Artifact: Support Manual |  |

Support Manual Document
Work Product Kinds: Manual, Solution

Purpose

The purpose of this work product is to convey to the different levels of a support organization (Tiers 1, 2, and 3) enough information so they can effectively support the application.

Relationships

Roles

Responsible:

- Developer/Designer
- Technical Writer

Modified By:

- Developer/Designer
- Technical Writer

Tasks

Input To:

- Develop Postmorten Analysis

Output From:

- Develop Support Manual

Process Usage

- Epilogue > Manuals > Support Manual
- Epilogue > Manuals > Support Manual
- Foundation > Manuals > Support Manual
- Lean > Manuals > Support Manual
- Manuals > Support Manual
- Postmorten > Support Manual
- Production > Manuals > Support Manual
- Prologue > Postmorten > Support Manual

Description

Main Description

Support documentation usually is developed for the three common tiers of a support organization. Tier 1 typically is the Help Desk where users call when they have a problem with a particular system. Tier 1 support personnel normally answer basic questions and, if necessary, log a ticket and escalate it to the appropriate Level 2 support desk.

Tier 2 support personnel may deal with more complex questions or issues regarding an application and might need to do some research on the characteristics of the system to provide an answer. If that person cannot resolve the issue, the ticket is escalated to Tier 3 support personnel who have a deeper understanding of the application's code and the technology that supports the system's architecture.

To properly convey the necessary information to each support tier, the application's code base should be well commented and logically organized. This approach will facilitate the development of the support documentation.

Support documentation typically includes:

- User manuals with work instructions, process descriptions, and procedures
- Communications, training, and knowledge transfer deliverables
- Support and operations manuals
- Service information, including Help Desk scripts