Two papers about the Hell Desk

Two papers from the Reg Library today about housing Tech Support teams and getting the best out of them.

The Virtual Support Centre: delivering support anytime, anywhere

So here’s the pitch, from an outfit called SupportIndustry.com (and sponsored by Citrix). Virtual Support Centres (VSC) are tech support centres and IT help desks that enable staff to be situated anywhere, in smaller groups in cheap locations. Or at home. There is even a word for this: “homesourcing”. Aargh!

Employers continue to manage centrally but reduce operational costs, improve service delivery and customer satisfaction. And the staff are happier too, SupportIndustry.com claims.

VSCs “deliver all the cost benefits of global support outsourcing but with the control that many feel has been lacking in offshore engagements”. Sounds like magic? There’s a SaaS angle too.

Sun certification and team performance: the impact on system administrators

So the title does not make the heart sing, but it's not a bad read, for all that. This is a love letter from IDC to data centre sysadmins with tech qualifications, and particularly Sun qualifications, as I am sure you guessed already. The Sun pitch is very low key – the meat is provided by key findings from a global IDC research study of 75 sysadmin teams. Who needs Sysadmin Day, when you can read things like this:

“Meaningful concentrations of certified system administrators increase the achievement of significant operational metrics, including efficient management of corporate servers, network and server availability, and meeting service commitments.” In other words, it directly contradicts the notion of tech workforce dispersal, as advocated by SupportIndustry.com

CIOs, are you listening? More sysadmins with more training equals better performance. Sounds like common sense? ®