CTU

IT 225

Phase 4 Individual Project

Mark Murphy 11/11/2012

Table of Contents ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES .............................................................................................. 2 CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED ....................................................................... 3 STAFFING STRUCTURES ....................................................................................................... 5 MY RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE ..................................................... 8 TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES................................................................................................... 9 IT SYSTEMS SUPPORT ............................................................................................................. 15 Description of Self Service Applications .................................................................................. 15 Real Time vs. Delayed Assistance ............................................................................................ 16 Knowledge base ........................................................................................................................ 18 PROCESSES AND PROBLEM RESOLUTION ......................................................................... 19 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................... 23 BUSINESS CONTINUITY .......................................................................................................... 23 PHYSICAL SECURITY .............................................................................................................. 25 NETWORK INFASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY ................................................................... 27 APPLICATION INFASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY ............................................................ 29 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 30

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES A help desk is a place where of information technology users can go to get help with a problem (Rouse, 2005). A help desk does not have to be a massive operation; it can be as small as one person who solves the IT problems in a company or it can be a large department that maintains help desks across multiple locations. However small or large a help desk is, there are common roles and responsibilities that apply to all of them. A help desk is responsible for providing a single, point of contact place where users can go for help (Sanderson, 2004). Help desks have evolved tremendously since the first ideas about them started. There are two primary types of help desks. There is an internal help desk whose main responsibility is to provide support for internal users of a company and there is an external help desk. The main responsibility of an external help desk is to provide help desk support with external users. A help desk may play many roles in an organization. Beyond helping to solve user problems, a help desk might also be responsible for things like the installation of new equipment or repairing broken equipment. Help desk employees must also carefully document problems that users are experiencing as well as attempts to find a solution and how the problem was finally resolved. The ability to provide good customer service is an essential part of any help desk. It is important to try and communicate clearly with the customer and allow them a chance to explain the problem in their own words. Help desk employees should try not to rush users and avoid jumping to conclusions about a users knowledge or experience.

CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED A help desk can be set up to as either centralized or decentralized. With a centralized help desk, all the help desk services are included in one location. There are advantages to having centralized help desk services. One of the advantages is that it allows for better communication within the help desk department because the employees are all together. If all the people are in the same building, it is also easier to implement policies and monitor the efficiency of the help desk. Another advantage is, since all the resources are located in one area, that it promotes a better use of resources. For example, a caller may call with a specific problem. Since all the help desk resources are centrally located, it would likely be much easier and faster to find a solution to the callers problem. A help desk would not have to seek resources from other locations or offices to find a solution. (Sanderson, 2004). A disadvantage of a centralized help desk could be an inability to provide on- site support to users in remote locations. For example, if there is a problem with a piece of hardware, the help desk will be unable to provide any on- site support where the caller is and may instead have to try and come up with other solutions. Another disadvantage is there may be difficulties understanding a business needs. For example, imagine a business that has different business practices than the help desk. This could be a scenario when a business takes unusual days off compared to the help desk. The days off could be because of something like a local custom or holiday in the country where the business is located but those same days off may not apply to a help desk in another country. Those conditions could make it very difficult to explain or resolve the issue. In a decentralized help desk, the services may be spread out to more than one location. One advantage of a decentralized help desk is an ability to provide on- site services to business.
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When help desk services are located in many different areas it becomes more likely that they can respond to and provide services directly at a company, an advantage that may not be possible in a centralized structure. Other advantages of a decentralized help desk could be that the help desk and a business they provide services to can be in the same time zone, may share the same customs and will usually have the same language. A disadvantage of a decentralized help desk is there may be difficulties measuring performance. With employees spread across different areas it could also be difficult providing standardized information and policies. Still another disadvantage could be difficulty creating and having all employees understand a common mission and goals.

STAFFING STRUCTURES There are five main staffing structures that can be used to set up a help desk. They are pool, dispatch, tiered, specialized and method. And while these structures all share the general idea of staffing a help desk, they are all different. A pool staffing structure is set up so any service request goes to a centralized location and is then handled by the next available help desk employee. This kind of setup is not the most effective use of a help desk because any employee will try and handle any request. This means employees with very limited experience will have the same responsibilities as an employee with much more experience. That also means that a service request may go to an employee who lacks the expertise needed to handle a problem while another employee who may have the required expertise will be given another assignment. With dispatch staffing, service requests initially go to an employee who gathers information and then directs the request to an appropriate location to handle the request. This structure creates the advantage of having little to no phone queue with initial service requests. However, once a request is directed to another location, the request may end up in a queue. (Sanderson, 2004). This could be frustrating to caller because they may have to wait in the queue for a long period of time. A tiered staffing structure has a help desk that is divided into several groups. With a tiered model, a problem is addressed by a first line specialist. That first line specialist also takes ownership of the problem. Taking ownership of a problem is a good customer service tactic because it makes the customer feel comfortable that their problem will be properly addressed and resolved.

