Distributed support: A case study

Abstract

As the need for specialized support personnel increases, the trend towards decentralized User Support Services on University campuses also increases. If managed poorly, waste may result as several individuals can work independently to solve the same problem. Duplication of effort can be even more pronounced when clients are uncertain of where to seek assistance and are separated from their support mechanism by physical limitations such as distance. The University of Saskatchewan consists of 14 colleges and has a student population of 18,500 with 2,600 faculty and staff. A large portion of the computer support is handled by a centralized department: Computing Services. Because of the number and diversity of disciplines at the University of Saskatchewan, many campus departments hire their own computer support personnel. This has solved some customer support problems but new ones have arisen. To some degree, the distribution of services resulted by default, rather than by a specific goal. Support services to some departments were handled by their local support personnel who presented immediate and accurate solutions problems. However, when local support personnel terminated their employment, support became the responsibility of Computing Services. Computing Services personnel then had to quickly learn the hardware and software configurations used in the various departments. Frequently there had been little communication between the local and central support personnel. Today, this problem has been alleviated by providing open and more clearly defined channels for communication between most University computer support personnel. This paper details some of the difficulties encountered during the decentralization of support services and how these problems were (or are in the process of being) resolved. Emphasis will be placed on the advantages and disadvantages of decentralized support to both the client and to the computing centre. Also discussed will be the reasons why even if an institution is not considering distribution of services, a plan for the eventual distribution is not only beneficial, but essential.