Skills a Desktop Support Tier 2 SHOULD HAVE?

Bchen2

Since Im trying to move to Desktop Tier 2 position what skills and knowledge must one have ?
I been in Help Desk for 2 years I plan on taking a new position soon somewhere in Desktop Support
I'm trying to keep my skills current and refresh some of the things I should know
I would appreciate any one help thanks.
I know every organization is different but I would like at least an idea of what MOST Desktop Techs should know at least before learning the organization software and so on
( Note: I have the soft skills, I just need to review the technical skills I should have)

olaHalo

I always found helpdesk to be harder than desktop support.

What Id recommend you know is
-basic networking
-how to image workstations
-basic active directory (passwords, new objects, simple gpos)
-know the software youre supporting
-understand common issues and how to fix them quickly (things unplugged, outlook wont open, cant login)
-know how to setup network printers and troubleshoot them
-how to map drives
-know basic scripts and local group policy

All I could think of. Most of this youll learn while doing it if you dont know. Good luck

GreaterNinja

ability to deploy, refresh pcs
ability to troubleshoot and configure wifi on all sorts of devices.
trouble shoot mail connectivity and archiving/storage
troubleshoot network drives and software configuration
troubleshoot java / flash and security issues.
ability to troubleshoot and resolve malware/virus issues + security risks
how to add users to local admin group, join computers to domains and rejoin them
trouble shoot network issues.
remote support via phone & remote viewer/control clients.
some server knowledge helps.
--very important to know how to backup and migrate data correctly
--troubleshoot vpn / connectivity issues.

verbhertz

Those lists look good. I'm not sure about troubleshooting VPN issues. If there is truly a VPN issue that should fall on the network team. But I think I get what you mean.

nascar_paul

GreaterNinja wrote: »

ability to deploy, refresh pcs
ability to troubleshoot and configure wifi on all sorts of devices.
trouble shoot mail connectivity and archiving/storage
troubleshoot network drives and software configuration
troubleshoot java / flash and security issues.
ability to troubleshoot and resolve malware/virus issues + security risks
how to add users to local admin group, join computers to domains and rejoin them
trouble shoot network issues.
remote support via phone & remote viewer/control clients.
some server knowledge helps.
--very important to know how to backup and migrate data correctly
--troubleshoot vpn / connectivity issues.

It's like you got a report on my day yesterday. That list is spot on!

coreyb80

verbhertz wrote: »

Those lists look good. I'm not sure about troubleshooting VPN issues. If there is truly a VPN issue that should fall on the network team. But I think I get what you mean.

Here at my gig we troubleshoot some VPN issues as they may relate to either the browser or the application itself. Otherwise, they get pushed to our VPN guy on the security team.

Chinook

Consider these

- SCCM. Desktop Support is becoming Desktop management. Even the MS certifications reflect that
- Windows Deployment Server - Build & deploy until you can do it in your sleep.
- App V virtualization stuff.
- All things VPN related.
- Basic active directory and group policy.

markulous

coreyb80 wrote: »

Here at my gig we troubleshoot some VPN issues as they may relate to either the browser or the application itself. Otherwise, they get pushed to our VPN guy on the security team.

Yeah, client-side VPN troubleshooting should fall onto help desk/desktop support.

Anonymouse

verbhertz wrote: »

Those lists look good. I'm not sure about troubleshooting VPN issues. If there is truly a VPN issue that should fall on the network team. But I think I get what you mean.

That's kind of dependent on if there's a localized issue with the end user. It could be a problem on their computer such as configurations or the program itself. It could also be whatever network they are on. If they are having home network problems it could be their own equipment or network service so in some cases they'd have to be referred to their ISP tech support. Lastly, I've seen most VPN issues easily resolved due to procedural errors with the user not knowing how to connect. Back when I was in helpdesk most VPN issues consisted of user trying to connect with VPN before they even connected their device to a network. To me that's all the crap that level 1 support has to deal with. Network admins should be dealing with global issues affecting multiple users/locations and entire systems.