In today’s world, technology is a must-have for any company. It’s very rare to find a company that does not have at least one person on staff who knows how to use a computer. However, the more computers your company has, the more time you’ll spend trying to keep them running smoothly. This is where an IT support specialist comes in handy! These hardworking professionals specialize in maintaining and fixing problems with computer networks for a living. They can either work remotely or come into your office building to take care of these issues quickly and efficiently!
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IT Support Specialist
An IT support specialist’s job involves a wide range of duties including diagnosing network problems, installing software, fixing hardware issues, testing networks for security flaws, and even making recommendations on how to increase productivity! These are all key components that are necessary to keep computer systems working properly. An IT support specialist will work on a contract or a full-time basis, and your company will need to provide the necessary tools such as a desk, computer, and software. If you’re in London, you should know that Computers In The City offers short term contracts. Short-term contracts are often better because they can be more flexible for both the IT support specialist and your company.
There are many different tasks associated with this position, and each depends on what you need. For example, some companies would like their IT support specialists to perform regular maintenance and installations of software and hardware as needed by that particular company. Other times, your company might also need IT to support specialists who can perform routine security checks for viruses or malware. Once again, the tasks will vary depending on your needs.
Security Checks
If you’re looking for a complete overhaul of your computer system, then it would be best to hire an IT support specialist who specializes in network administration and use that person as your full-time IT support team. Your business will also need to invest in the proper technology, such as servers and workstations. On average, an IT specialist can cost anywhere from £15 – £25/hour. This is why you must decide how many hours per week your company needs the specialist to complete tasks. Then, divide this number by their hourly rate.
Consider Your Company’s IT Weak Spots
If you currently have no IT support specialists on staff, then your company isn’t going to know everything about computers. However, there are a few areas where most professionals can help. In order of complexity, here are some examples of things that require an IT specialist:
Security & Backups
Even companies with good security and backups can benefit from having an expert look at their system from time to time because they might find flaws in the way it has been set up. If you have no one in charge of IT at your company, then you may experience some growing pains when it comes to security and backups. For example, if someone who doesn’t work in IT deletes an important file by mistake or leaves the company with sensitive information stored on their computer, they might not realize how easy it is for data to be recovered using specialized software.
File Servers
Setting up or troubleshooting remote access to a server or shared storage is another job that many people don’t do regularly enough. These storage devices hold all kinds of important information for businesses, making them a tempting target for hackers and other criminals. If your file server is not properly maintained, you could end up losing data in the event of a catastrophic failure or security breach.
Backup & Disaster Recovery
It’s hard to know when disaster will strike, but if it does, how quickly can you get back up and running again? The best companies are prepared for this by regularly testing their backup procedures with IT support specialists. It also helps to periodically test where backups are stored in case they need to be accessed from another location in an emergency.
Network/Server Troubleshooting
Many things can go wrong when computers are connected to the network. Sometimes these problems require an expert who has lots of experience troubleshooting computer networks. For example, consider that there might be an issue with the switch (i.e. faulty hardware), or perhaps there’s something wrong with the router that prevents your computer from accessing the Internet.
Applications & Software
This is where companies will need to have full-time IT support specialists on staff because this is where they will be able to take care of any issues promptly. For instance, if one of your employees has an application crash when trying to access their email, then you’ll want someone who can identify and fix this problem for your business to operate efficiently without interruption.
Network Administration
System administrators are responsible for setting up networks, identifying network problems when users experience connectivity issues, adding/removing people from systems, etc. If you want to install a new application on your network, then the system administrator will need to configure the appropriate security settings. System administration can also be implemented, and it refers to anyone who has administrative rights over your organization’s hardware, which includes their OS configuration and any installed applications that are considered essential for everyday use. For smaller companies, this is most likely the person who does IT support.
Operations & Management
An operations and management position is usually what bigger companies have in place to oversee the work that other employees are doing. Whether someone works in this role or not, it can be helpful for them to understand networking because they may be required to make decisions about how much bandwidth should be allocated to different users. This area of IT is also concerned with performance tuning, capacity planning, data recovery, etc.
IT Support Specialists are a great way to increase productivity! Whether you’re looking for someone to install software or maintain your computer systems on-site, hiring an IT Support Specialist is sure to help make life easier for everyone at your company.
