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> [Software engineers] also bear a lot more of the burden than a front-line support person, as the problems they solve are much more complicated, and need to fi

by ethbro 10y ago

> [Software engineers] also bear a lot more of the burden than a front-line support person, as the problems they solve are much more complicated, and need to fit in with competing interests beyond one customer's single support request. I think that's overly glorifying what engineers do and under appreciating support resources. Most engineers that I know, highly talented or not, wouldn't last a week in a support org because they don't have the required soft skills. And honestly, I think every engineer should spend more time talking to their support teams. It puts things in perspective when you realize that that bug you wrote or fix you delayed made someone's life a living hell when an irate customer kept badgering them about a fix.

gwbas1c 10y ago
In a tiny startup I fielded support calls until we were able to bring in more support staff. My attitude at the time was to provide the support that would expect as a customer. This means that I understood the customer's problem, understood the product, and made an effort to solve the customer's problem. If the customer encountered a defect, I was honest about the defect and explained how to work around the problem. I completely defend my statement, that, as an engineer, the problems that I solve are much more complicated then when I had to fill in while we were between support staff. A support person's role is being an expert in the product supported; and clear communication. That is much easier than implementing a product where there are competing interests; and one customer may expect the product to behave in a way that contradicts what another customer expects; and contradicts what's in the business's best interests. Furthermore, there is no formal eduction required for being a member of support staff; nor is there a requirement for the kind of accomplishment of skills. The appropriate analogy is nurse to doctor.
- ethbro 10y ago
  Curious what product field was for your experience? In my experience, support issues tended to involve legacy application technology and/or environment issues (usually antivirus given the nature of our product). Support for anything non-trivial involved WinDbg dumps or SQL dives in cooperation with development. Did your support experience include working the issue back through development for a hotfix and retest until resolution?

by ethbro 10y ago

gwbas1c 10y ago

In a tiny startup I fielded support calls until we were able to bring in more support staff. My attitude at the time was to provide the support that would expect as a customer. This means that I understood the customer's problem, understood the product, and made an effort to solve the customer's problem. If the customer encountered a defect, I was honest about the defect and explained how to work around the problem. I completely defend my statement, that, as an engineer, the problems that I solve are much more complicated then when I had to fill in while we were between support staff. A support person's role is being an expert in the product supported; and clear communication. That is much easier than implementing a product where there are competing interests; and one customer may expect the product to behave in a way that contradicts what another customer expects; and contradicts what's in the business's best interests. Furthermore, there is no formal eduction required for being a member of support staff; nor is there a requirement for the kind of accomplishment of skills. The appropriate analogy is nurse to doctor.

ethbro 10y ago
Curious what product field was for your experience? In my experience, support issues tended to involve legacy application technology and/or environment issues (usually antivirus given the nature of our product). Support for anything non-trivial involved WinDbg dumps or SQL dives in cooperation with development. Did your support experience include working the issue back through development for a hotfix and retest until resolution?