What is IT Support? Roles, Levels and Benefits

What is IT Support?

IT support is a form of technical support that provides support and assistance to businesses, their employees, customers, and end-users with various technological issues like computers, printers, networks, and devices.

The Evolution of IT Support Technologies

IT support has significantly evolved and advanced in the past few years. From being limited to fixing computer systems and office appliances it has now evolved into a modern mechanism to make the user experience smoother through technical support. This evolution of IT support can be indicated through the integration of new technologies that has improved the overall user experience through prompt problem identification and response providing companies with freedom to excel in what they do without having to worry about technical restrictions.

IT support has been revolutionized with the development of technologies such as virtual chatbots, predictive intelligence and cloud based support. Virtual agent chat bots contribute to the major shift in the field of IT support through instant solutions and responses. The other significant development of IT support is Predictive intelligence which facilitates the IT systems to predict issues before they arise. Based on data analytics and machine learning algorithms, predictive intelligence allows problem-solving before they occur and assists in decreasing downtime and increasing system uptime.

While talking about the accessibility of IT support, cloud based IT support has proven to be a revolution in the digital world. It enables professionals to provide support to clients remotely, increasing the scalability of businesses as they can help resolve issues from anywhere with access to the internet. It also allows software companies and IT support teams to push real time updates and helps in efficient collaboration among the team members of the organization.

What Does IT Support Do?

IT support has developed into becoming an essential part of the organizational assistance for both the employees and end users. In this fast paced world, organizations strive for uninterrupted operations and that is what IT support thrives on. The influence of IT support is absolutely essential as technology in today’s world is ubiquitous. IT support has moved past the conventional responsibility of just managing hardware and software installation to providing instant solutions for technical issues allowing organizations to run their administrative function in a more tailored and smooth way.

9 Major Roles and Responsibilities of IT support

1. Ensuring uninterrupted system operations and minimizing downtime in production environment
2. Safeguarding systems against cyber threats and attacks and ensuring proper practices are implemented in the organization to keep data safe
3. Helping employees access the work desk from anywhere in the world increasing their productivity while also allowing room for remote work setting
4. Helping users to install software and setup hardware (Installing and configuring computer hardware, software, systems, networks, printers and scanners)
5. Server maintenance (Planning and undertaking scheduled maintenance upgrades)
6. Computer/System maintenance and repair and upkeep of every technological tool in the organization
7. Disaster Recovery (Restore deleted important files, both natural and digital)
8. Logging and supporting support/troubleshooting calls
9. Helping employers and employees with user account management and password recovery

What are the Crucial Things to Look While Hiring an IT Support Company?

You should be taking some major consideration when hiring an IT support company like, prioritize a provider offering comprehensive services, local availability, scalability, transparent pricing, a proven track record, technical expertise, effective communication, and continuous monitoring and security measures. Ensure they can adapt to your business needs and provide transparent contracts. These elements collectively ensure a reliable and adaptable IT support partner.

Levels of IT Support

In order to make sure that technical issues are managed properly and proficiently, the IT support is structured into a tier system that makes it reliable and highly efficient. The three-tier model covers Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 which outlines tasks and expertise levels to deliver effective solutions to a variety of IT issues that come up in an organization, from the root level with greater reliability.

Here’s a list of 3 different levels of IT Support:

1. L1 Support
2. L2 Support
3. L3 Support

L1 Support

Level 1 Support acts as the frontline of defense against common technical issues. This level is typically the first point of contact for users facing technical glitches. The primary objective here is to provide basic tech support and troubleshooting. Common tasks at this level include:

1. Resolving username and password problems.
2. Assisting with software installations and hardware setup.
3. Verifying physical layer issues.
4. Navigating users around application menus.
5. Uninstalling/reinstalling basic software applications.
6. Verification of proper hardware and software setup.

If the issues are beyond the scope of Level 1 Support, they are escalated to Level 2 Support for a more in-depth analysis and resolution.

L2 Support

Level 2 Support also known as level 2 support, support line 2, tier II support, and administrative level support, delves deeper into technical issues, providing a more in-depth technical analysis and resolution compared to Level 1. This level of IT support is equipped with more technical knowledge and is capable of handling more complex issues. Tasks at this level include:

1. Reviewing the work order to see what has already been accomplished by the Tier I technician.
2. Onsite installations or replacement of various hardware components.
3. Software repair and diagnostic testing.
4. Utilization of remote control tools to take over the user’s machine for the sole purpose of troubleshooting and finding a solution to the problem.

If the issues remain unresolved at this level, they are further escalated to Level 3 Support, which possesses a higher degree of technical expertise.

