Documentation - The Key To Client Support Success

Recently, we won the trust of a new client that was unhappy with the service provided by their previous IT company.  After the client notified the old support company that we would be taking over, we scheduled a transition meeting to insure that all aspects of the old environment were adequately explained and all passwords to be changed were identified, support documents were to be identified, known issues discussed and software licenses and such were in place prior to the cut-over.

Obviously, before we even agreed to take on the new client we had done some of our homework on their environment of servers, software, connections and computers.  I arrived at the meeting with our basic documentation binder already started and I hoped that the other support guy could supplement our package with his 7 years worth of accumulated information about the client and their environment.

Sadly, when the previous support guy arrived, he arrived empty-handed and the first words out of his mouth when he saw our manual was "Wow, you do documentation!  This customer is going to LOVE you."  UH-OH!  He never wrote anything down!  I could see that this meeting was NOT going to go well.

As we worked through my 4 page checklist of questions about the network, the support guy answered most of the questions from memory but he did have some glaring problems providing some answers that he "was going to have to get back to me." because he couldn't remember.

There also turned out to be some serious problems with software license ownership that he was going to have to straighten out, not to mention explaining why one of the clients servers was in his office instead on the client premises and why it hadn't yet been returned.

Too many questions received answers that included the words "probably" and "I think".  I'm not sure how uncomfortable the client was when he heard those qualifiers but it sure set off alarm bells in my mind.

Sure, we will work out all of these problems.  That's what the client hired me to do but that's not the point. 

Is there are dollars and cents consequence to not having documentation?  Absolutely!  When assignments change within a support organization, lack of documentation will increase the time it takes for the new tech to "read in" to the new situation which will cost you money.  Lack of documentation also leads to technician mistakes which will also cost you money.  If you have auditors for your business, they'll wind up spending extra time searching through inadequately documented networks which also costs you.

A significant number of IT guys are inherently "Wing it!" kind of people that don't want to take the time to write anything down unless forced to.  Everything is kept in their head with little if any paper trail.

That create problems for clients.  Regulatory compliance and good business practices dictate that everything be documented aka written down cogently and stored someplace safe.  IT support also requires a certain level of discipline to keep things organized.  Technical wizardry is a wonderful thing but without the systematic controls to keep it all organized it can create even bigger problems for an organization.

When businesses select an IT support company, it's important to make sure that their important business processes and business assets are properly documented.  If something happens to your business or the relationship with your IT provider goes south, how will you be able to continue a smooth business process if everything is kept in someone else's head and that person could disappear without notice.

As the other guy got up to leave as we finished his exit meeting, I wonder if he gave any thought at all to the fact that if he had only paid a little attention to writing things down and keeping even basic control of his support process, he might have kept that account and I might never have been invited in to take over.

Tired of letting your IT support team "wing it"?  Why don't you give us a call and we can help restore order to your network, exercise some operational controls and help reduce your IT Support costs.  Call ACT at (847) 639-7000 or e-mail me at jhoffman@act4networks.com.