Typical IT service roles

A typical IT service organization will use a three tier support staff solution:

1) Level One: help desk personnel handling the initial calls, providing first level support

2) Level Two: computer support technicians, pc support analysts, Desktop specialists

3) Level Three: network administrators / system administrators only work on break and fix issues that could not be resolved at the lower levels.

Level One: The Help Desk

Help-desk technicians respond to telephone calls and e-mail messages from customers looking for help with computer problems. In responding to these inquiries, help-desk technicians must listen carefully to the customer, ask questions to diagnose the nature of the problem, and then patiently walk the customer through the problem-solving steps.  

Thanks to software like VNC (Virtual Network Computing), the overwhelming majority of end user issues can be resolved remotely by first level help desk technicians.


Level Two: Desktop Support Technicians / Application Specialists

In cases where there is a critical hardware failure, or a loss of connectivity and remote access can not be established, a workstation technician needs to be dispatched.  In some cases due to the specialized nature of an application, a level two technician specializing in a specific application, or application suite may be dispatched to resolve end user issues.

Desktop Support Technicians are also vital in the installation of new hardware and peripherals.


Level Three: The Network administrator /  Systems Administrator

The Administrator level support personnel typically are not the first line of support that works with end users, but rather only work on break and fix issues that could not be resolved at the lower levels.

On a small to mid size network there may be little, if any, distinction between a Systems Administrator and a Network Administrator, and the tasks may all be the responsibility of a single post. As the size of the network grows, the distinction between the areas will become more well defined.

The typical Systems Administrator, or sysadmin, leans towards the software and NOS (Network Operating System) side of things.  Systems Administrators install software releases, upgrades, and patches, resolve software related problems and performs system backups and recovery.

Network administrators are responsible for making sure computer hardware and the network infrastructure itself is maintained properly for an IT organization. They are in charge of making sure connectivity works for all users in their organization, and making sure data security is handled properly for connections to the outside internet.


Level Four: Network Engineer / System Engineers

The highest level of IT personnel, the Engineer, is rarely, if ever, involved in the support issues of an organization.

Depending on who you ask, and where it is defined, the role of the Engineers, Architects, or Designers will vary quite a bit from organization to organization.  It is usually considered a step above the  Administrator level.

Where the Administrator has the responsibility of keeping things healthy and running smoothly on a day to day basis, the role of the Engineer is that of someone who creates the map of the network, and makes changes to the overall scheme of things to accommodate advancements in technology.

In larger organizations, Network or System administrators tend not to be the Architects, or Designers of the network. In the case of smaller organizations, in order to minimize downtime, and maximize the levels of expertise needed in system overhauls, outside consulting firms are often brought in to assist in major changes to the network,
 

Authors Note:

In creating this overview of a typical IT staffing map I reviewed resources such as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other staffing models just to make sure that nothing said here was out of line.  Ultimately, the definitions and descriptions are biased by my many personal experiences over the years having worked in many IT related roles.