Cloud Computing is the network storage of your software applications and data in secured sites. Its main theme is to satisfy the fast growing computing needs of the users. Some of the major examples are Google Docs and Google Apps which provide common business applications online and accessible from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on their servers.

Understanding Cloud Computing

In this context, a network of servers and connections is collectively known as “The Cloud“. Computing at this large scale allows users to access Super computer level power. We can reach into the Cloud for resources as and when we need them. And this is why Cloud Computing is also referenced to as “On-demand Computing.”

You can access the information that you need, from just about any device with an Internet connection including mobiles and hand-held phones.

Read the rest of this entry »

The efficiency of a support team is quite often measured by the average number of tickets being handled by the team per shift. Depending on the variety of problems that the team handles, the number of tickets can vary in various shifts. However, there are certain measures that a team can effectively follow to maintain their efficiency and also improve performance.

Through this article, I would like to emphasize on a few such measures that every team needs to focus on, for efficient working.

  Understand the problems quickly

“Easier said than done”, is what would have gone through your minds now. But, let me tell you a few things that are involved in understanding support tickets quickly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last 15 years, I have seen a definite and steady move from Desktop Computing to Web Computing. Applications that ran on the desktop made a shift towards web applications. Words such as SaaS (Software as a Service) started being used by large and small software companies to sell their applications to a wider Internet audience.

And now, I see the shift from this towards Mobile Computing. A rich client side application running on a mobile device such as an iPhone, attracts users because of the sheer convenience of use. No longer do I need my computer to access popular applications such as Twitter or Flickr.

Here are the things I now use my mobile device for:
  Check Twitter feeds and Facebook,
  Use my bank account, even to transfer funds,
  Check my email, search and browse,
  Upload photos to Flickr,
  Use Salesforce on the go (Helps me check on sales straight away),
  And much much more.

Read the rest of this entry »

What are the core qualities that you would look for in a technical support person? Is it the extend of technical know-how on problems? Or is it the person’s skill in managing customers and taking a big picture view of understanding things? Or again is it something that you had never thought of before?

Well, you may think that you need to find answers to a lot of such interesting questions when you start defining a technical support person of your choice. In fact, you needn’t look for too many qualities when it comes to choosing a good support engineer. You only have to define a set of major aspects that are required, and the rest of them should compliment well with these. This article defines the qualities that a technical support Engineer should essentially possess.

Read the rest of this entry »

Team activities play an indispensable role in the growth of an organization. A set of well co-ordinated team activities help an organization achieve its goals faster and to aim greater heights.

Well, what exactly is Team Activity? How can we define it and what are the factors concerning it?

These are a few questions that come to our mind when we think about a Team in general. A Team is a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. In the process, each person is assigned different responsibilities. Real team work happens when each person starts contributing more to the team in one way or the other, in addition to performing their assigned responsibilities. For example, document the solution to a new problem that was encountered within the team and share it with everyone.

Read the rest of this entry »

How quick and efficiently are your customers taken care of - This is one of the most important factor that distinguishes your web host support from the others. The customers contacting your support team expects a speedy resolution to the problems that they face. The query from the customers vary.
How can I access a particular feature on my control panel? - Simple :).
I am not able to get my application running, correct it for me ASAP - What could be wrong?
No matter how simple or tough the query is, the support team should be able to find an effective solution to it quickly.

What are the factors that help a support team stay ahead in serving their customers quickly and effectively?

It is definitely the systems that are followed within the team. These systems have a magical effect in determining the output of the team. The following are the important systems that every support team must have for ensuring excellent customer service:

Read the rest of this entry »

Competition is everywhere. It has become a part and parcel of life. We are constantly looking for something that is better than what we had before.

How does this help in real life, especially when it comes to hosting support?

Competition paves the way to perfection. Nothing is perfect on it’s own. It’s the competitive spirit that brings in the ingredient of excellence. It often helps mankind to satisfy the greater needs that arise from advance thinking.

The desire to execute anything in the best possible way, the urge to provide the best possible service to the customers and the passion to produce maximum results in less time are all signs of advance thinking. These result in building up a competitive spirit. They also motivate us in attending to every minute detail of a problem, analyzing it, and proposing the best possible solutions for it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Every communication happens in the form of expressing some ideas, conveying some messages or passing some information. The effectiveness of the communication lies in how well the receivers perceive, understand and convey the same. So, when defining a communication, it involves three elements:

• Sender, who sends the information.
• Receiver, who receives the information.
• Proper medium for communication, where sender and receiver agree on.

The medium can be anything - written, verbal or nonverbal. The bottom line is that, both parties taking part in communication should be in agreement with the communication medium, otherwise, the communication won’t be effective!

You have to measure the effectiveness of every communication that you are part of. Even if the idea is conveyed or if a proper medium is used, it need not result in effective communication. If the information being conveyed is some kind of knowledge, we need to measure the knowledge of the receiver. If the information being conveyed is some kind of follow up actions, we need to put some check points and measure the effectiveness of the follow up action. In short, to measure the effectiveness of communication, whether it be in the form of information exchange or follow up actions, we should be having proper feedback about it. A feedback system is the only way of measuring the effectiveness of a communication channel.

Read the rest of this entry »