pamplinit
asked on
Documentation in IT - Best Practices?
I'm in an IT department, and I've noticed that while documentation helps, it tends to be more of a hassle rather than a help. Currently, our documentation consists of our email messages to each other, and on the rare occasion, we use OneNote to document a problem. We use to have TrackIt, but it was too feature rich, and as I said, we just didn't take the time to learn it.
What is a good documentation system to use that would actually make us feel like it's a help and not a time consuming burden to have to spend hours writing everything down? What have you used that was well integrated into your current workflow, helped keep your team on the same page, and was well organized so you could find the information you needed when a problem arouse that you know you have previously solved?
In addition, I'm curious to know what categories should be used in documenting everything (network, help desk tickets, projects, inventory, etc. etc...).
Thanks for your input.
What is a good documentation system to use that would actually make us feel like it's a help and not a time consuming burden to have to spend hours writing everything down? What have you used that was well integrated into your current workflow, helped keep your team on the same page, and was well organized so you could find the information you needed when a problem arouse that you know you have previously solved?
In addition, I'm curious to know what categories should be used in documenting everything (network, help desk tickets, projects, inventory, etc. etc...).
Thanks for your input.
A wiki with search capabilities would help. The one we use is Confluence, and it is very flexible and easy to update, which lends itself to be used.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
Create a free account to see this answer
Signing up is free and takes 30 seconds. No credit card required.
ASKER
The rant was funny, and I agree. It's been difficult trying to find a single solution that we would all love to use. I think this one is it. Thanks so much.
I worked at the IBM helpdesk at one time and without the great abundance of documentation that was available it would have been an impossible job. Customers thought I was a god but I was just fast at searching and finding the relevant items. Being able to visualize the scenario was a great asset, since it was all done over the phone.
If you did not want to use a tool like AutoTask or TrackIt, I would want to track tickets, inventory, network map (physical and logical) and a knowledge base.
Tickets could be tracked in Excel. One row or several rows for each ticket. Column A for a unique ticket ID, Column B for the issue, Column C for a pull down to select from a few categories, etc... You could then use the sort or search functions to get an idea of recurring issues.
Inventory could also be done in Excel. Unique ID and then a description and such.
A physical map could just be hand drawn and scanned. The logical flow can be done in Word or PowerPoint flowchart.
The Knowledge base could be Word documents in a folder or as pages in one big Word document.