If the first line cannot solve the problem, the problem is escalated to the second line specialist. Second level specialists usually do not take first level requests and may be specialists in particular areas. For example, certain second level employees may be specialists in things like networking, hardware or software. Or if they work at in internal help desk, they may have a deeper understanding of what the business uses. Also, second level employees often handle calls that are related to the area in which they specialize. There are advantages to having a tiered structure. Tiered structures often have higher customer service satisfaction levels and employee satisfaction. Tiered structures also allow for less experienced employees to gain experience and knowledge by solving problems. A specialized staffing has two types of support models: productivity and business. In the product model the help desk is divided into different groups and each group has a specific responsibility. For example, there may be a group that handles hardware related issues and another group for software issues. These groups may also be broken down into even more specialized areas if needed. Groups may also be broken down into a tiered structure. A problem with this structure is that users may have more than one problem and a problem may be caused by several things, including different groups in the structure. For example, if a user is unable to access the internet, they may have a network issue with the modem, hardware issues with components or a software issue with the internet program. This may make a problem more difficult to resolve since there are different groups involved with fixing it. In the business structure the help desk is divided up according to the units they provide support. For example in this model, the accounting department would be supported by an accounting help desk and a sales department would be supported by a sales help desk. I would

imagine this kind of structure is not effective in a small business. I think this might be helpful in a very large organization where each department has a need to be supported by its own support staff. For method staffing, a help desk is organized by the manner in which support is provided. One group is responsible for telephone requests and another group is responsible for email and web requests. This kind of structure works well when there is an equal number of service requests between the phone and email or web support. If one department, like phone support, receives a disproportionately higher number of requests than the email department, then it is not an appropriate staffing model.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE After learning about the different staffing structures, I feel comfortable making a recommendation on the structure I would use for this project. I would use a tiered help desk structure and I would have a centralized help desk. I would use a tiered help desk structure because it seems to be an effective way to operate a help desk. Instead of using help desk structures like a pool or dispatch, I prefer the tiered structure because it gives employees the opportunity to gain experience by helping with less complicated problems and still allows complex problems to be solved by more experienced staffers. I like the idea of mentoring less experienced personnel and helping them become more effective help desk employees. I would use a centralized help desk because my company is a small business and all of its resources are local. As my company grows, I would add a help desk anywhere the business expands. If additional offices are opened, I would include a help as part of the business expansion.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES There are five major steps in diagnosing a help desk issue. Communication is essential to solving any issues that may come into a help desk. If the problems are not understood then they can never be solved, so it is important for the listener and speaker to maintain professionalism and practice good communication skills. The first step is to diagnosing a help desk issue is to identify the problem. When a user contacts a help desk, it may be difficult to understand the specific problem. A key component to help identify the problem is to collect data. The first pieces of information that should be collected is user data, such as the users name, title, department and configuration information. Next, the help desk should try to determine what can be causing the problem. For example, try to find out if the problem is caused by a component like a new piece of hardware or a new software application. Or perhaps the problem is a symptom of another problem. An example of this could be when a computer repeatedly restarts. That could indicate a problem with the computer power supply or something else, like a failing drive. It is also important to note when the problem first started. This is important because if component upgrades or other work were done around the time the problem started, that could help determine the problem. Lastly, it is important to get a clear description of the problem. For example, if a user gets an error message when they start their computer it can be tremendously helpful in solving the issue. Another example would be to ask the user to explain exactly what happened when they tried to do something. If the user tried to print and suddenly got error messages or requests to connect with a printer, that kind of information can be very helpful. This is a time when the help desk should carefully listen to the speaker and try to understand exactly what the speaker is trying to explain.

