You cannot lead a horse to water: taking charge of microcomputer support
Authors: Mark B. Johnson
Venue: Proceedings of the 15th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User Services (1987)

Service. Performance of labor for the benefit of another. Supporting computing, whether dealing with microcomputers or mainframes, is, of course, providing a service. That service is toiling for the benefit of those who use, or wish to use, computing resources. Support, however, does not mean maintaining a laissez-faire attitude and only reacting to user requests. It means taking charge by providing guidance and direction. It means anticipating user wants and needs, and satisfying them before the user perceives them as such. An organization which falters in this respect is no longer a service organization, especially in today's rapidly expanding computing environments. Support does not mean doing the work for the user, even when it might be the easier and less time-consuming path to follow. It means taking the time to teach the user how and why so that they can understand, or at least begin to grasp, the basic principles involved. It means providing them with the tools, knowledge, and incentive to effectively use the equipment themselves. It means making them self-sufficient. For support to be effective, the users must trust those who offer it. A service organization is constantly faced with the task of building and presenting a positive public image; without it, even the highest quality work will go unnoticed or best advice unheeded. An organization should be perceived as being responsive and effective; it needs to be recognized for its available expertise, resources, and services. This type of image will never just happen. However, it can be built, but only if the attention is not focused on building it. To be considered an expert, one must be an expert. To gain a perception of doing quality work, one must do quality work. If a user services organization concentrates on doing the best possible work it can, then the image will take care of itself. One need not remind those in this profession that an organization's attitude towards this task is crucial. Taking charge means cultivating personal contacts and showing people someone cares about their computing needs and problems. It means attacking these problems with tenacity until the best answers are found, and doing so in an unselfish manner. When dealing with people, it is, of course, necessary to maintain a professional demeanor, but this should not overshadow one's own personality. Support staff must be comfortable in the work environment, and they must integrate themselves, their casualness and approachability, into their work. With the right mixture, personal interaction will be greatly enhanced to benefit both the users and the staff. Many people still envision computing centers as cold, harsh places run by machines, and with the decentralization of computing resources, it is even more pressing to overcome these old stereotypes if computing service organizations are to remain effective. People need to be shown that computer support personnel are indeed equipped with certain social skills, and that they can interact with novices and talk about Pascal, not the language, but the philosopher. An open house, computer fair, and other similar events can be excellent avenues which afford this type of interactivity. Not only do they allow a support staff to show itself and its facilities off, but they also produce an opportunity for disseminating large amounts of information to people who might otherwise never receive it. It is obvious that the more people know about available facilities and support, the more likely they are to take advantage of them. Although special events like a computer fair do attract large crowds, there are many potential users who either cannot attend or might not see how computing involves them. These people are not going to come to the resources, so the resources must be taken to them. As with any organization, public relations play an important role in shaping a computing center's image in the public eye. From this point of view, it is almost always advantageous to volunteer resources, both employee time and equipment, for worthy causes on and off the campus. Simple things like a tour for a scout troop, a hands-on demonstration for a local computer club, or a hardware loan for university events or educational conferences can usually be accomplished without sacrificing the normal level of support provided on a day-to-day basis. When dealing with microcomputers, taking charge encompasses the whole range of support services, from introducing new technologies to new users to following up on the trials and tribulations of more experienced ones. Certain services present special challenges to a support staff, but they are all worthy of attention if an organization desires to provide its users with the best possible support. Computing tends to be an exciting field, and can be even more so when introducing people to the power available to them. Schedule seminars and demonstrations which target specific groups with special interests which may traditionally not involve computing. Introduce those with interests in music and art to the newest tools available, and show them the potential these tools put into their hands. Show educators the possibilities of interactive video and administrators the organizational and presentational power of productivity software and the ability to easily share common information. Most importantly, stress to these people that a microcomputer is a tool which they can use to their benefit, not a machine which will dehumanize them. As anyone who has experienced it can attest, getting people excited about how they can benefit from computing makes the task of supporting them much easier. An obvious area of support is providing computing facilities for those who cannot afford their own. Ideally this covers conveniently located, 24-hour access, multi-vendor labs with various useful hardware configurations and an abundance of popular software. The labs, however, must be staffed with competent monitors or consultants if they are to be a real service. For those who are interested in acquiring their own equipment, a demonstration lab serves as an excellent setting for comparing various hardware and software options without the pressuring presence of a retail salesperson. Vendor donations can often be solicited, and are undoubtedly the most inexpensive way to furnish a lab with a wide variety of machines, configurations, peripherals, and software. Support for this lab with honest and unbiased purchase consulting is an absolute must. If someone does not show a need for purchasing a computer, then discourage them from buying. People will purchase, and purchase whatever they want, regardless of advice, but they are much more likely to listen if they feel they can trust the source of this advice. Pricing is always an issue with educational institutions, and it is sometimes possible to provide a staffed microcomputer sales outlet which can offer very competitive pricing to departments and individuals affiliated with the university&mdash;the latter including the student population whenever possible. The