What it’s Like Working in IT Support
We’ve all had those phone calls with a support specialist: just some mysterious person on the other end of the line who magically solves our problems. Or maybe leaves us on hold for too long. At Axiom Solutions, it’s different. We’re bringing down the curtain. You’re never left in the dark with our team of IT support experts. We’re proud of the work we do and it’s about time we gave you an inside look at what it’s like working in IT support.
We sat down with Axiom Solutions veteran Chris Thurman to give you a behind the scenes tour of what we do here at Axiom and a day in the life of an IT specialist like him.
Who is Chris Thurman?
Chris has been with Axiom for over a decade. His love of computers started in high school when he took computer electives and spent a lot of his free time learning about and messing with computers. Now, he is a Senior Field Engineer and a top-level technician for our company. As an experienced technical manager, Chis is a team player who makes sure everyone else is up to par too. A lot of other team members at Axiom will go to Chris with questions or to get their work double-checked because of the nature of his role. We can confidently say, his expertise is second to none.
What does this mean for the customers Chris works with, though?
“We all handle every issue; there’s nothing that’s considered below me. I’ll handle rebooting or plugging a computer in. But I’m the one that will handle the toughest jobs, too—higher-end networking, the more complex things,” said Chris
If you’re having complex networking issues there’s a good chance that you’ll be working with Chris. If you have something new and exciting to work on, there’s also a good chance Chris will love working with you, too. Experimenting with new products that other people don’t get to use very often is one of Chris’ favorite parts about his job.
“Probably the most exciting thing—maybe not for the IT reason—was when I helped upgrade the broadcasting system for one of the local radio systems,” said Chris. “We always listen to the radio, but not many people get to see the behind the scenes and really how that works with IT and the automation that’s part of it. So, that’s probably one of the coolest projects that I’ve been involved in, getting to see how that all integrates and works. It’s one of the most interesting things I’ve had a hand in.”
What does an IT technician do?
Now, it’s clear that Chris is pretty good at his job. We know his job title and his favorite projects to work on, but what does he really do for Axiom?
“We operate by being good at as many things as possible. Probably my biggest specialty, though, is computer networking—figuring how to connect servers and computers and make them talk and securing them on the network,” Chris said.
A workday in IT is never dull. It is always changing. The industry “keeps you on your toes,” as Chris says. There is no real average day; there is always something different going on. An average day for Chris is just busy.
“A busy day can consist of a lot of on-site work. There are the planned days where I have large installs—equipment, servers, things like that—and I’m on-site all day, maybe multiple days, configuring new equipment,” said Chris. “Then there are the not planned days where it’s emergency phone calls, going on-site to fix issues that popped up last minute.”
You’d be surprised how often things line up for Chris and our Axiom team, though. According to Chris, it’s not rare for problems to go in spurts, to have a week of one issue, followed by a week of another. Lately, (if you can keep it on the down-low) Chris says they have been dealing with Windows updates and spend a lot of time “fixing things that Microsoft breaks.”
Why is quality IT important?
It should come as no surprise that everyone here at Axiom Solutions thinks that IT is crucial to running a business. But why? Chris boils it down to one thing: “The higher quality IT service you have, the less downtime you’re going to have.”
“There’s almost no business out there that doesn’t rely on a computer, on an internet connection, anymore. Having quality support to get you back up and running when your computers go down is essential. The longer your network is down, the longer you’re not able to do business. That goes for pretty much any company because computers run everything,” said Chris.
A quality IT service provider can help out your business in so many ways—by keeping your cybersecurity in check, fixing your day-to-day issues, and handling more complex problems that arise. But that’s not all. With a company like Axiom in your corner, you never have to worry about the thing that Chris considers the top priority for businesses.
“The most important thing I could say is to never go cheap on your backups,” Chris said. “Backups are the most important thing to your company— because data is the most important thing. Always listen to recommendations for backups. There’s a lot of services we offer, but the most important one that everyone should sign up for is backups! You can do it without upgrading to the latest and greatest computer every year, but if you miss one day of backups, you can lose thousands of dollars overnight. It’s always worth it to spend money to have someone manage those and make sure that’s happening for you.”
If you take only one thing away from this interview, it should be to always invest in quality data backups. And the easiest way to do that is to have an IT company like Axiom Solutions manage that for you.
Why Axiom?
It’s clear that Chris thinks that the best thing for a business is to let someone else have eyes on your network, backups, and more, but that’s not the only reason. He loves working at Axiom for a reason and he knows our customers appreciate us, too. So, what sets Axiom apart?
“Our dedication to our customers. We have a great team here. All of our customers, whether they get to meet them in person or not, can probably name at least three people on our team that they’ve worked with. We pride ourselves a lot in being active with our customers—not just when they’re having problems. We dedicate people to stay up to date with our customers and make sure their needs are met even when they’re not having problems. Our communication with customers is what sets us apart from most others,” Chris said.
There you have it. There isn’t some mysterious presence solving all your computer issues. There are experienced IT professionals just like Chris who are dedicated to the work we do at Axiom and always make sure our customers get the best service and the best solutions possible.
Axiom Solutions is committed to providing our customers with reliable communication and the best IT solutions for your business. Chris and our other team members are standing by to help you solve every IT problem. Contact us today with any questions or to set up a free consultation. If you’d like to meet the rest of the team, you can check them out here!
