Desktop support level 1 and level 2

quinnyfly

Hi, I am new to the desktop support role, I also have no clues about what level 1 and level 2 are about?
Would someone with experience on these, kindly help me out. I have found so far, that doing the MS Desktop Admin cert seems to relate to these roles, but again I am unsure .

Thanks in advance

Steve

odysseyelite

I've never seen a place that had different tiers in desktop support. Its usually the new guy asking the veteran for help. I would say teir one would be more like a helpdesk troubleshooting role and teir two the more hands on reimaging and hardware replacement.

Bryzey

Technical support - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope that explains it for you.

swild

Wikipedia is kinda obtuse about these roles, so here's the skinny:

Level 1 support is the front lines. I have worked in this role for going on 5 years now. We are the first contact when something doesn't work right. Generally, these are the people answering the phones when you call tech support. They deal with the end users and/or customers directly. They are responsible for fixing 85% to 95% of all issues. They are also known as Jacks-of-all-trades due to the fact that they are expected to know the most common issues for the entire environment.

Level 2 support is for when level 1 can't figure it out. Generally level 2 is broken up into small groups or teams that are each responsible for knowing a particular system or application inside and out. They fix issues that would require a level of knowledge greater than that expected of a jack-of-all-trades IT tech support rep. They are also responsible for coming up with fixes for new issues that have not been seen before. They then document the fix and that fix is taught to the level 1's so that is one more thing the level 2's will not have to see again. They also have to know programming/scripting well enough for their particular specialty.

Level 3 is generally the lead or technical managers for the level 2 teams. They may be over several teams in one domain (i.e., Reporting Applications, when there a several programs that provide reporting in the enterprise, each program having its own level 2 team) and seriously have to know their stuff. These people are the experts in their fields and only deal with the most complex, hardest to pin down issues. They wrote the original dial-plans, configured the routers, planned the Sharepoint, rolled out the software packages, and walked uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow. There is nothing better for tech support than experience and these guys have it. They have most likely been in IT for 15+ years, or are otherwise a savant. These guys are also responsible for making the band-aids that keep everything from falling apart, while they are contacting the vendors (aka Level 4) for support. If it can't be fixed through a command line, someone else should have probably fixed it already.

hope this helps.

ptilsen

Swild has a decent enough explanation, but the reality is that level 1/2/3 definitions, job responsibilities, and skill level are going to vary greatly between organizations. At my organization, for example (a small MSP), it is more an arbitrary summary of skill level used to help in the escalation process. In a larger organization, it can be exactly how Swild described, or it can be very different. At my organization, there's really no such thing as a level 1 who's been in that position for five years. Five years of experience would represent a level 2 or 3 almost by definition. At another organization, again, level 1 could be staffed with nothing but people in the 2-6 range.

So forget all the details and thing of it this way: Higher numbers represent higher escalation points and/or higher skill level. Level 1s typically do the easier or less technical work; level 3s do the harder or more technical work; level 2s are somewhere in between. Sometimes level 4 exists, and it's usually filled with SMEs or old-timers. Sometimes level 3 doesn't exist.

quinnyfly

Thanks Swild, that's a bloody good and extensive explanation, it clears it up. I very much appreciate your reply and thank you very much.

Steve

quinnyfly

Hi Ptilsen,

Thank you, all seems pretty straight forward now, I could well imagine that different organsisations have different levels etc, much like different security policies, no too many are ever exactly the same, and seem more or less based on the organisations buisness infrastructure.

Thanks heaps
Steve

N2IT

I find that in larger organizations the tier 1 and tier 2 model works well. A service desk from 14-50+ I like having the two tiers for several reasons.

- It gives the tier 1 guys something to work toward. They have a reason to learn and grow and it gives them another position to gun for.
- On the flipside the tier 2 guys feel more prestige and usually gain additional money for the position
- You create a filtering system which I find extremely valuable. I've seen metrics that shows cost per incident and resolution percentages and within the tier 2 system you can save money. Instead of having a 50 usd guy fixing a lesser incident you have a guy making 21 an hour instead performing the same task.
- Management can manage the environment better and foster a rewarding work environment. Which usually leads to stronger morale and higher retention rates.