Reliability: A Good Old Fashioned Maxim!

The word ‘Reliability’ seems a bit ‘old hat’ these days, used as we are to the ‘throw away’ culture - buy it, use it, chuck it. And yet reliability sits at the very heart of this philosophy, with products being ever more dependable within their lifetimes.

This can lead to a degree of complacency ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’. A reasonable policy - except when there is interdependence between two or more devices, as is the case with even the smallest IT network.

How can reliability be increased? There are many simple measures, regarded as good housekeeping – keep your hardware cool and well ventilated (e.g. avoid piles of papers blocking airflow around laptops); keep back-ups updated; configure networks with failure- and overload- proof capabilities; track failures; recognise ‘end of life’ indications; maintain firewall and antivirus protection; and more....

Simple, yes, but as networks grow, increasingly difficult to manage. This is where a well organised IT support company can give you peace of mind.

Not all support companies are the same. When it comes to maintaining the highest levels of reliability, Support Tree’s Blackthorn management software and skilled technical staff combine to provide powerful differentiating features:

• We consolidate into one view that shows all scheduled activities for a client.
• We ensure visibility of client history, configurations, service requests etc with anytime, anywhere system access.
• We instantly notify our engineers and technicians of new or changing assignments.
• We simplify client interfaces with a web based secure, multi-level access client portal and knowledge base, that allows clients to enter requests, automatically notifies them of updates, and helps clients help themselves. They can enter and track service tickets, view and pay invoices, examine performance reports and review their project and service history.
• We improve service levels by managing and prioritizing all service requests as well as automatically issuing alerts based on custom escalation rules to improve responsiveness.
• One call means action... we capture service tickets from any source, including managed service tool alerts, agreements, email, phone, fax or client portals. Once created, tickets are automatically linked to client records and prioritized and assigned based on existing service level agreements.

For more information about our reliability services and how they can help you, call us on 0800 292 2230.