If you’ve ever managed IT services then you’ll know things can get a little complicated in that arena. Not everyone knows as much as they should regarding computers and what you can do on them to benefit your company. If you have never managed IT services but think this is something that you might be interested in doing then there are a few things you should know.
- You need to understand that this is a very demanding and busy job. It can be stressful and time consuming.
- It requires a lot of technical knowledge. You can’t just show up and expect to be taught.
- It’s a highly competitive job because it usually is very well paid so you’ll need a degree.
If you are not a motivated and driven individual, getting into IT services is probably not a good idea. Here are just a few of the responsibilities that you have if you managed IT services.
IT Consulting
This is when employees or customers come in to the store, or you go to them and you simply give them IT advice. For example, you could advise them on the type of software and hardware they would need depending on what they are trying to do on their computer. Or, you could need to troubleshoot computer problems over the phone and possibly end up needing to see the computer in person before they make a bigger mess of it.
Computer Repairing
Computers always need fixing. It seems like people who don’t understand computers are always managing to break something or other on the machines. The computer repair industry is never going to be at a loss for business, that’s for sure. If you are managing the IT services for a large company then you may not go out on these calls yourself, necessarily but it’s definitely something that you will have to oversee and make sure it is all done correctly so that the repairs do not have to be repeated, resulting in wasted time and money.
Online Marketing
This is one of the most important aspects to a company. They have to have digital marketing going on at all times. People are much more prone to notice ads, emails, social media, search engine optimization and the other things that online marketing has to offer than billboards, flyers and brochures. Papers are typically just thrown away these days so in order for a company to survive, they have to have online marketing.
Digitizing Information
Paper copies are usually shredded these days in order to protect people’s information. If you have records that need to be kept, they should be safely protected in a computer program that is impossible to hack into. Papers can be far to easily stolen but digitized information can be protected and kept secure in numerous ways. Of course, who knows if they’ll be able to do away with paper and pens all together but for the most part, everything will need to be digitized, organized and stored onto the computer network of your company.
Maintaining Computers
Maintaining your computer is probably one the most important things you can do if you constantly use it and even if you do not. Those who have managed IT services understand that updates are the key to keeping up with the ever changing world. IT service managers are responsible for keeping software as well as hardware up to date with the newest materials and information. If the computers start to fall behind then the new viruses will be able to get in as well as a lot of other problems. Memory space will fill up, programs will malfunction, hardware will break; computers need to maintained just like cars or any other kind of electronic.
These five responsibilities only scratch the surface of what an IT service manager does. Depending on the company, there are a lot of other things that have to get done as well. Some companies will also require their managers to take service calls and go and visit their customers in order to take care of these things. It’s easier if the customers come to your store, but that is not always feasible, especially if their computer systems are an elaborate network of some kind.