time, or that our laptop also can have an off day and no longer wants to start up. In that case, we can count on these experts to give us end user support this can be by providing technical support or doing maintenance on company computer systems, installing and configuring hardware and software. In all of these cases it involves technical know-how and with business using more and more applications on a daily basis, it is hard to keep track for these experts. To guarantee flawless end-user support more and more IT departments switch to what is called end user support as a Service.
What is End user support as a Service?
End user support as a service is a service that an external partner can offer to either support the current Helpdesk or take full control of it. These services are people-oriented and where called to life to increase productivity of not only the IT department but also the end users. They help in simplifying the management of computer systems and optimize the way people utilize their applications thanks to specific know-how of each software package.
There are three different types of support:
Tier – I Support
This is the basic level of customer support. The customer representative is a generalist with a broad understanding of the product. In this case, they would identify a customer’s needs and provide tips on how to manage a problem.
Tier – II Support
Tier-II support involves technical knowledge and is staffed by technicians who have troubleshooting capabilities beyond the tier-1. The tier-II help desk are either staffed by the company involved or outsourced to a 3rd party. The technicians tend to have a specialization and will determine which specialization best matches the customer’s needs before helping him.
Tier – III Support
Tier-III requires a person who has specialized skills over and above the work the techs do in tier II. This kind of support is usually provided by specialists who were involved in product development. They deal with complex issues. To solve the problem, they will collect as much data as possible from the employees at tiers 1 and 2.
How does EASI approaches End user support as a service
At EASI, we strongly believe in sharing experiences and continuously improving ourselves. From this, we have also set up our End-user support as a service. Our helpdesk consists of different profiles of all expertise and levels (tiers explained above) in order to share experiences and knowledge between colleagues and allowing everyone to reach their full potential.
