IT support – it’s not what you think it is

[The first of a mini series for you to follow]

Ok maybe it sort of is, in as much as when you think IT support you think broken printer, faulty keyboard, computer won’t turn on – and that very much is IT support. But these days that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the huge range of topics that come under the IT support umbrella.

20 years ago (even ten in fact), it used to be all about fixing broken equipment. But these days most companies – and in fact individuals – rely heavily on secure, accessible, guaranteed data. So what we’re fixing isn’t always a tangible thing, it’s a system.

But it doesn’t always have to be broken – a lot of what we do is putting new systems in place, upgrading and migrating software, optimising existing programmes so that they run faster, hold more, get smarter. It’s technology management, if you will.

And with the world’s increasing reliance on data came the rise of cybercrime – hacking and the like. Simply put, when they’re smart, we have to be smarter. It’s our job to stop them getting in, or kick them out and fix things if they have already infiltrated.

How do we do this? Well since you ask…

We have to know the trends, we have to know the latest information and techniques, and we have to know how to prevent or fix every possible problem. We have to be continuously learning.  Because no one wants to hear “I’m sorry there’s nothing we can do” when the stakes are as high as involving all of your worldly data.

A broken printer is annoying, a data breach has the potential to be catastrophic. The stakes have got higher so IT support has had to take on a whole new meaning.

Stay Safe.