CALLING ALL I.T TECHIES

This is an open call to anyone in the computer support industry or just even those who are technically minded.

I work in I.T support (have done for 8 years now) and have been discussing with my MD today about where the future of IT technical support is (by this I mean desktop/printer/server/network support)

We were looking at Microsoft 365 as the main issue in this - as in the cost savings that they can offer a customer for 24/7 IT support and availability are simply staggering.
a 25 user site, at £6.50 per month for "enterprise" support costs £162.50, even factoring in leasing a thin client per user (£5 per user per month =£125) and fibre line (£50 ) totalling roughly £330 per month
Compare this to the £800+ costs at present, along with ongoing repair/replacement costs for hardware - and it becomes a no brainer.

How do all you IT people see this in your various roles?

My personal opinion is 5 years - will see the availability UK wide of 100mb Fibre lines to make this possible.
then 3 years beyond that - enough time for all these clients to migrate across.

I honestly believe in 10 years time the UK IT support industry as we know it will be gone.
No more desktop technicians (thin clients on leases)
No more server technicians (all hosted on Microsoft/Apple servers with 24x7 support)
Printers - large printers are already leased from suppliers so no change there anyway

Quite a depressing thought - and one that makes me think I need to retrain quite quickly into some other field - but how do all you other IT guys feel??

reply to post by facchino


Servers can't build themselves, hard drives will always fail, lightning/power strikes will always occur, users will always need training, NTU's will always go faulty, WIC cards will always need replacing, routers/new equipment will always need installing, need I go on...?

The whole cloud computing thing is interesting, but for some things people just aren't going to feel comfortable trusting their data to some amorphous network out on the internet, I know I would never let sensitive data like customer records, R&D, financials and HR documents, etc reside on a machine that I couldn't directly access and I suspect given the security concerns that have cropped up with services like Amazon I can see a higher than average amount of people holding out on embracing this technology.

Then you have to look at the Gov IT sector, which has insanely strict rules on how data can be handled, where it can live, and so on. That coupled with the normal hesitancy of Government to modernize their infrastructure I can see them helping to keep the traditional server role alive with the help of a huge interest in Virtualization.

IT is an ever evolving animal.

And some businesses won't ever change to cloud based computing.

Some business owners are cheap and will continue to purchase ancient computers that will require someone to fix them all the time.

IT workers won't ever cease to exist. There has to be someone around to help users who can't login to Sharepoint because they don't put in the domain name followed by a backslash in front of their username.

Your job will just be different as time goes along that's all.

reply to post by facchino

yep well thats how technology works, out with the old in with the new..
you can see today with stuff like 'cloud computing' that the it industry is going to be changing.
its always hard to tell but i can imagine that it will be a lot less personal

I do marketing for my IT company and research trends in the technology field every week and I can tell you cloud computing is definitely on the rise and has been for 3-4 years. Netflix; their entire business model is cloud-based. As in, all of their movies are streamed by millions of people through Amazon's cloud environment. And that is just one example of how cloud computing can be capitalized.

No one can really know exactly where the tech field will go, but one thing is for sure, cloud computing will be a part of the evolution.

Originally posted by grey580
IT is an ever evolving animal.

And some businesses won't ever change to cloud based computing.

Some business owners are cheap and will continue to purchase ancient computers that will require someone to fix them all the time.

IT workers won't ever cease to exist. There has to be someone around to help users who can't login to Sharepoint because they don't put in the domain name followed by a backslash in front of their username.

Your job will just be different as time goes along that's all.

set up a group policy that modifies IE lan settings to auto authenticate users based on your sharepoint url. That nixed 99.9% of login issues for me.

reply to post by Death_Kron


Servers can't build themselves, Servers will be hosted in a cloud environment by Microsoft or some other large provider - not onsite - so we would not be required to build them.
hard drives will always fail,
Thin Clients - leased devices (dummy terminals) just get swapped out. lightning/power strikes will always occur,
users will always need training,
This I agree with - software support as in training will always be needed.
NTU's will always go faulty, WIC cards will always need replacing, routers/new equipment will always need installing, need I go on...?
Again - all small devices that can be programmed by the ISP or the support technician from microsoft etc. All of these are small items IMHO that do not allow the IT support maintenance contract to continue in its current vein?