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The second step is to determine the root cause. This step is important because this is the step where the help desk works to understand the problem and start to come up with solutions. There are three ways this is done. The first thing to do is ask open ended and closed ended questions. This can start out by asking simple questions like does the computer turn on and asking if everything is plugged in. After some of the closed ended questions are asked, move onto open ended questions. Good open ended questions should follow a Who? What? When? Pattern. For example, who is affected by this problem? Who else is affected? What was the user doing when the problem first started? What error messages did the user get? What happened that may the user call the help desk (shut off, applications not responding)? What program was the user using? What did the user do to try and fix the problem before calling the help desk? Finally, ask questions about when the problem happens. When did the user first notice the problem? When does it occur most often? Has it happened before and how was it fixed that time? When the help desk has gathered enough information they can answer the question about why this problem happened. The next thing to do is to try and replicate the problem. Try and have the user repeat the steps that caused the problem and explain what is happening. If the user can repeat the problem or if the help desk can replicate the exact steps, then it can be easier to find a solution. For example, if a user calls because a program will not open, have the user start at the beginning and repeat the same to try and open the program. If possible, try and see if the user can access the program on another computer. That can help determine if the problem is isolated to one computer or if there is a larger problem. See if the user can access other programs to make sure there is only one problem or if there are many.

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The third thing to do is to come up with a root cause analysis. A root cause analysis is a process used to identify the underlying factors that are causing a problem (Sanderson, 2004). This can be more time consuming because the help desk may be fixing more than just the reason why the user called in the first place. But the idea is to figure out why the user had the problem and fix that so the user does not have the same problem again. To help get to the root cause, the help desk must continue asking why questions to the user. In root cause analysis, there are three steps of information processing. 1. Identify cause areas 2. Identify underlying causes 3. Identify root causes To further understand each of the three steps listed above, this section will provide more details about them. For example, suppose a user contacts the help desk because their printer is not working. Some of the possible root causes could be that the printer is not plugged in, it is not connected to the computer or it does not have paper. If the printer is not plugged in or does not have paper, the solution is fairly easy. It may be more difficult to help the user connect the printer to the computer. If the printer is plugged into the wall and the power is supplied from the outlet or if the printer has plenty of paper, it becomes more difficult to determine the root cause. To identify underlying causes the help desk should determine if the problem is an isolated problem or if affects the entire network or other users. If the problem affects many users, the help desk should try and resolve the root problem instead of focusing on just the individual users. One way to help diagram a problem is to use something called a Fishbone Diagram. A fishbone diagram is a representation used to identify all possible causes of a situation
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(Sanderson, 2004). This can be a very useful tool to help identify problems. To create a fishbone diagram, first draw a straight line on a piece of paper. This line is referred to as the bone. Next, write a problem statement at the end of the bone. A problem statement is just a brief description of the problem, for example, the user cant print. Write a list of possible causes along the top and bottom of the paper and draw a line to connect the problems to the bone. On each line, write any possible problems that could be related to the main problem.

Supplies Is there paper?

The user cant print.

Is it plugged in?

Power

The third step is to generate options. With generating options, the idea is to come up with solutions to the users problem. There are various techniques used to come up with solutions. One popular way is by brainstorming. Brainstorming is usually a group of people who work together solving a problem. An example of an increasingly popular brainstorming technique is called mind mapping. In mind mapping, there is a central word or phrase and that could be the users problem. Connected to the central idea are other problems, possible solutions or other information, like is this a network problem or is it just one user? A brainstorming group should

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be open to suggestions and many possible solutions. And since the goal is to solve a problem, there should be a reasonable time limit attached to the session. The fourth step is to evaluate and prioritize options. In this step, there are three primary approaches used to evaluate possible solutions to a problem (Sanderson, 2004). The first approach is module replacement. Module replacement is done when the problem is possibly caused by a piece of hardware. Each piece of hardware is replaced and if the problem is solved, that piece of hardware was likely the cause. Module replacement is usually the replacement of the hardware that may be causing the problem, but it can also be a solution for a software issue. For example, if an application is not working correctly, the module replacement technique can be used for uninstalling then reinstalling the program. The second approach is hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing is when the help desk tries to solve the problem by testing different solutions. For example, use a printer that does not print. The first hypothesis could be that the printer is not plugged in. To test the hypothesis, check and make sure the printer is plugged in and will turn on. If that does not solve the problem, move to a second hypothesis. For example, after testing the first hypothesis, it is confirmed that the printer is plugged in and turns on, so the second hypothesis is that the printer is not connected to the computer. These steps and hypothesis testing continues until the problem is solved. The third approach is configuration management. With configuration management, a help desk will try to start and run a system using only a basic configuration. For example, if a user cannot access the internet, a help desk will try to connect online using cables connected to the modem. If that is successful, the help desk can start to add devices like switches and routers. The

