Glossary
Data & Document Management – Provide technical support for the use, sourcing, and storage of data. This includes the infrastructure to support Decision Support (aka: Business Intelligence) products. They develop, implement, and support systems and processes to create, capture, index, store, retrieve, deliver, archive, and purge unstructured information.
Environment – Highly knowledgeable of the environment for a particular application. They provide guidance based on their understanding of the business environment and customer expectations/requirements. They are responsible for delivery of the test environment and provide support of tests that are executing, maintaining the integrity and stability of the environment to the appropriate level in comparison to production, for capacity planning to determine environment needs in the future (i.e., either an increase or reduction in equipment, data, connectivity needs, etc.) and develop recommendations for environment support and enhancements.
Hardware – Work with project teams, support areas, and vendors to evaluate computer hardware, consult on hardware issues, install hardware, maintain hardware, formulate hardware strategies, and resolve hardware problems and defects. These analysts provide second-tier support to end users for either PC, server, or mainframe applications and hardware. May interact with network, software, or Systems Analysts to restore service and/or identify and correct core problem. Often simulates or recreates user problems to resolve operating difficulties.
Network – Design, install, and support an organization’s telecommunications systems. They maintain network hardware and software, analyze problems, and monitor networks to ensure their availability to system users. These workers gather data to identify customer needs and then use the information to identify, interpret, and evaluate system and network requirements. Network Analysts are also responsible to manage a large, complex data infrastructure and have an understanding of Enterprise storage and general security concepts. Incumbents are responsible for modifying, architecting, designing, implementing, documenting, evaluating, and troubleshooting the network Enterprise-wide.
Operations – Provide the tactical support necessary for providing continued availability to system products and services in an Information Technology operations environment or during a catastrophe event. The role also provides the necessary support to restore availability when service has been interrupted and to manage change of the technical infrastructure.
Performance – Responsible for ensuring that computer systems operate at peak performance and capacity. All technologies and skills related to managing and maintaining a large install base of computers running a version and/or versions of operating systems. Skillset requires the integration and management of many different types of technologies and services into a heterogeneous environment including those outside the operating system domain such as networking services, host systems, and third-party software.
Provisioning - Coordinate and implement cabling, installation and loading of State Farm network and server hardware. They handle problems, incidents, and change management issues related to network, server, and Storage Area Network (SAN) hardware to ensure the availability and stability of State Farm’s infrastructure. Provisioning Analysts perform research on hardware issues and implement and upgrade hardware products.
Security – Protect State Farm data and resources from accidental or intentional disclosure, modification, and deletion by unauthorized personnel. A security analyst develops security policies, strategies, guidelines, standards, and procedures. A security analyst also serves as primary contact to the organization for security-related issues, and provides production support to the security environment.
Service Desk Coordinator – Broad understanding of the service area they support and how it interacts with other areas. They monitor incident records for ownership, updates, and closure according to SMP guidelines. They own incidents until an appropriate support area is identified and assumes ownership. They conduct meetings to facilitate the resolution of service outages, stability and availability issues, and root cause analysis. They document facilitation sessions and coordinate outage communications for the Enterprise. Service Desk Coordinators use the Enterprise Systems Status (ESS) tool to update the web with widespread outage information.
Software & Tool Support – Perform the planning, consulting, technical analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, and daily support of all application software (e.g., Middleware, Web Technologies, Client Server Language, Decision Support, etc.) for all platforms within State Farm’s infrastructure and systems. Provides service and project support for State Farm’s Internet/intranet environment, including support for browsers, web servers, portal search engines, proxy servers, and Internet mail.
Technical Coordination – Responsible for managing the integrity of a given product suite or application on the infrastructure. They coordinate the work of other technical SMEs, drive infrastructure technology issues to resolution, and influence technical decisions. This work may include product selection, performing implementation testing, technical design and development. They may be assigned to an individual project, a program, or to a service team.
Technical Support – Provides technical support for incidents which are escalated from first tier support to internal and/or external customers, including hardware, software, procedures, via telephone, email, and/or internet/intranet. The Technical Support analyst uses knowledge database and documentation systems to troubleshoot, resolve, document, and/or research incidents. They apply advanced technical knowledge aligned to either a specific portion of the infrastructure or specific business partner/customer. Incidents are resolved and documented using Service Management guidelines. They collaborate with other second tier support, third tier support, and third party vendors as needed.