IT Support: Level 2 and 3

[clamum]

I'm looking for a new software development job and one thing I don't care for at my current positron is the on-call requirement. I've been doing it six years and am tired of it.

So I'm seeing in some new positions mentions of level 2/3 support as a requirement. I've done a bit of looking but can't really determine if those levels constitute on-call or not.

I figured you guys might have some knowledge in this area. Anyone know if level 2/3 is considered on-call? Thanks.

 

[JEDIYoda]

why don`t you inquire and find out?
Truthfully not to seem rude, but how would we know without contacting the person who is looking for IT2 or IT3 qualified people??

 

[brianmanahan]

i dunno what the levels mean and i've done software dev for 15 years

edit: wikipedia has a definition - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_support#Multi-tiered_technical_support

 

[DigDog]

in my experience at the IBM call center - we're the guys who put the "call" in on-call - T2 is the one most often called on. T3 is rare, T4 is exceptional, when something has really gotten F*up.
according to to wiki page,
T0 - self help. Go online and look it up in our troubleshooter database.
T1 - you talk to me. I know nothing about the software, but i have a checklist of 10 most common requests (dead CMOS battery, dead HDD, license expired, etc)
T2 - call center in India, they have read the troubleshooting guide a lot and have a vague idea of how the sw works.
T3 - an actual CS guy who has a good understanding of the software and can go with you through reconfigs, broken files, things out of the ordinary.
T4 - coders who built the software. There's gotta be a seriously good reason for T4 to get involved. Generally here wait time for a fix is months, so i wouldn' say this is "on-call".

If you go T2/T3 you will be the very definition of "on-call", with the added penalty that the more you do not suck at your job, the more you work.

 

[ultimatebob]

I've never seen a tech support job where the Tier 1,2,3,etc roles are actually taken seriously.

If you're a big shot manager with an expired password, you can always get someone in IT to bend the rules and get a senior administrator to work on your trivial problem through fear and intimidation.

 

[DigDog]

i think we're talking vendor to client, not in-house. there's no such thing as tiers in-house.

 

[clamum]

Thanks DigDog that helps some. So it sounds like level 3 might not be on-call as the resolution time might be a couple days or so. Or maybe not, I dunno. But 2 definitely would be.

why don`t you inquire and find out?
Truthfully not to seem rude, but how would we know without contacting the person who is looking for IT2 or IT3 qualified people??

Yeah I could. I was just curious what people here thought since I figured at least a few people would have experience or at least indirectly have some idea. And I'm just trying to keep OT alive man! We all know the posts per day is low. :-(

I don't get why these companies can't have a small monitoring team (in fact they've started this at my current job) that takes care of on-call. I don't mind working hard when I'm at work, and in fact hate when it's slow with nothing to do, but Jesus am I that crazy for not wanting to work when I'm out of work? C'mon I spend more time at work than I do awake, not at work. I think it's a bunch of crap.

 

[ultimatebob]

i think we're talking vendor to client, not in-house. there's no such thing as tiers in-house.

I'm not so sure about this problem being in-house only. In some smaller companies, I've seen big customers call a VP level person and demand a solution to their problem immediately. When that happens, the VP isn't going to waste their time by going to the level 1 tech who struggles to read the documentation that the higher level techs wrote for them.

Wherever I go in IT, I always seem to end up helping out with the level 2 and 3 tech support work. It doesn't matter if I was the support manager, the QA guy, the DevOps dude, or even the IT Architect. I just have a knack for fixing broken shit a little faster than everyone else, I guess.

 

[pauldun170]

Thanks DigDog that helps some. So it sounds like level 3 might not be on-call as the resolution time might be a couple days or so.

Do not make that assumption.
It all depends on the organization, the layers involved, who owns the layers, who developed it, SLA'a etc etc.

Lets look at a variation (building off digdog)
T0 - Self help. AKA check the wiki\faq
T1 - Call center whose responsibility is to capture the information, log the issue and have access to VERY basic activities that are covered in a predefined script.
These 2 layers can generally be automated or converted to basic AI. When shit hit the fan, there isn't much value to these folks staying on a triage. These folks are glorified data entry.

T2 - Call center where someone has big picture of issues going on or junior in house person. They have read the troubleshooting guide a lot and have a vague idea of how things work. This is the typical the tier where people will own the problem and work towards resolution.
T3 - This is typically a Subject matter expert who will work with the T2 to work towards resolution of an issue that falls outside of the standard scripted stuff. This can be everything from DBA's to developers to platform people.
Both these tiers can end up on call. Both those tiers can end up on 14 hour bridgeline to deal with someone else's f00kup.

T4 - Senior T3 (Senior devs, DBA's, generalists who have seen some shit), Architects who have to organize\manage\direct all the different players to put all the puzzle pieces in place. These folks can still get pulled into a call but they are the ones who hop on...layout out the game plan and hop off once everyone is clear on what next steps are.

 

[pauldun170]

Also, consider what ultimatebob brought up.
You could end up at a company where you are the CIO and the CFO is calling you on vacation because they forgot how to transpose in excel

 

[Red Squirrel]

Level 2 is basically PC support, you're not that likely to be on call but you could be. Ex: important client's PC not working in a 24/7 operation. Level 3 is server, you're more likely to be on call. Got called as a server tech for a PC support related issue once for a hospital. They lost the ball for the mouse in the ER. That was a funny call lol. Got them a spare mouse. Easy 400 bucks! Well more like 200 once the taxes come out, but still.

On call is not a BAD thing depending on how it's setup. If there is a rotation it's not so bad since you're not always on call and when you are you get paid extra. I work for the NOC and the way my company does it is everyone is technically on call but it's "best effort". If you don't answer we just try calling the next person on the list. If nobody answers, depending how bad the trouble is we call a manager and they determine the next step. Sometimes we start calling techs in the next region over. When shit really hits the fan it's not uncommon to have techs driving 4+ hours to a trouble. Especially power outages where we need more techs and more generators to go around and cover all the sites.

 

[Exterous]

Tier 3 could absolutely have on call responsibilites. It could be less frequent than T2 but, if the call gets to T3, it's a more critical issue. Or T3 could just be 9-5. Depends on the shop

 

[clamum]

Huh. Alrighty. Sounds like it varies according to place which isn't surprising.

I just wanted to get some input from y'all but it looks like I'd have to inquire at places to get more info. Thanks guys