L3 Support

Level 3 Support also known as level 3 support, 3rd line support, back-end support, support line 3, and high-end support is tasked with handling the most complex and advanced problems. To be a Level 3 IT Professionals need a higher degree of technical knowledge and the ability to provide solutions to more complex problems and may liaise with the vendors of hardware and software products to devise solutions. Tasks at this level include:

1. Reviewing the work order and assessing the time already spent with the customer to prioritize the work.
2. Handling the most difficult or advanced problems related to product glitches that require software updates or patches to fix or hardware issues that require additional components.
3. Engaging with hardware or software vendors to develop solutions to complex issues.
4. Ensuring that the solutions devised are comprehensive and sustainable.

What are the Most Common IT Support Issues?

10 Most Common IT Support Issues that users encounter:

1. Connectivity issues
2. Printing problems
3. Installing software
4. Swapping out hardware
5. Email issues
6.  Forgotten Passwords
7. Accidentally Deleted Important Files
8. Slow Performance
9. Overheating
10. Slow Internet Connection

There are several IT issues that users in a company encounter on a daily basis. This could include things that might be trivial for IT professionals but, for the everyday user problems like the printer not working or the WiFi dropping too often is something that causes a lot of stress, especially in a work environment. Such issues sometimes present themselves in a unique way and require a certain level of technical knowledge to fix.

IT support teams work to help end-users with these issues on top of other challenging tasks that help to keep the IT operations of any organization smooth and free-flowing. Without proper IT support, common system issues may cause a lot of waste of company resources, and time, and an overall lack of efficiency.

What are the Benefits of IT Support

Top 6 Benefits of IT Support For Your Business

1. Increase uptime and boost ROI: From e-commerce to corporate companies, technology, and IT infrastructure is engrained in most of the institutions these days in certain ways. Despite the advancement of technology, some technical errors are inevitable and every second of downtime can lead to a loss of several dollars for the business owner and this is exactly why having an IT assistance team is absolutely crucial for modern businesses. Having IT support can help business owners resolve their technical issues promptly, saving them from substantial financial losses. Not just this, IT support can also enhance the tools and systems implemented in the business leading to an increased employee performance which contributes to an Increase in ROI.
2. Cut off Maintenance Costs: Having an IT support team helps your organization cut-off on several maintenance costs. The practical approach of taking preemptive measures first to identify and resolve problems before they arise enables a reduction in maintenance costs, and costly emergency repairs leading to an overall cost savings that would benefit any organization in the long run.
3. Increase employee productivity: The availability of IT services safeguards faster response time, which allows employees to get instant and accurate solutions to their issues. IT support not only reduces downtime but also assists employees in resolving issues without delay which boosts their morale and productivity alike. An IT support team that is swift to address user issues is a key component of the efficient operation of a business, and this is achieved by helping employees get their work done without any issues.
4. Enhanced Cybersecurity: As cyber security threats evolve rapidly, IT support is crucial for detecting and averting breaches and attacks before they happen. The IT support professionals improve an organization’s security by employing updated cutting-edge tools, methods, and solutions to decrease IT vulnerability by addressing various cyber threats and preventing unauthorized & unrestricted access to company data and infrastructure. This helps the company stay secure in the cyber sphere and saves invaluable data and resources.
5. Automated IT Support Services: Automated IT support provides quick answers to end users’ queries and solves issues as quickly as possible. Not only does it automate end-user queries but also resolves ambiguities that may cause confusion and delay in company operation. Automation of support services also saves time and manual human efforts for things like data collection, query registration, and so on which means the business can utilize their workforce in a more efficient way for things that truly require human effort.
6. Solutions for all IT issues: In general, IT support teams provide solutions to a wide variety of tech issues that arise in any business house. Whether it’s helping an employee recover their forgotten password or supporting an end user with software installation, IT support provides solutions to all kinds of IT-related issues assisting in streamlining communications and solving issues proficiently that uplift the operation and quality of business and services the business aims to provide. Their complete security, maintenance and upkeep services help businesses reach new heights by keeping them free of problems related to Information and Technology.

In-house VS Outsourced IT Support

The decision to manage IT support in-house or to outsource it is a strategic one, with implications for a company’s operational efficiency, cost management, and technological agility. Both models come with their unique set of advantages and are suited to different organizational needs and contexts. Here’s a detailed exploration of both models along with their respective benefits:

Get the Right IT Support for Your Business Needs

If you are aiming to accomplish IT agility and Operational resilience, selecting the right IT support is the key. When deciding, it is essential to emphasize on factors such as full-service offerings, scalability, response time, expertise in cloud solutions, strong security measures, and more importantly, cost-effectiveness. With Cloudavize emerging as a go-to and one-stop solution for all your IT support needs in the Dallas Fort Worth area, you need to look no further to get a hold of the tech issues that are plaguing your business operation. Cloudavize offers a wide range of IT support services tailored to your needs, executed to perfection at competitive pricing that you would not find elsewhere.

With our team of experts in IT security, implementation, network security, software development and maintenance, hardware engineers and cloud technology, we provide you the overall security and troubleshooting package that ensures you don’t lose a penny due to the technology that you adopted to help run your business smoothly.