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help desk should make sure they maintain an internet connection every time they add a device. If the connection is lost after a device is added, that may be the cause of the problem. The fifth and final step is to determine a course of action. After all the testing and questions are asked and a help desk has a solution, they must determine a course of action. A course of action is just a decision about what to do next. There are some things to consider before implementing a course of action. Some things to consider are how quickly can a solution be implemented? If the problem is isolated to one user, the solution may be implemented fairly quickly but if multiple users are affected and there are many steps required to complete the repair, the implementation may be slow. Another consideration is determining if there are enough resources available to help. If one person must implement the solution for many users, perhaps other option should be considered, like contracting the work out. What is the cost of the proposed solution? If a user has multiple issues, would it be cheaper and faster to buy a new workstation or have the help desk manage the issues? Finally, what is the likelihood of eliminating the root cause of the problem so it does not happen again? For example, if a problem is determined to be caused by a faulty power outlet, can the outlet be replaced or is there another solution. Solving problems is never easy to do. But when all parties communicate clearly and openly, it can be tremendously helpful and save time for everyone involved. And when a help desk follows a defined structure to help determine problems, acquire solutions and implement those solutions, it seems like it is much easier to solve large problems and can make solving smaller problems even faster.

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IT SYSTEMS SUPPORT

After carefully reviewing phone based support systems, it was determined that it was not the best approach for our company. As an alternative, we would like to implement a web based solution that includes self- service applications and a knowledge base. We will carefully explain what each of those are and how they may be used in this situation.

Description of Self Service Applications A self- service application is a computer program that allows users to solve their own problems through the use of a support website (Sanderson, 2004). There are many advantages to using a self- service application. Some key advantages include immediate availability to try and solve a problem, meaning the user can try and use the system to solve a problem immediately instead of waiting for a help desk to open or an agent to become available. A company can use a variety of tools to build a Web Based Self Service Application. One commonly used technological tool that is used is an online problem ticket form submission. With a ticket form, the user enters information onto a premade form. The information should include the users name, the type of problem (like email, printing, hardware, software, other, unsure) and contact information in case the problem is escalated or if there are any other problems, the company can contact that user. The ticket form should also include a section that identifies the priority of the problem and a text area where the user can describe the problem. After the user completes the form and submits it, the form is sent to a help desk employee who can review the ticket and work on a solution.

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Real Time vs. Delayed Assistance Real time assistance is when the user and help desk are in live contact with each other and actively interact. An example of real time assistance is when a user can speak with a help desk employee directly on the phone. Another example of real time assistance would be instant messaging or chatting. With instant messaging, there is an immediate connection made between the user and help desk. As a benefit for a help desk, messaging applications can be preformatted which can save time throughout the process. Another interesting tool that real time assistance can use is monitoring web site activity (Sanderson, 2004). This would be useful when a user visits a help area of knowledge base. If it does not appear like the user has found a solution, the help desk can initiate a messaging application to provide additional support. Another real time assisted support tool is remote control programs. These programs appear to be increasingly popular and easy to use. With this tool, a help desk employee connects to a users computer through an internet connection and can then perform tasks on the users computer. With this tool, the user does not have to do anything. Some things the help desk can do is log into the computer, display and update configuration settings, reboot the computer, download applications or transfer files (Sanderson, 2004). There are three modes that remote control programs work with. They are watch, share and control. In the watch mode, the help desk can watch what is happening on the users computer so the help desk can get a better understanding any problems or issues. In the share mode, both the user and help desk support have access to the computer. In the control mode, the help desk has complete control over the users computer.

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Delayed assistance is when there is a time delay between communication from a user and the help desk. An example of delayed assistance tool is when a user submits a form to the help desk. There is a communication between the user and the help desk, but it is not in real time. It is delayed. The fact that there is a delay does not mean this is an ineffective tool for a help desk. When a user submits the form, it gives the help desk an opportunity to collect whatever information may be needed to help solve the problem. A potential problem with this kind of support though could be if a user submits a form but does not fill out all the requested information. For example, if a user submits a form and complains that a printer is not working correctly but does not provide any other information, there could be a long delay before the help desk can address the issue because they will have to ask the user to resubmit the form.

