Unit NotesICASAS305A Provide IT Advice to Clients

Topic 2 Provide advice on software, hardware and network

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Table of ContentsGetting Started with ICASAS305A Provide IT Advice to Clients...........................4

Introduction...............................................................................................................4

Topic 2 - Provide advice on software, hardware or network..................................5Liaise with clients......................................................................................................5

Activity 2:1 Consequences.....................................................................................10

Check Your Understanding.....................................................................................14

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Getting Started with ICASAS305A Provide IT Advice to ClientsIntroductionWelcome to ICASAS305A Provide IT Advice to Clients.

In this unit you’ll develop your skills for supporting and communicating with clients in order to help solve comprehensive technical problems. These unit notes have been developed to provide a learning pathway to competence in ICASAS305A Provide IT Advice to Clients. The notes contain all the skills, knowledge and learning required to achieve competence. The learning process includes:

Reading and discussing the content with your instructor

Discussing your experience with the content – you can apply the content in your work

Answering simple questions both in writing and in discussion

Performing simple learning activities – researching, reflecting, searching on the Internet, completing tasks and creating notes for your own reference

After completion of this unit you will be able to demonstrate your skills and knowledge in providing IT advice to clients in relation to the following competencies:

Report client support issues

Provide advice on software, hardware or network

Obtain client feedback

Using the Unit NotesIcons and symbols are used throughout the guide to provide quick visual references. They indicate the following:

Icon Meaning Icon MeaningACTIVITY: An activity is listed to be completed

ACTIVITY: A Learning activity requiring some physical action

WWW: A web link is listed REFLECTION: A point is to be considered and thought about more deeply

IMPORTANT: A pivotal point is detailed

SEARCH: A particular item / book etc needs to be found and applied

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Topic 2 - Provide advice on software, hardware or network

Liaise with clientsLiaising with clients successfully is the key to meeting client requirements, which is vital to all operations of most organisations. Failing to do this can be very costly in terms of time, money and the image of your organisation. This topic covers the procedures and tools for liaising with clients and will help you develop the knowledge and skills to carry this out effectively.

Confirming software, hardware or network requirements with clientIn order to provide advice to clients, it is necessary to find out what the client’s requirements actually are. This could be anything from installing a new network in an office to upgrading the operating system in an entire organisation.

The first step would be to liaise with the client and record their requirements. This will then identify the scope of the project being undertaken.

Using documentation ensures you and the client have the same understanding of what is required. This documentation may be based on pre-existing documents that can be used as a template. The example below shows what such a document would look like.

CLIENT REQUIREMENTS CONFIRMATION

Client name:

Project name:

I understand your requirements as follows:

Requirement

Scope (if appropriate)

Good A To be delivered within one week of contract being signed

Twelve lots of Good A required

Service A To be provided at the time of delivery of Good A

Good B To be compatible with your existing network

Good C Must be able to be used in outdoor locations without risk of damage

Must be cheaper than existing provider

Our signatures on this document confirm our shared understanding of the above requirements in this project.

Client signature:

Service provider signature:

Date:

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The client requirements confirmation form above would be completed with very specific information about the current project. The signature of the client, as well as your signature, indicates a shared understanding of the project.

Alternatively, a letter (for external clients) or a memo (for internal clients) might be written to confirm our understanding of the client’s requirements.

The most important characteristic of any of these documents is to accurately record two key items:

1. the service which is to be provided to the client

2. the timeframe in which it must be delivered to the client.

Costs may also be included in these documents if appropriate. Time taken getting this stage of a project correct will save many hours later on.

Investigate and document client requirements

Whether you provide a service to internal or external clients, it is worth remembering and following the fundamental principle of client service:

If your service responds to client’s needs and makes your client feel valued, you and your organisation will build and maintain a strong reputation.

The process of identifying and documenting client requirements can take many forms. It can be an informal process where you are asked to provide help for a friend selecting a new printer. In a business environment it is usually a more formal process, where your supervisor assigns you the task of working with a client group to select or develop new computer resources.

The general steps to follow in identifying clients’ needs are summarised below. Note: not all these steps are performed every time.

1. Prepare background information and client questions

2. Understand the business goals. This would include knowing if any budget is applicable or if there are plans for future expansion.

