Training
The support team may also be made responsible for organising and conducting the training given to users during the implementation and similar training courses to new users after go live as well as offering advanced training to experienced users. Where possible training facilities, materials and documentation should reside in the same building as the support team.
Testing
System support may logically fall to those staff who are also responsible for organising the system testing procedures during the implementation and maintaining testing materials for use in testing specific or widespread aspects of the system on a regular or ad hoc basis in the future.
Documentation
Documentation of all configuration decisions and changes is critical to the successful implementation and operation of the system. That may sound obvious, but the reality is that neither consultants nor IT staff like documenting, so it seldom gets done, if at all. Poorly documenting the implementation of a complex system would leave the institution at the mercy of IT staff, who are notoriously difficult to retain these days. Even worse, failing to create clear, usable and comprehensive documentation means that the software cannot be re-implemented or upgraded without detailed investigation into how it was set up in the first place, something which also takes considerable time and money.
In order to allow the institution to plan its documentation procedures, the software supplier should be asked at the outset to list the system documentation available and indicate the format in which it is written and made available. The supplier should also indicate any restrictions on the internal copying or modification of supplier documentation, any current gaps in documentation and the timetable for completing its documentation and how documentation for new software releases is managed.
In any event, the support team should be made responsible for maintaining all system documentation and on-going development of documents to support its own staff and all users.
Communication
Having designed activities and deliverables to enable users to learn and use the new system and its processes, procedures and other tools efficiently in the performance of their work, it is also important to effectively communicate with all interested parties throughout the system's lifetime. Communication can come in many forms, but regular web-based bulletins on statistics of system availability and issues raised and resolved, changes in business processes or system functionality and helpful tips should be considered as the minimum. This may come from the support team.
If using a commercial product then it is advisable to join the User Group. In a large organisation you may wish to consider having your own User Group, suggested roles for such a group can be found in our Roles and Responsibilities for Production Support template.
