As already described in our previous article, help desk or service desk is a way to organize company workflow. The main goal is to make work process uninterrupted and smooth by fixing all problems within a company or with customers. This could be achieved by using a special software - the core of the service desk. Functions of service desk and how it should work are well defined in ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) which is used in ITSM (IT Service Management). Many companies are marketing their solutions in this niche. There is a wide range of functions offered by such systems. Some of the solutions are simple and easy to deploy, while others require expert knowledge and are very flexible and mostly intended for huge companies with thousands of employees. This article will cover some of both kinds. There’s a lot to be considered when choosing the right solution, so we hope this article is a good start.
Help desk software is a set of tools for streamlining the processing of support requests from clients. Often a client with a specific problem submits a request to be handled by someone responsible for that specific area. So, this technician has to resolve the issue. The idea behind help desk software is to centralize and collect all such requests in one place, so that the help desk agents process all user requests through this system.
Accounting is a broad set of practices aimed at organizing financial information of a company, including sales to clients, procurement, assets depreciation, etc. in a manner appropriate for adequately managing corporate finances, filing required papers, etc. Today this line of services deals with minimum printed papers or entirely dispenses with them. Hard copies have been replaced by electronic documents. Computers, mobile devices, the Internet and remote access are the technologies involved. Let us take a look at how remote access software can be used (and is increasingly being used) by accountants.
System administrators, IT specialists, bank officers or anyone who works with critical information or has to restrict access to data are dealing with passwords. Following basic rules for using and storing passwords is very important for anyone who wants to keep information private. A lot of people think that their home computers won’t become a target for bad guys. This is not true! Anyone can face data theft problems if not being discreet.
The history of virtualization dates back to 1960s. At first the intention was to extend computer memory. The concept of virtual machine has been developed by IBM. The intention of this project to share hardware resources and to run more than one operating system on a single computer (back then it was a mainframe). The end-users would get the ability to work together, sharing the same computer.
Every person who wants to use Internet today should be aware of possible privacy and personal data issues. Governments of many countries want it to be controlled and companies strive to collect personal information and track users. Then this data ends up being used for targeting ads. Even if the use of such data is considered secure, there's always probability of a threat. The data could be stolen or it could become public. Nobody could gurantee absolute safety.
Working on your computer from another computer is nothing new. Then why is it so popular, even among those who are not IT pros or computer enthusiasts? Also, what does remote access mean for your business?
You are supporting a customer remotely but suppose that you (or they) have no Internet connection. What's next?
UAC (User Account Control) is an extra layer of security introduced in Windows Vista. It suspends any application you want to run: a dialog box pops up asking for an explicit permission to run the app. While offering extra security, UAC certainly complicates remote support because you lose control over the remote machine in some cases.
But let's see what other options we have here. All workarounds suggested are for Windows 7 but they also should work in Vista and Windows 8.
Obviously, as you are getting more customers (and bigger customers), your managed IT assets grow, sometimes exponentially. Keeping all stuff in separate Excel sheets might be a problem. You have to buy software and hardware, keep track of users, you’d want to know what software is installed and where it is, etc.