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Knowledge base Like a ticket based support system, a knowledge base also requires a user to complete a form. The form will be a collection of searchable data that can include almost any information about the problem the user has. The form should try and gather information about the type of problem (hardware, software, printing, email, internet access) and may include areas for the user to identify specifics about their system, like the computer brand or what kind of printer they are having problems with. Once the form is completed, it is submitted and is automatically searched for matching words or key terms from the form. Matching words or key terms are searched against a collection of data and when matches are found, they are identified as possible solutions. Once the knowledge base has identified possible solutions, they are presented to the user who can then pick whichever seems to be the best. An important consideration when creating a knowledge base is that if the user is unable to find a solution after searching the knowledge base, there must be another way to contact a help desk. For example, there should be an option to submit the form for review by help desk employees.

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PROCESSES AND PROBLEM RESOLUTION

Before a company begins to define what constitutes a service level and what kids of metrics will be used to define success, there should be an understanding about what a service level is. A SERVICE LEVEL measures a performance of a system (Rouse, 2010). Systems should constantly reviewed and updated to make sure they are effective and meeting its demands. Once the company has defined a service level, they can begin to define the SERVICE LEVEL AREEMENT. A Service Level Agreement is a written agreement between a help desk and its customers. The agreement outlines in detail what services, products and support structure that the help desk provides. For example, a service level agreement between a help desk and its customers could state something like the help desk will provide services Monday through Friday from 6am to 11pm but not on weekends or nationally recognized holidays. The SLA could also describe the type of support available to users (phone based or web based). Another area that could be included with an SLA is what the help desk responsibilities are when a system is having trouble, like when a printer is not working or if a problem is going to take a long time to resolve. Service Level Agreements should be created with input from both the help desk and the business the help desk will support. The SLA should be easy to understand and be clearly written, so whoever reads it can understand the terms. The SLA should also define the roles and responsibilities of the users and help desk and provide a reasonable response time for problems. Lastly, a SLA should include criteria for a service evaluation (Sanderson, 2004).

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To help determine the success or failure of a SLA, the company should use clearly defined metrics that are called performance metrics. Some examples of performance metrics and a brief overview of what they measure are listed below. Total number of calls: This metric will measure how many service requests are made within a certain period of time. Average speed to answer: This metric will measure how long a caller has to wait before their call is answered by a help desk employee. Average hold time: This metric will measure how long a caller is placed on hold before they are helped by a help desk employee. Average abandon rate: This metric will measure how many calls come into a help desk but are not answered by help desk analysts. After work time: This metric will measure how much time a help desk employee takes to finish their work after a call. This can include any time spent documenting the call and steps to resolution. Average call handling time: This metric will measure how long it takes the help desk employee to come up with a solution to the problem. It should be noted that more complex problems will often take longer periods of time to solve them. Available time: This metric will measure the amount of time that a help desk employee is available to respond to calls for help. When a call is assigned to a help desk employee, they are removed from the list of available agents and when the call is completed, they are returned to the available list. Auxiliary time: This metric will measure the time that help desk employees spend on other responsibilities other than actually helping customers.
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First call resolution: This metric will measure how often the first call to a help desk is resolved. The Based on this list, one metric that will help keep the customers happy is the average

speed to answer. If calls to a help desk for a service request are answered quickly and dealt with, the customer will be happy with the service. Another metric that can help keep the customer happy is limiting the average hold time. Customers want to speak with the help desk when they call, not be placed on hold for long periods of time. So keep the wait times at a minimum and the customer will be happy. One metric that will help keep the help desk analyst happy is the total number of calls. If help desks are swamped by calls and are constantly trying to play a type of catch up, morale could negatively be effected. Another metric that can keep help desk analysts happy is the After Work Time. The After Work Time measures the time it takes help desk employees to finish their work after a service call. If the help desk employee has a fast turn around and is quickly finishing work after a call, perhaps offer a reward or other incentive to encourage the good performance. The metric that has the best chance of success and customer satisfaction is first call resolution. This metric will measure how many calls were successfully handled by the help desk the first time a customer called. To help illustrate my point, if a customer had to make repeated calls to a help desk to resolve a problem, this would indicate a potential problem and the customer would probably not be satisfied. But if the initial calls to the help desk were answered quickly and problems were solved, the customer will be happy. By comparison, when customers have their problems solved quickly, they can be more pleasant to interact with. When customers do not have their problems solved when they expect
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them to be, they can be much more difficult to work with and that can cause increased stress on the customer and help desk employee. So if a help desk is looking for a metric that will help predict the best chance of success and customer satisfaction, first call resolution will be a great starting point.

