What is the role of a Support Engineer?

If you've heard the term "support engineering" and started to wonder "what, exactly, is it supporting? ", the answer is provided below. This article will define the role of a support engineer.

Career Overview

Support engineers design easily maintainable and repairable computer systems. In addition, support engineers offer ongoing assistance to keep computer systems operational and users satisfied. Any large computer system, including those found in corporations, government offices, and universities, requires the services of a support engineer.

Duties and Accountability

Based on the employer, the duties of a support engineer can vary greatly. Even so, most of the tasks assigned to support engineers fall into either systems design or technical support.

Systems Design

The responsibility of a support engineer begins with the assembly of an easily maintained computer system. From hardware to software, programming to user-friendliness, it is the responsibility of the support engineer to ensure that the large computer systems and networks utilized by businesses, universities, and nuclear power plants function as intended. Based on the engineer's experience and the size of the system, a support engineer may create an entire network as part of a team or focus on a specific aspect of a larger project.

Technical Support

Once a computer system has been deployed, a support engineer is present to ensure its continued operation. By providing technical support to the system's users, tech support engineers resolve problems as they arise and mitigate those that cannot be resolved quickly to keep everything running smoothly. As the computer network grows and evolves, the support engineer will ensure that the expansion is handled in a manner that causes the fewest complications.

Required Skills

Typically, support engineers must have a background in computer science and be certified in computer systems. For instance, some employers require their support engineers to be Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSE). Support engineers must also be proficient with computer databases and Web technology. The majority of support engineers will be proficient in computer programming and UNIX.