3. Understand the organisational guidelines. Ask questions to determine what organisational guidelines are to be adhered to.

4. Define the client’s requirements clearly. This will be done in conjunction with the next two steps and can involve interviewing, preparation of questionnaires or direct observation. Your questioning skills are very important at this stage and are discussed in detail in the next section.

5. Identify the roles of stakeholders — those people who have an interest in identifying the requirements. This can include end-users or customers, managers and other technical staff.

6. Identify sources of information

7. Develop an understanding of the existing system

8. Investigate alternatives to the existing system

9. Document the client requirements.

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There is also additional information that you’ll need from the outset of the job or project. You may need to provide some of this information to the client if it is part of your organisation’s policies. For example, your organisation may have a policy for charging predetermined extra fees and other charges for certain services outside of the service requested by the client. This information will be discussed in more detail when we look later at ‘information you and your client need to agree to’. For now, it includes information such as:

What information do you need from your client?

Before meeting with clients to discuss their requirements, you should be prepared. Thorough preparation assists you in obtaining all the necessary information during a meeting with your client. You should understand your organisation’s standards and policies, as well as plan to get the required information from the client in a short time.

It is a good idea to have a standard set of questions to ask your client. Having these questions printed out and ready to use will further improve the quality of your service. It is very unlikely you will forget to ask a written question about a particular item, but a question could be overlooked if you try to commit it to memory. The answers to these questions will not only provide you with the information you need, but will also allow you to confirm the answers with the client and your supervisor. Furthermore, it will also assist the investigation and documentation of a solution.

You need to specify the areas in which you need information from the client. Below is a suggested template. Obviously this may change from client to client and is dependent on the policies, procedures and requirements of the client.

Information to obtain from the client

Question Response

Background of the organisation or business:

Objectives of this exercise:

Problem (and any underlying issues):

Criteria for successful achievement of objectives:

Issues, factors and information that relate to the problem:

Resources available to address the problem:

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scope of the job

job specifications

agreement or contract

procedure for changing brief

extra costs

possible options

possible alternatives

recommendations

preferred means of communication

contact person

job timelines

job guarantee.

Question Response

Possible strategies for addressing the problem:

Plan of action to be implemented:

Client feedback process:

Plans for the future:

Budget:

Project scope:

Project specifications:

Project timelines:

Other comments:

Finding a solution

Suppose you’ve determined your client’s requirements. You’ve collected from the client, the information that’s on the template we’ve just looked at. You’ll now look at that information and ask yourself questions such as:

Does the client know exactly what they want? Is there anything I need to research to help the client make a more informed

decision? Would I be able to meet the client’s requirements?

In other words, you analyse what the client has said their requirements are in order to find a solution.

The solution may require new hardware or an upgrade of existing equipment – the analysis would identify the best option. Furthermore installing new software or upgrading current software would ultimately depend upon the client. Providing advice to the client would help them make an informed decision – therefore as many options as possible should be presented to enable a choice.

You may need to carry out research on the subject. You might find that there are other ways of solving the problem than what you or the client had decided. For example a client may ask you to advise on the implementation of a new system – on further investigation you may find that they only in fact require an upgrade of hardware and software. Your research may involve interviewing staff, observing work practices, researching costing or mapping the IT infrastructure already in place.

From your analysis you should then be able to determine a solution to the problem, which can then be presented to the client for approval.

Documenting any additional requirements As we explore and understand the client’s needs, we may discover other requirements, which have been overlooked. For example, it might become apparent

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that additional power outlets will be needed for the recommended system. Further arrangements have to be made, such as who is expected to solve the problem or whether the client would prefer to use power boards or have power outlets installed.

New technologies may also lead to new requirements from the client. There is often a great temptation for the client to add optional features or new devices to a recommended solution. While each addition may only be small, they impact upon the total system’s price as well as the installation and support costs.

It is important that any altered or additional requirements that might be discovered are documented. In some small organisations (eg your own business) such amendments and additions might be confirmed verbally. However, you should be very cautious of verbal agreements. Before proceeding with any work, confirm the verbal agreement with a written agreement. Written documentation leaves much less chance of error as may be the case with memories recalling facts differently!

It is good practice to amend the original confirmation document to include any additional requirements. This should then be forwarded to the client for final approval and signature.