ideal computer store, from a support point of view, is service-oriented rather than profit-oriented, and based on providing the highest level of service to the university community at the lowest cost. Avoiding a profit-orientation helps avoid the vendor biases so often associated with retail ventures, and, in turn, provides the prospective buyer with a more accurate presentation of purchase options. In those cases where a sales outlet is not possible, a demonstration lab staff can often work with the university purchasing department and various vendors to establish a mechanism for purchasing directly from a manufacturer or distributor at educational price levels. Microcomputer support can, and often does include such things as help with installation of hardware and software. Installation can be left to the user and the vendor, but in many cases it is worth the time to walk through the installation procedure with those new to computing so that they understand that the machine on their desk is not some black box only to be touched by trained professionals. They need to learn basic diagnostic procedures and common sense techniques for trying to figure out the cause and possible solutions to a problem. If they need it, show them things that most people take for granted such as the correct way to feed paper into a printer or to change a ribbon or toner cartridge. Have them write it down if they cannot remember, and let them know that they should exhaust all of these possibilities and the reference manual before calling for help. If a user can be started off in this fashion, they will usually develop a sense of confidence in their ability to deal with most situations. It is this confidence which is the cornerstone in a completely self-reliant user. Beyond the initial installation, the majority of support deals with software. With the wide variety of machines and packages available, no support staff can be expected to keep track of them all, let alone know them all. A staff can, however, provide a high level of support on those packages it feels should be used on campus, and should have enough general knowledge in the workings of most microcomputers and software packages to be able to find the answers needed to support the others. Without telling the users what hardware and software they should or should not use, a support staff can provide implicit guidance by supporting the same combinations in its own lab and not offering the others. This in no way limits the advanced user who wants something different, but does encourage the more casual user to stay within certain, loosely-defined standards. Software piracy is an issue with which support groups must deal. At the Computing Center, the User Services staff will not provide support if there is cause to believe a software package has been pirated. Federal copyright laws are explained to offending parties, and if proof is available which shows the software was copied from the lab, the application and all accompanying files are destroyed. Software support, whether on a walk-in basis or via telephone, is offered at most institutions, but what about on-site support? This is the real essence of taking the resources to the users, of taking charge of microcomputer support. Although it might initially seem more time consuming, it offers unique advantages for both the support staff and the users. The advantage to the users is obvious: they get the undivided attention of a support person, they get help in their own office with their particular configuration, and they can demonstrate the problem instead of trying to explain every detail over the telephone. What about the support staff? They are able to take their expertise out to the campus and get exposure to other people who might not otherwise see them. This helps to increase the presence and image of a support group throughout the campus. It shows that they care enough about the problem to make a special trip. In addition, they are in touch with a wide variety of people and should be able to understand the real and perceived needs of these users better than if they had not ventured out of the support office. These trips out on campus should also be used to check in on other users in the same general area. While in an office, one can offer possible suggestions for new ways to take advantage of the computer or alternative ways to approach a particular problem. The ideal is to stem problems before they develop and let the users know that someone is there who really cares about trying to help them derive the most benefit from computing resources. This is especially important in a user's perception of a service organization. The real key to support is training and documentation. Although individualized training is very effective, it is just not as efficient as organized group training sessions, especially considering the large user base found at most universities. Ideally these sessions are taught in a structured, yet flexible, format in a designated, well-equipped training lab, but there are advantages of teaching on-site in some environments, such as a networked office, which cannot be duplicated in a lab. Training sessions can encompass a wide variety of topics and may be aimed at specific segments of a user base. Novices might be interested in general courses which cover basic computer literacy, diagnosing common hardware and software problems, and introductions to popular application programs or even operating systems. More advanced users will usually opt for courses which cover more specific topics and advanced features of application programs. On-site sessions can be tailored to a specific audience and possibly accomplishing a specific task. In all cases, the subject matter must be presented in an easily understandable format and should build upon simple, fundamental principles. It is very easy to teach only an application and skirt the issue of the operating system, but a user without a basic understanding of the underlying principles is like a building without a foundation&mdash;neither will ever be able to stand alone. With office and departmental training and support, it can be very advantageous to work closely with a few individuals and train them to be local experts. In this manner, it is possible to effectively train and support large numbers of people without spending the time to work directly with them all. The local experts are trained well enough to teach others and to field questions from anyone else in the office. When there are problems or questions these experts cannot answer, even with the help of the manual, then they contact the support group for help. Good documentation may be even more important than training, although the feedback gained through interactive training sessions is quite valuable when formulating a document. A well-written and comprehensive document provides every level of user with easily found reference material and a simple, straightforward procedure for accomplishing specific tasks. Reference manuals are generally the most comprehensive source of documentation, and as such the user should be referred to them in any supplemental documentation produced by a support group. This supplemental documentation will ideally be available to users free of