We’ve all heard: “It’s probably easier to just jump on a screen share and I can sort it.” Far from being the personal touch, IT support over screen share is just a terrible user experience.
As an end user, when I have a glitch that’s irritating enough to report to the service desk, it’s probably disrupting my work. But these remote-control sessions tend to be scheduled later – not when the user has the issue. They also tend to be challenging to schedule and highly disruptive because the whole process requires the end-user to stop working and make small talk for 20 minutes.
Also, consider just how intrusive it is as a method. In 2021, endpoints are increasingly personal – we’ve all got browser tabs open that manage our personal lives, as well as emails containing confidential information. Aren’t we all entitled to some privacy?
Research conducted by Vanson Bourne earlier this year shows that reliance on remote-control support sessions is pervasive, with 70% admitting to using this type of approach as their weapon of choice. The relatability of the above scenario shows this stat to be intuitively correct.
But it gets worse. Because the approach is entirely manual, IT issues are highly prone to recurring. The same research showed that 74% of people routinely experience repeat endpoint issues.
If it’s so bad, how did we get here? It’s understandable. After all, remote-control tools are a real-time technology. The alternative is to use an asynchronous tool, such as pushing out a script or using a traditional endpoint management tool. The trouble with this is it’s like you’re not really there. You may be working off last night’s inventory data, which may not include the pertinent information. Or, you may be attempting to fix the issue by pushing out scripts then waiting for the results. Those of us who have tried this method find ourselves uttering: “It’s probably easier to just jump on a screen share and I can sort it.”
Real-time is clearly the right thesis, but remote-control tools are the wrong conclusion
Modern real-time endpoint remediation technologies like 1E Tachyon allow an admin to query any diagnostic information on an endpoint or all endpoints simultaneously and get live responses in true real-time. Tachyon allows tweaks, configuration changes and fixes to be pushed out in the same real-time manner. These same fixes can then be applied as a “guaranteed state” configuration to ensure that it’s fixed once on that endpoint and fixed forever on all endpoints. All of this can happen without disrupting the end-user.
However, the crux of the problem is that in a hybrid or remote-working world, where the user may be dependent on having a working laptop to participate in the digital workplace, waiting for desktop support to pick up the ticket is too slow. All of these fixes need to get far further upstream. Tachyon allows these checks and fixes to be embedded in the ServiceNow incident page, so that they can be resolved on first contact with support or even made available to self-serve through a chatbot like a virtual agent or Microsoft Teams.
Modernizing endpoint troubleshooting and support tools away from remote-control technology should be a core priority for any IT department looking to improve the digital employee experience and reduce cost of support.
Learn more about real-time endpoint management at: https://www.1e.com/products/tachyon/