Reflect back and answer the following questions to check your understanding

Give two reasons why it is important to check with the client what their requirements are

Why is it important to document your proposed solution to meet a client’s requirements?

Obtaining approval

It is important that you gather the correct information from a client so that you can accurately determine their requirements. It’s just as important that:

you provide the client with information that will help them make an informed decision

you and your client agree on certain decisions (eg the job specifications and the scope of the job).

You would not want a client to say at a later date that they were not satisfied with the service you provided. You would also want to pre-empt any later misunderstandings.

Obtaining approval might occur in a number of ways. It might be a verbal approval to go ahead with work based on the confirmation document. As mentioned earlier, you should never rely on a verbal approval. Memories of events can differ very much and lead to confusion and conflict later.

One way of obtaining approval is to have the client provide a written purchase order for the work. Alternatively, the client might write a letter outlining their agreement to your requirements document, asking you to go ahead with the work. Lastly a contract can be drawn up whereby the client can formally sign an agreement.

Any approval document that is produced should include agreement on:

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1. the standard of the goods or services to be provided

2. the price of the goods or services to be provided

3. the timelines for the project (either broken down into timelines for specific tasks or for the entire project)

4. any ongoing or follow up services required or foreseen.

Remember, a person’s signature is generally required for an agreement to be legally binding. You should ensure that all documents are signed by an authorised person from your client’s organisation before you commence any work.

Implementation of a solution cannot go ahead until the client has approved all aspects of the project outlined in the documentation.

Activity 2:1 ConsequencesWhat would be a possible consequence of not gaining approval from the client before implementing a solution?

Investigation and recommendation of technical support required The technical support identified as being required by the client might include areas such as:

installation

troubleshooting

updating and maintenance of a system

initial training

provision of user & technical documentation eg. manuals for using and maintaining software, hardware or networks.

It is vitally important that you recommend appropriate levels of training and support. You are the expert. You know the systems. You have to make the solution work in the workplace.

You should advise the client about the level of training and support that will be needed. The client may well choose not to proceed with your recommendations based on cost or current staff expertise. But if that occurs and problems with the system develop later, you are then in a strong position to deal with issues as they arise.

The best way to ensure you have a shared understanding of the level of training and support to be provided is to record it in writing. Ensure that the client’s signature and your signature are included on the documentation.

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The level of training and support might be recorded in the initial documentation of the client’s requirements, or in the formal document requesting you to carry out work on behalf of the client.

The amount and level of support would also depend upon the expertise of staff using the hardware, software or network equipment. It may be that a questionnaire or survey is required to obtain this information. Informal interviews with heads of departments and managers could also identify the amount of technical support required. Again this should all be recorded so that the client can make an informed judgement before agreeing to the recommendations.

Determining the type of training needed

The following questions can help you to determine a training strategy:

What will be the overall goal of the training — for the organisation and for the individual clients?

What does the client need? What are the learner’s existing knowledge and skills?

What is the complexity of the skills to be taught?

Is there a time frame to teach these skills?

Are there others in the organisation who need more or less the same type of training?

Are there resources (eg manuals and textbooks) that I can draw from?

When is the client available for training?

Would one-to-one training be more effective than group instruction?

Should you provide all the training or would it be more effective to enrol the client in an external course or engage a training provider?

Is there a need for a service level agreement?

What is the organisation’s budget for this training?

Determining client’s training needs

Now you need to work out the specific training needs of individuals, in order for them to achieve the training goal. This is also known as conducting a needs analysis.

Then you can compare what they already know with what they will be expected to know by the end of the training. The ‘gaps’ indicate the skills and knowledge your training should focus on. These will become the learning objectives.

To determine a client’s training needs, you will need to consider the overall goal of the training and:

the specific tasks the client needs to perform

the skills needed in order to perform those tasks

the different levels of training needed for different learners — novice, advanced, power-user or technical training.

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Strategies to find out about client’s training needs

Determining the client’s training needs is similar to determining any sort of client need. You must be careful not to make assumptions!

Focus on what the learner needs to know in order for them to perform the task, and also find out what they already know. The training needs to be valuable and appropriate to this particular learner or group.

The following are some strategies to find out about client’s training needs. You may develop more strategies as you go along.

