Whichever side of the IT service desk you sit on, it’s useful to know what IT service desk analysts actually do. Whether you want to get a better idea of the level of support offered, or think it may be an interesting career, here’s what our team do for our customers.
Below are just some of the many activities an IT service desk analyst does on a day-to-day basis. We’re increasingly seeing demand for support resolving more complicated issues. This is because most organisations have a larger technological requirement with more end users needing varying levels of support.
It is also because a more technologically skilled workforce – who can resolve those minor issues themselves, leaving us to deal with the more complicated ones.
Day-to-day tasks of a Service Desk Analyst
Desktop support: reset terminal server sessions, device configuration, setup corporate email account, Microsoft Office support (can’t insert image into PowerPoint, Excel won’t open, Outlook crashing), Microsoft Operating Systems (Windows session freezing, display adaptor drives need updating etc.),
Third party liaison: device support (configure email etc.), printer support, hardware support, bespoke application, Sage, Internet Service Provider (no broadband, communication line is down etc.),
Network: Internet lines, routers, firewalls, switches, remote satellite office,
Service management: incident management, problem management, change management, configuration management, event management,
Account administration: new user requests, leaver requests, password requests etc.,
Data centre services: Managed rack etc.,
Backups: daily monitoring (monitor backups for failures), troubleshooting, strategy (backup retention periods, time to restore),
Infrastructure management: monitoring, patching, strategy, hardware support, availability, capacity, server support.
These activities are just a snapshot of a typical day in the life of a service desk analyst – on a not so typical day activities could be far from routine.
Another factor that has rapidly changed the issues our service desk team resolve is mobility. Not so long ago service desk providers would have focused mainly on delivering IT support to users in the workplace, and perhaps a small amount of remote working support to directors and senior employees. This trend was building prior to March 2020 as increasingly organisations facilitate remote working for their employees, and more and more people are using mobile devices for work. Of course, more recently it has accelerated dramatically with a global pandemic forcing organisations to reimagine the modern workplace.
This new working landscape presents unique challenges for organisations, not only ensuring that remote working staff can access systems and networks wherever they are, but also security challenges for the business. This is a key area where expert support can be essential for productivity and for the managing risks mobile devices (especially BYOD) and remote working have introduced into the corporate IT estate.
