“Interpersonal communication and technology are not contradictory ideas. In our work, they are both necessary for success.” – Alex Martin, Desktop Support Lead

Picture this: You drop your laptop, and the screen goes dark. After trying the age-old turning the machine off and back on again, you submit a help desk ticket using your second monitor.

In a company of more than 500 employees, that’s likely only one of many tickets making their way to the IT Services team for review that morning.  Our Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 groups work together to manage the ins and outs of system access, software installations, equipment maintenance and file transfers, and handle each reported problem at the level of support it requires. Perhaps most importantly, our IT Services teams are responsible for ensuring everything works so we can best support the needs of our clients.

A typical week for our Tier 2 team begins with providing support for new hires. Every Monday, all new employees attend orientation and receive assistance with access to our systems, company VPN and setting up multi-factor authentication. Meanwhile, Tier 2 team members are also fielding IT tickets that were escalated from Tier 1 over the weekend. In fact, the triage and prioritization of Tier 2 desktop support analysts is ongoing.  

Alex Martin, our Tier 2 desktop support lead, manages a team of three desktop support analysts that assist with issues at the second level of our triage system. Their work is fluid because ultimately, troubleshooting and prioritization are organic, ever-changing processes. No two issues are treated the same way, and no two days look alike. The cohesion of their work comes from the cross-team collaboration they facilitate to ensure our disparate systems can work together, and our company priorities are being balanced. Our Tier 2 desktop support team members are:

• Alex Martin, desktop support lead

• Ryan M. White, desktop support analyst

• Charles Michael, desktop support analyst

• Hunter Bennett, desktop support analyst

Our IT services teams use technology, and its maintenance, as a vehicle to simplify and streamline the work FEI does every day. The next time you need to log a ticket, be sure to thank them for their responsiveness and willingness to jump in where needed.