From Chaos to Control: Fixing Broken IT Support Services

IT Operational Management is one of the toughest roles to fill—and one of the most challenging environments to implement effective changes that lead to improvements. You’re constantly in the midst of support issues, often at all hours. You must deal with endless escalations from frustrated stakeholders, manage problems, allocate resources to assist, and provide feedback to those affected. On top of that, you’re expected to oversee ongoing projects, and somehow manage a calendar that seems fit for four people.

When days, weeks, or even months get dark, it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Many support teams become so consumed by "firefighting" that they can’t focus on building a truly effective operational support team. This is a common challenge across organizations. From the outside, it’s easy to see the shortcomings, which is why so many people have opinions on how bad the services are. But when you’re trapped in that hurricane of endless issues, it can feel like your only way out is a new job offer!

Fortunately, there are several ways to improve support operations effectively. In my experience, the most effective ideas and plans for improvement must come from the team facing the challenges. Hiring consultants or process engineers often adds more load to the team, as they now have to spend time onboarding these newcomers—something most teams have little interest in doing, especially when external parties don’t fully understand their role. While external help can work, it’s not always the ideal approach.

Here are some lessons I’ve learned from my experience:

1. Governance Frameworks

Review and study the key concepts behind governance frameworks. Map out the processes that are relevant to your operations. Conduct an audit of yourself and your team to ensure these processes exist, are understood, and are being followed. Identify who "owns" each specific process or output—some might be outsourced, and if so, you need to manage that relationship carefully.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll have a clearer picture of what should be included in your team’s KPIs (if it isn’t already). This also helps you document any gaps and provide valuable feedback to your executive team or business. Some might wonder why you would highlight where you’re falling short, but the answer is simple: it shows where you need more resources (budget, staff, etc.) to improve operational efficiency.

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2. Risk Register

Maintain a risk register as part of your monthly feedback to executives. This should include identified risks, their probability and impact, and the plans to mitigate them (both now and in the future).

Why? To “cover your bases” and avoid unpleasant surprises. Here's an example:

Steve’s team doesn’t have the time to audit the QoS setup monthly, ensuring it's up to date and effectively applied across all systems.?

Risk Register Entry:?

- Risk: No assurance on QoS, resulting in irrelevant/incorrect/outdated configurations.?

- Probability: Medium?

- Impact: High?

- Mitigating Action: None. Need a full-time Audit/Assurance engineer.?

- Notes: As per Exco, 2020-08-01, no budget available to address this year.?

When a slow system response is eventually traced to outdated QoS configurations, the risk register will show that the issue was anticipated. This can prevent the inevitable "Why wasn’t this avoided?" questions.

3. Billing & Recharge Structures

In many organizations, IT support costs are viewed as operational expenses. Make sure your costs are allocated proportionally to internal departments. Departments should pay for what they use—splitting costs equally isn’t fair or justifiable. Understand the numbers; this will help you gain respect within the business and allow you to benchmark your costs against the market when needed.

4. Build the Right Structures to Support the Business

Not all departments are equally important, often based on their revenue or profit contributions. These departments are typically willing to invest more in better support or redundancy. Engage with them to understand their needs and propose costs that will enhance the robustness of their infrastructure and support.

5. Develop and Assess Staff Skills

In a corporate environment, IT professionals often need three key skills:?

1. Subject Knowledge: For example, a Microsoft engineer's ability to build, support, and maintain Microsoft infrastructure.?

2. Business Acumen: An understanding of the company’s operations, priorities, and people.?

3. Soft Skills: Communication, negotiation, empathy, etc.?

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Assess your team’s strengths and weaknesses in these areas and have development plans in place to continue building their skills.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a useful starting point for refocusing on operational efficiency.

"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something." ~ Robert Heinlein