The quiet job that matters
Nobody thanks the people who keep the wifi, the servers and the phones working. They only notice when it stops.
On a normal day a support team installs, updates, watches, fixes and records. On a bad day it does all that in a hurry.
Today you learn what those jobs are, who does them, and which skills they need.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can describe the jobs, roles and skills of people who support digital infrastructure.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Infrastructure | the hardware, software and networks an organisation runs on |
| Escalate | pass a problem to someone with more skill or authority |
| Recovery | getting a system back to working after a failure |
| Line support | levels of support, from first line for simple problems upwards |
| Upskilling | learning new skills to keep up with change |
| Unified communications | phone, video, chat and email working together as one system |
| Server | a computer that gives data or services to other computers |
| Network | computers and devices joined so they can share data |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
The jobs: ten things support workers do
Workers who support infrastructure install, test and maintain parts. They schedule updates and tell users. They keep availability high. They carry out recovery and restoration. They tune hardware, software and network speed.
They apply security measures, troubleshoot problems, escalate what they cannot fix, work to the law, and design and document system changes.
The jobs, with an example each
| Job | Example |
|---|---|
| Install, test and maintain components | Fit and test a new network switch |
| Schedule updates and tell users | Email staff that the server restarts on Sunday at 2am |
| Maintain system availability | Watch a screen of alerts and fix faults fast |
| Recovery and restoration | Restore files from last night's backup |
| Optimise performance | Add memory to a slow server |
| Apply security measures | Add a password policy and update the antivirus |
| Troubleshoot | Find why one room has no wifi |
| Escalate | Pass a failed disk to the server team |
| Work to the law | Follow data protection rules when handling staff files |
| Design and document system changes | Draw the new network plan and file it |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: which job is it?
Have a go
Check: which job is it?
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.