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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

A major consideration when developing a business continuity plan is data backups. Backing up data should never be overlooked. If a company does not have data backups and there is a catastrophe or if computers are lost and damaged, there may be no way to recover the information that was on those computers. It is also a good practice to have multiple backups available to ensure the most recent version of work is available. Some backup programs will backup everything automatically; other programs will only backup things that have changed since the last backup. However the backup system is designed, it should be planned out and carefully followed. The best backup program in the world will be useless if it is not used. An important thing to consider is securing the data backups. The company should protect backups the same way they protect other data. The company should limit who has access to data backups and where the backups are stored. Finally, a company should understand how to recover data from the backup before it actually needs to use it. Some final important elements to ensure business continuity is the ability to protect against power loss. One way to protect against power outages would be to have power generators. Another possibility could be to use an uninterruptible power supply or UPS. A UPS is designed to shut down a computer or system when a power supply is interrupted. A UPS can

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also start up another system though, like a generator. Power surges pose a threat any electronic device but one way to protect against them is to use a surge protector.

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PHYSICAL SECURITY Physical security of computers is something companies should take extremely seriously. A good security plan can protect computers and information from internal threats like theft and vandalism and external threats like hackers and viruses. Carefully planned and executed security protocols can also help to protect against natural disasters, catastrophes and accidents (Sanderson, 2004). Being prepared is a key part to developing a security plan. That means a company must acknowledge the possible security threats it faces and work to combat those threats. For example, to protect against theft or other vandalism, there are several things a company can do. A few things the company can do are to limit employee access to certain areas, like server rooms or other sensitive data. The company should require visitors to check in before entering the facility. The company should have locks on all the doors which will further prohibit unauthorized access. The company should also consider encrypting computers that contain important business information. Some things a company can do to prevent against external threats are to control access to the network and use antivirus software to protect against viruses. There are also things a company can do to protect computers in the event of a natural disaster or other catastrophe. One thing the company should do is have an alarm system. There are many alarm systems that offer protection against fires and break-ins but there are also alarms that can monitor for other threats as well. For example, there are systems that can monitor moisture levels in a server room that help to protect against things like floods or water damage. There are many ways a company can help to protect its computers and facility. It is crucial that a company prepares for problems before they happen. With proper planning and

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implementation of solid security protocols, a company should be able to prevent or respond to many kinds of threats.

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NETWORK INFASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY Network security is another critical business consideration. There are many things a company can do to protect its network infrastructure and provide security. One way a company can do that is by requiring users to log into the network by using a user name and password. Each employee should have a unique identification and password that they will use each time they try to access the network. Another way to do protect a network is by using routers. A router is a network device that examines data packets and determines where the data packet should go in the network (Sanderson, 2004). When a router examines the data packet, it checks for the destination address that is contained inside the packet. If the address matches an address in the network, the router will recognize it and send the data packet to that address. If there is no such address, the data packet will be discarded. A firewall is another crucial device used to protect a network. A firewall is a network device that is usually used between the internet and a company. A firewall is designed to clock unauthorized access to a network. It could be worth noting here that there are hardware firewalls and software firewalls, but most of the time when people are referring to firewalls in terms of network protection and access control, it is the hardware firewall. Encryption is another important element. Encryption was also mentioned as a way to enhance physical security (because drives and files should be encrypted), but it is also a way to help with network security. And just because a computer hard drive is encrypted does not mean that files from that drive will be encrypted when they are sent across a network. It is a different use of encryption technology. In addition, there are times when encryption is strongly
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recommended or required, like when passing credit card or other sensitive information across the internet.

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APPLICATION INFASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY Application infrastructure deals with the way applications are used across a network. For example, a company may use a financial software program to keep track of its financial records. The financial program may need to be accessible to several people across the company network, like accounting offices in different locations, but not every user should be able to access that information. The company must develop a security plan to protect applications or sensitive information. One way to secure these applications and information is to require additional sign on methods in order to access the information. For example, require employees to use different user names and passwords to login. Another way to secure the data is by requiring employees to periodically change their passwords and make sure the passwords meet certain criteria, like 8 characters and contain letters and numbers. Another way to secure the applications is to control where they are used. Limit the workstations that have access to the information. Do not allow every work station on the network to have access to sensitive information. For example, an accounting department may need access to financial software, but a maintenance department probably will not, so do not allow the application to be used on those workstations.

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REFERENCES

Rouse, M. (2005, April). Help Desk. Retrieved October 13, 2012, from http://searchcrm.techtarget.com: http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/help-desk Sanderson, S. (2004). Introduction to Help Desk Concepts and Skills. Burr Ridge, IL.: McGrawHill Technology Education. Rouse, M. (2010, November). service level. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from http://whatis.techtarget.com: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/service-level

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