A Day in the Life of an IBM i Support Specialist
As an IBM i Application Support Specialist, your job is to ensure that the applications running on the platform are functioning correctly and that any issues are resolved quickly and efficiently.
In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at a typical day in the life of an IBM i Application Support Specialist.
Start of the day is typically checking emails for any alerts and checking system dashboards to ensure there are no immediate system errors that need a response. Early morning checks of the systems are completed and customers are alerted of any issues.
In addition to checking applications, we will also check any replication/mirroring systems and system back-ups to ensure everything is in order.
Throughout the day we work customer tickets as they are raised and/or calls are taken. Our Level 2 support manages user request tickets and reacts to system error message queue alerts. We work within the agreed customer SLAs to ensure all tickets are completed/responded to on time.
Tickets raised that require a more in-depth knowledge of the application will be managed by the L3 team. These will also be responded to and completed within agreed SLAs.
On the rare occasions when there are hardware issues with the IBM i we deal directly with IBM or a 3rd party MSP providing advice, system logs and access to data centres where required.
When we receive alerts from IBM re. security updates to the operating system we will plan and execute a roll-out of the changes onto our customer’s systems. This will normally involve applying the changes to a test partition where we can, over a period of time, ensure it does not adversely affect the applications or system performance. Once satisfied that it is safe to apply the security changes, a planned change will be agreed with the customer(s) to minimise system outage.
Ongoing application maintenance is worked within our support team. Where small software bugs are identified we will develop fixes within the team, the test team will ensure the changes are working correctly and regression testing will ensure other areas of the system still function correctly. All application maintenance changes are implemented as part of a monthly release.
Within our support team we work closely with the project teams, we need to understand what and when changes are being delivered into production. We ensure the necessary hand-over documentation is in place and the software is tested and fit for production release.
Part of our support service is to attend regular service reviews with our customer operations teams to provide SLA reporting and to discuss any ongoing issues. We also provide data to help support SOX compliance and internal system audits.
As IBM i Application Support Specialists, our work is essential to the success of the business. We are responsible for ensuring that the applications running on the IBM i platform remain stable, secure, and efficient. By following best practices, such as maintaining good documentation and prioritising critical issues, we can help ensure that applications running on the IBM i platform run smoothly and that any issues are resolved quickly and efficiently.
At KFA we have a dedicated IBM i support team who ensure the smooth running of our customers applications, hardware and operating systems. We provide 24/7 support when required and look after back-up and disaster recovery planning. To find out how we can help your business, get in touch with our team today.
Anonymous
KFA Connect – IBM i Support Specialist
12th June 2023
Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today.
