It’s long been a bugbear of mine that many IT Support folk have difficulty in troubleshooting IT issues. This is an area where one would expect ( and require ) personnel to have a high degree of logic ( crucial to faultfinding procedures ) but it seems that many IT engineers are almost devoid of this critical requirement. Maybe it’s something that needs to be taught; I think you either have it or you don’t.
How does this manifest? Well for the N-th time, I had someone suggest a reboot of a key system without even understanding if that system was the source of the issue. Sure they were Windows-orientated in terms of their IT experience; and you can often solve issues on Windows systems with reboots, but that doesn’t mean you know what the origin of the problem is. It may also be the easy way out – instead of following a logical train of troubleshooting steps, it’s easier to just hit reboot. It’s also the lazy option …
I deem the quality of an IT Support person to be directly related to their ability to troubleshoot. Under pressure as well. When the chips are down, you have to be able to look at both the big and small pictures, think logically and follow a planned set of steps that directly relate to solving your issue at hand. To do this, you need to know and understand your IT systems intimately. Without knowledge of the IT systems you’re responsible for, you’re just guessing. One also needs to be able to view the data being presented ( eg. via logs, screenshots, descriptions or other data ) and extrapolate details out of that data that may assist in leading to a solution.
There are also many occasions when people can’t present or explain the simplest information regarding an issue. The person presenting the issue needs to provide as much information as possible relating to the issue. It’s possible that a crucial piece of information is in the details provided by those with IT issues. And without that info, the IT Support engineer may miss the opportunity to solve the issue. I always equate this to someone taking their car to the mechanic for a problem. Simply telling the mechanic that you have a problem is not an option. Tell the mechanic that you have a braking problem, the brake lever feels soft and it only manifests when going downhill. The more information you give, the quicker the mechanic can solve the issue.
So on the one hand, you need a well-described issue and on the other, you need a logical troubleshooting process with the ability to sift through descriptions and data looking for information that may assist in solving the issue. You also need commitment in terms of solving the issue; from both sides.
IT Support engineers need to up their game in terms of troubleshooting. Period.