Could I Be Wrong?
Reading Eric Lippert’s blog is always entertaining and instructional. Today I was reading and came across his posting titled, “Maybe there’s something wrong with the universe, but probably not.” His point, often we assume software problems come from the other guy, not issues we have created ourselves.
One comment to the blog pretty much sums it up. A man on his way home receives a call from his wife. "Be careful honey, the news is showing a car going the wrong way on the interstate!" "One car?" he replies. "There’s dozens of them!"
I’m sure it feels that way sometimes working with our systems. I can’t remember the number of times in the last year when customers will call in to say the system is down because they can’t run something on a web site, only to find that they are having network issues. Of course we help them solve those problems as well.
My approach; It’s always my problem, even if I didn’t cause the problem, and I have a lot to do. Frequently my solution is to redirect them to the appropriate resource. Sometimes I will take the time to educate someone so that they won’t have to come to me again with the same problem.
Sometimes the problem just fixes itself magically. Not really, but that is how customers may perceive the solution. Many times the problem is sitting behind the keyboard. The way a system works is unclear or un-documented, or the individual is just too lazy to look things up. Sometimes, the person behind the keyboard is me.
Many of us have support roles in our daily lives. I’d be interested to hear about the kinds of things you find yourself doing, and any tips you may have for handling support issues. Send your comments to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben
$$SWYNK$$
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