If you’re charged with providing remote support, one new OS variant or device form factor can have chaotic consequences. Imagine custom-creating an application that’s perfect for a thousand desktop users and then the corner office wants your solution to include an aged smartphone.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Of course, users and devices aren’t one-size-fits-all. But make centralized management your mantra, and your IT professionals can custom-tailor remote support for every user and node, whatever the bandwidth of their connection or the size of their screen. With the same level of security for everyone. Once you’ve got an infrastructure designed to work across platforms and devices, you can deliver your services at will to any user, without a dozen setup decisions grinding you down.
That said, those right choices aren’t always obvious. So here’s a list of some best practices for remote support.
-
Manage from the center
How can you offer full remote support if problems can’t be solved from your desk? First, understand streamlined remote support starts at the center. If it doesn’t let you manage a device from your desk — regardless of the user’s device or OS — look again at your solution, because that means it’s probably not set up for a BYOD world. Centralize management.
-
Standardize on security
You support the CEO’s desktop. And his private smartphone. And the iPad his daughter borrowed. Effective support doesn’t make exceptions when it comes to security. Remote support solutions impose the same highly secure protocols across your fleet: 256-bit AES connections encrypted with 2048-bit keys. Because company data is company data, and you shouldn’t need to invest extra effort to keep different devices safe. Streamline security.
-
Outsource the connecting
Data isn’t a single all-seeing eye radiating outwards. Data flows are messy, happening across the network and between nodes. So it makes sense to let those nodes connect securely to each other. With remote support solutions, the only central resource needed is the authentication handshake — so no needless load on the back office. When devices need to connect, let them connect to each other directly.
-
Prefer linear to exponential
Cast an eye over your remote support option. Does it need an extra module to serve mobile users? An added app to direct desktops? A separate log-in for off-network devices? Look elsewhere. If your resource requirements are increasing exponentially, like your device ecosystem, that’s a clue to change. You shouldn’t need a mobile device to control a mobile device, or a phone to connect to a phone. Look for solutions that don’t deal with the complexity of your user base by adding complexity of their own.
-
Don’t get short-changed by the payment mode
Some remote support solutions take an all-or-nothing approach, making you pay for 1,000 users before you’ve served even one. Users and departments should be able to adopt remote support solutions easily.
-
Don’t make users adapt to the software
Trouble tickets and online customer service are great. But different people have different knowledge levels. Some are fine with a solution by email, some need a guiding hand on the problem, and some need you to take control of their machine and resolve the issue for them. To offer superlative support, make sure you can offer different people the right communication channels without adding more apps.
-
Make sure you can see the big picture
Dispersed devices mean dispersed data. To manage your support processes effectively, you need to bring that data together. Remote support solutions let you build custom dashboards giving you the state of play across your user base, wherever those users and their devices are. The 30,000-foot view isn’t a distant dream.
-
Performance-manage the service organization
There’s an art to managing service requests. Are there widespread problems you can batch together and solve as one, instead of dealing with an avalanche of trouble tickets? Is there a single support request outstanding from a high-priority individual? Make sure your remote support infrastructure can give you intelligent information you need to make decisions and prioritize, and your team’s performance will skyrocket.
-
Be single-minded about diversity
The ultimate streamlined service infrastructure is united. Software broad and deep yet simple to use, capable of answering every need not just most needs. Once your service organization can settle on a single unified solution — the 100% solution, not the 90% — complexity will nosedive and productivity will leap into the sky. When people’s needs are diverse, keep the solution singular.
10. Don’t be cross-platform; be cross-people.
In 2015, 23% of employees reported doing some of their work remotely, up from 19 percent in 2003, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.The ideal remote support solution never loses sight of a basic truism: it’s not about the software. The simpler and faster your support infrastructure, the easier it is to solve user issues — from a crashed tablet to an enterprise-wide rollout and training requirement. Adopt remote support software that can answer the broadest set of needs, and your organization can scale up without complexity turning your mind to mush.
CONCLUSION
People don’t work in bunkers anymore, and nor should support software — or the people who provide it. Remote support solutions take the best of both worlds — letting you serve a highly dispersed and diverse user and device ecosystem, yet covering all imaginable use cases with the same level of security and control. However complex your environment, you can offer remote support without complexity.
TAKEAWAYS
- Supporting a complex ecosystem doesn’t mean a complex service infrastructure.
- Remote support doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, it needs to be streamlined.
- No matter how different the devices, they deserve the same high level of security.
- To manage complex service issues, bring the data together in a dashboard.
- To reduce pressure on infrastructure, enable devices to connect to each other.
- If you can’t manage it from your desk, you’re not offering remote support.
