Cloud Computing and the IT Help Desk

Posted on June 13, 2014 by · Posted in IT Help Desk, Web+Center

A well-maintained network is the cornerstone of any office. While sales teams and customer service representatives are essential to running a successful business, they can’t do their jobs without a solid technological framework to support them. When the system goes down, productivity drops across the entire company. Because the whole system depends upon its technological infrastructure, a high-functioning IT department is of the utmost importance to keep operations running successfully. Without an efficient IT help network, small hiccups in the system can turn into prolonged disasters, causing hours or even days of lost productivity. As such, it is imperative to ensure a streamlined response program is in place to correct any problems in a quick, efficient manner.

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Help from Above

For a large company, software infrastructure can become unnecessarily complicated fairly easily. Even worse, communication lines can get clogged, leading to departments lacking access to servers they need or operating upon outdated information. Utilizing internet-based servers combats these problems. By moving servers to the cloud, companies can eliminate the need for re-sharing or communicating files as they’re edited. Real-time computing allows for instantaneous file updating and transfer, bypassing lengthy communications networks and ensuring service integrity. Furthermore, immediate updates ensure nobody misses the change, updating files and requests across the entire network simultaneously. There is no longer a need to wonder if a coworker received an important e-mail or file because all requests and changes are automatically updated on their end the minute they are sent.

 

Furthermore, moving operational servers to the internet brings increased accessibility. When a network exists in virtual space, there’s never a need to be physically present and connected to a server to work. Everyone with access to the software has shared access to the entire network. At any given time, all employees and coworkers are connected, reachable, and fully able to respond to the needs of others at a moment’s notice. Constant connection allows for quicker response time and instant communication. Instead of waiting for a reply, hoping the relevant departments have received their petitions, those making requests can immediately know when their petition has been queued while also staying current with the progress the department is making. It allows for up-to-the-minute analysis of the current workload and an informed estimate of any wait time before the petition is answered.

IT Help Desk

The advantages of cloud infrastructure are only magnified when applied to a company’s IT department. One of the common complaints about IT is the response time for each request. With real-time system communication, the downtime between petitioning the IT team and the team’s receipt is virtually eliminated. Without the risk of a request becoming lost in a backlog of e-mails and scheduled maintenance, employees in other departments can guarantee their needs are known, allowing the IT department to address them in an efficient, timely manner.

The greatest means to achieving this end is implementing IT help desk ticket software. As the name suggests, IT help desk software is specifically designed for queuing requests made of the technology department. Ticketing programs instantly convert customer or coworker requests from e-mails, forum posts, or chat interfaces to easily managed support “tickets” for IT to work through. Functioning like tabs in a web browser, support tickets are easily cataloged in a systematic way that makes them easy to navigate and resolve. In essence, it automates all the clerical work associated with handling technology concerns, streamlining the process and freeing IT professionals to focus more time on keeping the company’s systems running smoothly.

IT Help Desk Flowchart

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Understanding how an internet-based server benefits ticketing software requires no huge stretch of imagination. The instantaneous updates cloud-computing offers prevents the chance of any hiccups along the operational line, ensuring requests aren’t lost to communication breakdowns or buried under other pending issues. Furthermore, the ease of access means the IT team can stay on top of incoming tickets even as they’re handling other projects, even when a job requires them to out of the office or even the entire building. The full capabilities of ticketing software accelerate IT projects so efficiently that they can potentially the double the team’s uptime and productivity. A technology professional’s greatest tool, help desk ticketing software is an asset to any large company.