Griffin Networks

“Smart Hands” and its benefits for my business

Providing access to a skilled support team whenever technical failure and service disruptions occur—regardless of the size of your data center—is always the best scenario. Although you might decide to hire a certified technician, who will be located in your company’s data department, it is not always the wisest choice.

Smart Hands services have become one of the most efficient and popular alternatives to hiring certified technicians. While the latter approach is versatile and highly reliable, Smart Hands services are less costly to maintain since these qualified technicians are adept at completing tasks rapidly and with accuracy.

These techs have been trained to know their way around network equipment and communicate productively with an engineer/technician over the phone. More specifically, the Smart Hands tech can:

• Connect locally to the system hardware with a laptop/serial cable
• Follow prompts from the remote system engineer
• Follow a specific guide or instructions to remove/replace/re-rack hardware
• Patch hardware into existing switch/structured cabling/patch panel
• Troubleshoot connectivity and power issues
• Add/replace Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

An important note: In contrast to certified technicians, Smart Hands techs do not, as a rule, specialize in a specific technology.

Smart Hands involves the communication between an on-site staff and remote technical assistance centers that specialize in different products and categories. A technical support staff then receives instructions from certified technicians and project managers to troubleshoot advanced issues.

Proactive v. Reactive Smart Hands

Based upon your budget and overall needs, you may take either a proactive or reactive Smart Hands approach. A proactive Smart Hands methodology enables constant monitoring of your equipment and addresses minor issues quickly to prevent delay; while in reactive Smart Hands, equipment problems, for example, must be officially reported first before a technician acts on the issue. The proactive approach is definitely more efficient for those businesses who are extremely dependent on reliable server uptimes.