HORIZONTAL SHIFTS IN TECH SUPPORT: TAKING THE SOFTER APPROACH Still others see an investment in professional competencies and communication skills as the future of tech-support roles. End users become increasingly frustrated with cold exchanges, conversations that lack contextual understanding, as well as interactions with call center representatives who only provide scripted responses to situations. End users want to know they are being heard and that their situation merits action. Shapero expresses the importance of customer experience as a driving force in tech support saying, “there’s going to be a precedent set on customer experience. People will just sort of expect it.” This, he believes, will only be possible with a combination of the time-saving elements of technology and the compassion skills of a person.
THE FUTURE OF TECH SUPPORT IN THE MODERN WORLD
Some see the real future of tech support as a marriage of cybersecurity and business consulting wherein tech support will mitigate the risk presented by social engineering. Hodson believes effective communication skills are a must for anyone in tech support, that this aptitude is necessary to guard against cybersecurity threats.
A large number of breaches occur using social engineering tactics. Hodson says, “Unfortunately humans are and always will be the weakest link. Tech teams need to know the tools and techniques bad guys will use to get information…how they will break the human firewall.” These soft skills include the ability to communicate effectively with users while ensuring they are validated, authenticated and authorized. Hodson refers to this as fostering “a culture of skepticism.” CompTIA research shows that human error accounts for more than half of the security breaches that companies experience. The threat is real and it often doesn’t originate with malicious code, but rather from info siphoned from unsuspecting users or tech staff. As such, the solution can not exclusively be built with technology but also requires new ways of engaging with the organization. Hodson argues that refocusing our efforts on the soft skills needed to anticipate and thwart these social engineering schemes will provide the biggest payout from our tech support teams. He comments, “The world around technology has changed to one where cyber risk is a business risk and it has to be treated accordingly.” While the future holds uncertainty for what lies ahead for tech support, there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that this role is not disappearing. Rather, tech support is evolving in a similar fashion to the technology that encompasses our world to offer increased sophistication and efficiency that will match the challenges presented by emerging tech and workforce expectations. In days to come, companies will seek personnel trained in advanced troubleshooting and business consulting to fulfill the needs of tier-one tech support. 9
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