The pandemic has changed so many things in the world, but from a working perspective, there has been a huge shift even in IT support services.
In pre-pandemic times, only a small percentage of people worked remotely. During the pandemic, and going forward, that percentage has grown substantially. But what does that all mean from an IT perspective?
Well, one of the first things to know is that IT support has been hit hard by the pandemic, but not in the way that most people have been hit. So, how?
IT Support Services Have Changed Perspective
Think of it from this point of view.
Pre-pandemic, IT support would have involved helping a bunch of people all within the same building. Now, those people are all within their own homes, so IT support services have had to change the way in which they do things.
The problem is that the problems are the same, but helping the individuals will be different.
Previously, IT support would already understand the connection aspect, the hardware being used, and everything else as it was all together in the one building or location. Now, IT support had to work at getting the right information from people on their own individual connection, their home printer, and even the technology they were using in order to work.
Troubleshooting Changed for IT Support Services
What this all meant was that troubleshooting from the perspective of IT support services had to change. There had to be more of a focus on troubleshooting from distance and being able to guide people through various aspects.
But then, there has also been a change in the questions that are being asked.
Previously, people would ask IT support about email or why their printer wasn’t working. That is something that still happened during the pandemic, even though the individual was at home, but issues surrounding online meetings become more prominent. Let’s face it, before the pandemic very few people had heard of Zoom, and then suddenly everyone was having meetings on it.
That change in approach, and the way in which people had to work, let to an enforced change for IT support.
But There are Improvements
But this is a good point to make, there are improvements in the way that IT support services can make a difference.
People are now so used to things being done remotely, that they don’t think twice about getting support remotely. It speeds up support, so people can often be back online in less time than they would have been with the old way of doing things.
But it also means one other important thing, having the correct tools in place.
As an IT company, it’s essential that there is the ability to connect remotely to an individual in order to deal with the issue at hand.
Additional Issues
However, there are also some additional issues that companies have been forced into dealing with thanks to the pandemic.
Security, the use of a VPN, equipment that can be taken home, even firewalls for every individual need to come under some sort of consideration. Basically, IT support have had to change from both a support side as well as building the actual system in the first place.
So, the pandemic has changed the world, and IT support is not immune from all of this. The industry has changed beyond recognition, and it’s going to stay like that from here on.
With the expectation that remote working will remain at the core of so many industries, expect IT support to continue to evolve a better understanding of remote tools and being able to correct so many issues from a distance.