Importance Of Workflow In Application Support

A workflow is a systematic repeatable pattern of business activity that is followed by an organization to provide services, process information etc. The workflow may be simple or complex, it depends on the working consortium. Workflow in Application Support is a building block that is combined with an organization’s structure for e.g. information technology, projects. Workflow is a very important as it helps in identifying gaps, creating transparency and providing a smooth flow execution. Workflow is made by high committee in an organization, which gets approved or rejected, if its accepted then it is followed by an organization for execution of project. Thus, for a well smooth execution of a project, proper workflow is necessary. It is important because it helps in improving efficiency, helps in better business process controls, improves customer services etc. 

There are different types of workflows in an organization. Some of the workflows are as below:

• Escalation Workflow in Application Support:

In any project, an escalation workflow is very important. Escalation workflow helps clients in easily contacting Team Leads / Project Delivery Manager’s / COO. Whenever, there is an escalation point, client can easily escalate or contact responsible person. Thus, it will help an organization for providing good quality and quick support in future. Almost, every company has escalation workflow. If not, then it may cause difficulty for an organization to provide application support in an effective way. Normally this escalation workflow is time and quality based. To explain in detail time based is when a Service request or issue is not resolved or responded in a given or speculated time frame. Quality based is when the deliverables or solutions are not meeting the set quality standards. A simple example of an escalation workflow in an Application Support project is as shown below:

• Ticket Workflow in Application Support Project: 

Whenever a new ticket or a new request comes in, then a workflow is been followed for completing respective request / ticket. This workflow is called as a ticket workflow. For e.g. whenever a new request comes in then a ticket is been raised on Service Desk. Also, the request is based on scope of the project. If the request is in scope then a new ticket is raised on Service Desk by filling required details i.e. whether it is a query or change request. The system generates a ticket number which is used for future reference which helps in maintaining database of tickets. Later, ticket is resolved or executed and at the same user is been informed. If user confirms within specific interval then ticket is closed else follow-up is to be done. If ticket is out of scope then user is been guided that where can a user contact or escalate for respective query. Then the ticket is been closed. In this way a task / request is completed in a workflow process. A basic ticket workflow is shown below:

Conclusion:

Workflow in Application Support is a guided path which helps in enhancement of the process thus improving efficiency, cut out unnecessary work, better use of human resources etc. Also, it is important to have workflow in an organization else there may be chances of incorrect steps processed which may be time consuming. Workflow in Application Support thus helps organization improve and grow faster.

About Author:

Mikhil Chauhan is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, he actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. He can be contacted at:  mikhil.chauhan@spluspl.com