Keeping track of problems

If you have users, then you've got a stack of problems. Every time you give an employee a computer, an application or even just a way to accomplish something, you'll end up with the need to support that employee. When they encounter a problem, like a stuck printer or a lost password, you'll get called and be expected to fix something.

You'll need something that helps you accomplish this task, especially if, like most small business I.T. shops, computer support isn't you're primary job. To manage this extra duty, do a good job of it, and not let it consume every waking hour, you need:

• A way for users to ask you to fix a problem that doesn't require you, personally, to write down the problem
• A mechanism for listing the outstanding problems and prioritizing them
• Some kind of report that shows a user the status of their problem
• A way to allocate budget dollars to solving problems or at least reporting how your I.T. money was spent

These are the basics that will keep you sane as well as demonstrate to the users you are indeed working on their problem. This is a very standard I.T. problem, one that all businesses have, and one that many, many companies have created solutions for.

So, how do you do this and how do you get them to use it?

The solution you're looking for is often called a "trouble ticket" system or a "help desk" system. There are lots of them. Fundamentally, such systems allow a user to submit a new problem or "ticket", the ticket is assigned to an I.T. queue, someone in I.T. gets notified there is a new issue, they work on the issue, and, once it is complete, the trouble ticket system lets the original user know it has been fixed.

While you may think this is extra work, I can tell you from experience that such systems dramatically reduce the amount of time and headache answering incoming support calls require. Entry of the original problem is performed by the user with the problem. That cuts down your time and improves the accuracy of the description. When that user wants to know the status of their issue, they look it up in the trouble ticket system instead of calling you. Again, a big time and headache saver.

Even more substantial time savings can be had once you have used the system for some time and have accumulated lots of problem-and-its-resolution data within the system. With proper handling, each issue that is entered and resolved can be searched by users before they enter a new issue to see if their problem has been solved in the past. If it hasn't and they enter a new ticket anyway, your ability to search the past problems for related issues or knowledgeable people regarding the affected systems is a big time savings.

Overall, a trouble ticket system is a critical tool for providing good support to the users, timely resolution of business issues, and reduces the time and cost you have to expend to solve those problems.

Open Source trouble ticket systems:

• OTRS - Open Ticket Request System www.otrs.org
• Web Amoeba Ticket System (for Mambo and Joomla CMSes) www.webamoeba.co.uk
• Simple Ticket - www.simpleticket.net

If you are running Progress OpenEdge or WebSpeed, you should know that Allegro Consultants offers a free copy of their Progress-based trouble ticket system to customers for free. www.allegroconsultants.com

So, now you ARE IT; Now what?

For most small businesses, having a full time I.T. "department" isn't practical, but that doesn't stop you from needing real I.T. knowledge, experience and resources to meet the needs of a growing business, the challenges of staying under a budget and resolving the show-stopping problems that always crop up.

This blog will address the most common issues and give you some insight into how the "big boys" solve these problems as well as some tips and tricks from the field to let you look like a genius, maybe even a SOOPER genius.