Application Support jobs

Application support jobs sit within the IT department, and are all about managing and maintaining applications and systems that businesses rely on to perform key functions. Those apps and systems could be anything from a project management tool to a supermarket self-service checkout. Whatever the function, once people have started using the app or system, it must be monitored to ensure it performs. Typically, if something goes wrong, the app will send a message reporting the error. Specialists in application support jobs must step in, diagnose the issue, come up with a solution and implement it quickly.

Typical tasks of application support

IT application support roles effectively involve two types of tasks. 

The first type is routine, highly structured, and takes up the majority of an application support specialist's time. It involves monitoring apps and systems to ensure they are functioning as expected, working through pre-arranged improvements to boost performance and checking automated messages. These types of tasks account for perhaps 90 percent of application support team responsibilities.

The other type of task is less organised and harder to define. It involves responding to and coming up with fixes for live issues that prevent end users from completing key tasks. They must work quickly with other members of the application support team to diagnose the problem and come up with an effective solution, while communicating with end users and stakeholders who need to know when functionality will be restored.

Having completed repairs and ensured everything is running smoothly, people in application support jobs then dig into the underlying cause of the problem and recommend measures to prevent it from recurring. These recommendations could include anything from updating the app’s code to providing training for end users.

Qualifications required for application support jobs

Application support jobs typically call for applicants to have some sort of formal qualification, such as a degree in IT, computing studies, information systems, or business administration. Different IT application support roles may demand more niche qualifications or accreditations in specific coding languages or operating systems.

Hard/soft skills needed for application support jobs

Application support jobs are highly technical, and require a range of hard skills. Most importantly, someone in this role must have an intimate understanding of the specific computing systems and coding languages used by an organisation, allowing them to investigate and diagnose problems when they occur and come up with solutions. 

Application support is also effectively a customer service role, with potentially vast numbers of end users looking to people in this area for information on when a problem with an app or system will be resolved. People in application support jobs must also have excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to break down complicated problems and explain them to people who do not possess the same level of technical expertise. When errors arise, they must be comfortable working to deadlines and handling pressure to hit their goals.