SupportStep - Application Support Framework
Today, all major business processes are computerized in part or in whole. Therefore, every company must have an application support organization to ensure that these business applications run successfully and are error free.
Support groups provide the backbone services that keep the production business applications going, which in turn allow the business itself to keep functioning.
SupportStep™ is designed to provide the information necessary to successfully establish and manage the business application support group.
For projects that deliver business applications, there is a support entity that is running when the project is done. On completion of the project, the project team usually gets disbanded and goes away, while the business application transitions from development to support.
The support team is then responsible for ensuring that the application continues to run as it is supposed to. The support team fixes problems, answers questions, and generally does whatever is required to maintain the application’s reliability and performance. The support team ensures that ongoing value is received through the life of the application.
The Value of SupportStep™
SupportStep Application Support Framework showcases a common set of processes, best practices, and templates that can be used to run the support function consistently throughout the organization.
The value of SupportStep is delivered by:
- providing an overall structure that all groups that are performing support can follow.
- setting an overall direction and destination that all support groups can strive to achieve.
- establishing a common set of terms and a framework for thinking that can be used consistently throughout the company. This helps facilitate communication and reduces the chances of confusion.
- providing a set of management practices that can be used consistently to proactively manage resources and to align the work to ensure it supports business initiatives.
- creating a common and consistent set of measurements for internal process improvements and for external reporting to the clients.
- facilitating training and cross-training, since the knowledge and skills of how you do support work are consistent from one area to another.
- encouraging organizational horizontal planning across multiple groups since each group is using common terms and a common support framework.
