When doing technical application support it is necessary to document its resolution in a structured manner. At a minimum you need to keep a log of the problem type, script or tool used for solving the problem and any other type of instructions on how to handle or solve the problem. For that purpose you have many non-recommended options like using pen and paper, flat file applications like Notepad, Word or even Excel. I recommend you use a note management application like Evernote or OneNote. As an example I will discuss the use of the first one, Evernote.
Evernote keeps the notes you have on a manually structured and searchable manner. You could categorize them in notebooks which could help you divide notes from one client to the other, but could also be searched in all of the notes at the same time. On each note you could put anything from “SQL” (Structured Query Language) scripts to Word documents that describe requirements, emails, chats logs that include technical stuff, images, etc. Many things that contributed in the solution of a problem could be added to your notes.
Another feature is that you could create tags that work as bookmarks for linking related notes. All notes tagged with the same words can be found with just one click.
Not only will this help solve an issue faster, but it will also help you catalog your reusable scripts. In the future you only need to search for these references to have access to them. Remember a reference can be a specific command, database table, shell command or procedure you want to reuse.
You could even add tips or information regarding a specific area you are not yet familiar with. These tips can be information someone has given to you or a piece of information you recognize could be important to know in the future.
If you also work as a developer you could add the tasks assigned to you on another notebook and keep track of information regarding these tasks like assigned data, due date, deployment paths or other information which you know could be forgotten so it’s best to have it written down on a note.
Thanks to this note management system, I can perform technical support faster. It has also helped me on the development process of new scripts since many times I have to reuse an SQL code that has been previously developed. If you work with several different technical support issues on a daily basis, keeping these scripts and tools at hand will help you fix issues faster. You will be more efficient. Do you recommend any other tools to document you technical support resolution, tips, and tricks?
