Application Support is a vital, but often overlooked, aspect of network management. No matter how powerful, packed with features and responsive your network management software may be, it isn’t worth much if your customers can’t get their heads around it. And, for the most part, the users of your Network Management Software (NMS) aren’t likely to be network experts, and even less so to understand your software to the same extent that you do.

Being able to help your customers understand the ins and outs of your NMS, in other words, is essential in providing a service that is truly valuable. And as an Application Support Engineer, you’re directly responsible for achieving this. In this blog, we’ll take a look at what it takes to work as an Application Support engineer at IRIS.

Technical skills are essential

While Application Support Engineers need to focus on a significantly broader set of skills than their purely technical counterparts, technical know-how is still an essential requirement. In practice, an Application Support Engineer at IRIS will be handling support requests both over the phone and via email, so being able to quickly diagnose a problem and think on your feet is a great advantage. This means that you’ll need to become familiar with the IRIS NMS and be able to quickly and effectively navigate your way around the back-end and advise customers at the same time.

Our ideal candidate is always eager to learn new things, so a degree of mental agility will stand you in good stead. Of course, you’ll also need a firm grip on the fundamentals, like scripting, being able to use Unix and derivatives, a practical understanding of all basic networking protocols like Secure Shell (SSH), all versions of the Simple Networking Management Protocol (SNMP), as well as an understanding of other important networking concepts and tools like ping, syslogs, and traceroute. Our NMS runs on FreeBSD, so knowledge of and experience in Open Source Software (OSS) is also a must. In addition, knowledge of the fundamentals of reading and writing code will set you apart from the rest of the applicants.

Customer Service: the other side of the Application Support coin

Technical prowess isn’t the only requirement for an Application Support Engineer at IRIS. Since a large percentage of your day will be spent dealing with clients both over the phone and via email, you’ll need to be good at dealing with people in stressful situations and handling requests on the spot. The ideal Application Support Engineer at IRIS is passionate about solving problems and helping us deliver customer service that complements our world-class NMS. This requires proactive monitoring of the IRIS application servers, addressing and solving problems in a timely manner, and keeping the customer informed of the status of the procedure.

You’ll also have the chance to work alongside some of the best minds in the Southern African ISP industry, so there’s plenty chance for upskilling, meeting like-minded people and learning about every aspect of network management.

As a company that was started among a group of professionals with the same vision of creating a workplace that is both stimulating and fun, IRIS isn’t your typical 9-5 affair. From the draught-tap in our kitchen to our work lunches, we do our best to make IRIS a place that everybody loves spending their weekdays. We’re passionate about networks and technology, and we strongly believe that anyone who joins our team should share our passion. If you think you’re a good fit, apply for a position here and we’ll get back to you if we agree.

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