Ask - Employees need to acquire new skills and competencies to function effectively when there are changes in their workplace, be it the introduction of new technology or new work procedures. A good understanding of the stakeholders and their current competency levels will give you an idea of their training needs.

Conduct a diagnostic activity - A good solution is to prepare in advance a diagnostic activity. This might be a specific set of questions for the client, or it might be a sort of test to see whether the client can perform a series of tasks.

Practise good communication skills - Good communication skills, such as questioning and active listening techniques, will help you obtain useful information about client’s training needs.

Observe the client as they attempt to complete the task - This will help you see where the client’s gaps in knowledge and skills are and find out what they don’t know.

Do some research - You may be able to find out what the client’s recurring problems are. For example, you might be able to look through the help desk request log. Frequently requested help for a particular problem may alert you to a particular training need. This strategy is particularly useful in gauging any problems arising from the introduction of new technologies.

Find out about barriers to the client’s ability to learn - Find out whether the learner (client) has any special needs, negative attitudes or phobias about any of the tasks they need to learn to perform. Before you offer training, you may need to help the client think positively about the training. For example, your client may have a disability or cultural barriers with regard to using certain types of technology.

Negotiate a training and support timetable - Many IT operations need to take place when people don’t need access to the system. Remember that the prime focus of the client is to keep the business running! That business will provide the funds to pay you.This means that you need to be very flexible when arranging times for support with the client. Think of the types of training and support outlined above and what they involve. For example, consider what could happen if you have to stop access to a client’s database system to update the software, or to backup the system. It could create chaos!

If you are to provide training or support you will also need to consider the priorities of the client. There are two important things to keep in mind when negotiating times to provide support:

1. the need to avoid any interruption to the client’s ongoing operations

2. the need to have the right people from your organisation free at a time suitable for the client.

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This may not be easy. It can often take considerable negotiation to come up with a suitable time for technical support to be provided. There can be a lot of people affected by such support and for maximum benefit you need to make sure they will all be available.

Providing technical support

Support can be provided in an initial training package either as part of a group or one-to-one instruction to the client. It could also be ongoing telephone support or online help.

One-to-one instruction is generally more costly than group training, but under some circumstances, such as the following, it is the preferred option:

The organisation may believe that the training is so important or so urgent that it is willing to invest in individual training.

The knowledge and skill levels of individual staff vary. Users often have unique problems and therefore unique training needs. In such cases, training that is customised to the individual would be more effective than group training.

There are advantages to delivering training in a one-to-one situation that the group-training equivalent just does not share. For example, one-to-one training enables the training to be tailored to be more suitable for individual learners, thereby accelerating the learning process as well as enabling the learner to provide immediate feedback about the training.

The instruction provided will only be meaningful if it relates to the needs of the client. One of the keys to providing the correct support is the ability to identify what instruction the client actually needs. A training needs analysis is a process that can identify the correct training required. If you neglect to identify what the client actually needs then the instruction you provide may be useless.

Technical support can be ongoing; providing 24 hour telephone support; a one-off group training session; one-to-one support or in stages over a number of days, weeks or even months – this will all be dependent on a number of factors:

number of people being trained or supported;

amount of support required

technical ability of the client/’s staff

available training/support budget

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Think about any training you have undertaken – was it one-to-one training or were you part of a group? If you were being trained in a technical skill – which would you prefer and why?

Providing user documentation Providing manuals and help documentation to the client is an important part of the support that should be offered. It will not only help the users to understand the systems put in place but also ensure that the implementation of the system will be successful.

What user documentation are you familiar with? List at least two different kinds of user documentation you have used or are familiar with, both personally and at work.

Name of Documentation Description

Your list could include a training manual, user guide, quick reference sheet, licensing agreement software registration form, maintenance manual, procedure manual, documentation register, online help, online tutorial, organisation’s intranet, the Internet.

Check Your UnderstandingI have learnt how to:

confirm software, hardware or network requirements with a client investigate and document a solution document additional requirements identified and refer them to the client obtain approval from the client to implement the solution investigate and document the amount of technical support the client may

require discuss and agree on the level of technical support identified in conjunction

with the client arrange a time with the client when support will take place provide technical support as part of a group or one-to-one instruction to the

client provide manuals and help documentation to the client

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