This unit applies to frontline technical support personnel, such as IT support technicians, and user support specialists responsible for maintaining computer equipment in an organisation.
Not applicable.
1. Determine best practices for equipment and software maintenance | 1.1 Identify equipment and software that are to be maintained and implement processes to ensure future acquisitions of equipment and software are identified 1.2 Identify vendor documentation, peer organisations or research information detailing best practices in equipment and software maintenance to improve system performance and reliability 1.3 Develop recommended maintenance and operations guidelines for equipment and software maintenance based on the above research 1.4 Obtain requirements from user in the area of equipment maintenance and reliability 1.5 Document procedures for maintenance based on best practices |
2. Identify resources to provide equipment and software maintenance | 2.1 Identify and record the level of support that can be provided by in-house resources 2.2 Identify and record the support to be supplied by external or third-party organisations 2.3 Develop or update service level agreement (SLA) with internal user and third-party suppliers |
3. Revise practices, where appropriate | 3.1 Monitor and review maintenance operation 3.2 Identify problem areas, including failures to meet SLAs, and consider changes to maintenance procedures 3.3 Assess changes in consultation with user, support staff and third-party suppliers 3.4 Design and implement improvements to maintenance procedures |
Required skills
communication skills to liaise with customers in the provision of customer services, including basic training
initiative and enterprise skills to work as a team member in the development of solutions and goals of a non-routine or contingency nature
literacy skills to:
evaluate and present information
write technical reports
planning and organisational skills to contribute to maintenance and continuity of IT operations and business functions
problem-solving skills to participate in development of strategic initiatives
technical skills to undertake low level programming and use a range of computer equipment.
Required knowledge
business scheduling requirements
client business domain
current industry-standard hardware and software products, including their general features and capabilities
diagnostic tools
help desk and maintenance practices
steps of maintenance procedures
one or more change-management tools
quality assurance practices
role of stakeholders and the degree of stakeholder involvement
current performance level of the system
system's current functionality.
The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.
Overview of assessment | |
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit | Evidence of the ability to: set up maintenance procedures to keep equipment and software operating. |
Context of and specific resources for assessment | Assessment must ensure access to: technical environment with a variety of operational equipment technical manuals and tools appropriate learning and assessment support when required modified equipment for people with special needs. |
Method of assessment | A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit: direct observation of candidate setting up maintenance procures review of candidate’s documented procedures verbal or written questioning to assess candidate’s knowledge of: preventative maintenance SLAs. |
Guidance information for assessment | Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, where appropriate. Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate, and suitable to the communication skill level, language, literacy and numeracy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed. Indigenous people and other people from a non-English speaking background may need additional support. In cases where practical assessment is used it should be combined with targeted questioning to assess required knowledge. |
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.
Software may include: | commercial customised in-house packaged. |
Equipment may include: | hard drives hubs modems and other connectivity devices, including digital subscriber line (DSL) modems monitors other peripheral devices personal computers personal digital assistants printers switches workstations. |
Documentation may follow: | audit trails client training International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and Australian Standards (AS) standards maintaining equipment inventory naming standards project management templates and report writing satisfaction reports version control. |
Requirements may be in reference to: | business network people in the organisation system. |
User may include: | person within a department department within the organisation third party. |
Service level agreement may exist for: | many different infrastructure services: application service providers (ASPs) communications carriers expectations regarding: charge back to business units penalties servicing internet service providers (ISPs) SLAs for vendor products workload and performance considerations. |
Systems administration and support
This unit contains employability skills.
No licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of endorsement but users should confirm requirements with the relevant federal, state or territory authority.