Do you work in IT support also? I genuinely worry for the industry as it is now - I agree there will still be a level of support required, but it will only be a fraction of that we have now, and eventually even that will disappear. Think about how proficient kids are with IT - now in 10 years time do you honestly think that programming a router or replacing a wireless card is going be beyond them?
These "menial" tasks will be 5 minutes work for any employee at that point...

reply to post by facchino


Yeah, I'm a field based ICT/telecoms engineer.

I think your looking at the whole industry from a singular view point, you haven't even discussed multi-vendor environments or other operating systems, the majority of the Internet at the backbone doesn't run on Microsoft Windows based systems.

My point is that hardware will always fail, user's will always need training, kit will always need installing, etc ...

Circuit's will still need to be installed, routers will always need replacing, switches will always go faulty (not to mention being installed in the first place)

Not every business will want to have their IT services hosted, believe you and me, I visit at least 100 nationally recognisable chains here in the UK and there is no shortage of desire; we are still installing CPE on a daily basis.

With the increase of business customers turning to VoIP solutions, the increasing amount of security threats on an almost hourly basis and the majority of businesses turning to "ICT solutions" I honestly don't we have anything to worry about.

It's a line of work that as long as you keep up to date, your guaranteed a job somewhere.

Just to take one of your points:

Again - all small devices that can be programmed by the ISP or the support technician from microsoft etc. All of these are small items IMHO that do not allow the IT support maintenance contract to continue in its current vein?

Not really, a WIC card cannot be "programmed", someone will be paid to fit and install it. On the same token, WIC cards will always go bad and need someone to replace them....

Originally posted by Death_Kron
reply to post by facchino

 

Servers can't build themselves, hard drives will always fail, lightning/power strikes will always occur, users will always need training, NTU's will always go faulty, WIC cards will always need replacing, routers/new equipment will always need installing, need I go on...?

.....People will always need to be reminded to check the power switch.....

Originally posted by Kryties

Originally posted by Death_Kron
reply to post by facchino

 

Servers can't build themselves, hard drives will always fail, lightning/power strikes will always occur, users will always need training, NTU's will always go faulty, WIC cards will always need replacing, routers/new equipment will always need installing, need I go on...?

.....People will always need to be reminded to check the power switch.....

They surely will, as pathetic as it sounds...

When you move a client to any form of a cloud service, you loose out on building them a server. From there you lose out on all the future service you could have provided that goes with a server environment.
Cloud is good for some things like hosted email. I have been to places as a tech and a customer where if the "internet is down" the registers don't work. If you cannot make a sale because the internet is down then you are in a poor situation.

As for cloud, it has been around for a long time from time shared mainframes to SaaS a few years back. I don't think it will replace all the techs out there. Just going to make them try harder.

The current cloud movement is just a glorified version of the old mainframe and dummy terminal system. Its a fad that will pass in most markets while other markets need this type of tech. You will still have people that need desktop PCs for various reasons.

I see this as adding more stuff to our tool box and not as something that removes work.

Originally posted by staple
When you move a client to any form of a cloud service, you loose out on building them a server. From there you lose out on all the future service you could have provided that goes with a server environment.
Cloud is good for some things like hosted email. I have been to places as a tech and a customer where if the "internet is down" the registers don't work. If you cannot make a sale because the internet is down then you are in a poor situation.

As for cloud, it has been around for a long time from time shared mainframes to SaaS a few years back. I don't think it will replace all the techs out there. Just going to make them try harder.

Someone is till going to have to support the applications and their interactions with the server. I know that the software we use could not be supported in a cloud.

Fortunately I do the support and I also make the call. My job is secure.

Who fixes the machines loads the hard drives unjams the printers. Fixes the printers manages the connectivity. Holds the users hands. Stuff that requires hands on activity. I was a senior network engineer -- high stress high pay -- now I watch over 3 servers 25 users half the pay but zero stress. I can not see this job going away for a long time -- sweet gig for a very old guy.

If you want to stay pertinent in this field find something that requires trouble shooting and hone those skills. I find the hardest techs to find are the ones who can trouble shoot. No one seems to know the fundamentals of how this stuff works, and us old guys who watched it grow are beginning to die off.

Thanks for all your replies - given me something to think about indeed.
Will re-read them all again and see what I can do to make myself "cloud Proof" as I still believe that a lot of clients will disappear because their businesses allow them to use thin clients and online servers but I also think some clients (cad/graphic design) will be a while off such a move...but I still believe it will happen.