Support Group learning programme syllabus

This is the set of areas that members of the Support Group have to cover in their learning programme.

1. Technical concepts and knowledge

About 11 hours of lecture time, plus assignments (3 weeks at the rate of 4 hours per day).

2. Features of Merce

This includes a full walk-through of the V3 admin UI, with an explanation of features.

About 4 hours of lectures, no assignments.

3. Standard support tasks

1. list of common problems and troubleshooting them [2]
2. list of common operational tasks requested by clients [3]
3. list of preventive maintenance tasks to be performed on clients' servers [4]

About 3 weeks of lectures just to rapidly cover and explain each of the tasks. There will be assignments (about 3 weeks at 4 hours per day).

4. Non-technical issues [5]

1. how to access clients' servers
2. how to use the problem ticketing system. (In this context, see the note on ticket types here [6].)
3. rules when visiting client sites
4. how to file expense claims
5. Interacting with clients
   1. general rules for email
   2. general rules for interacting on the phone
   3. the full cycle of taking a customer complaint/request
6. escalating a problem:
   1. when to escalate
   2. who to escalate to
   3. how to escalate
   4. what to do afterwards: keeping track of an escalated problem
   5. info to gather before escalating
7. grading a problem complaint: assessing its criticality
8. closing open tickets:
   1. what to do when problem is not solved instantly
   2. how to follow up on escalated problems
   3. how to follow up with client about data needed
9. Interacting with third-party agencies (ISP) on behalf of the client: not your job

About 4 hours of lectures, no assignments.

5. The Merce product suite

• Merce
• Merce Express Edition
• Merce Firewall
• Merce MailGate
• Merce Insight
• Merce Broadside
• Merce GoodWord (service)

About 30 minutes of lectures, no assignments.

6. Our company's infrastructure

• physical LAN, switches, cabling
• production and lab networks
• servers and their roles
• virtual machines
• IP address scheme
• Internet connectivity
• how mail flows, where mail is stored
• where files are stored
• where people log in and run applications
• backups: how and where they happen
• the UPS infrastructure
• printers: their setup and troubleshooting
• our public servers:
  • pacific
  • atlantic
  • arctic
  • pub2.starcomsoftware.com: temporary
• maintenance checklist and escalation

About 4 hours of lectures, plus assignments (about 1 week at 4 hours per day).

7. Overview of each key customer

We expect that this information will be totally insufficient to let you handle the customer's problems, but it will act as a starting point for when you are assigned that client account and get into a deeper study.

• AZB
• Jesons
• Modi
• Supreme
• NFL
• TDA Capital/Suyash Advisors
• Zodiac
• VAV Life Sciences, Prayas, SocialPR
• Other clients:
  • GLA ITM
  • JNVU Jodhpur
  • GJ University, Hissar
  • GB Pant University, Pantnagar
  • Pefco (Kores foundry)

About 4 hours of lectures, no assignments.