Client Guide

Working with the Alignment Department

The Alignment Department is comprised of two roles: the Proactive Analyst (PA) and the System Analyst (SA). While both roles have separate responsibilities, they work in tandem to identify improvements that increase the stability and security of the client’s environment.

In addition, the Alignment Department focuses on proactively identifying the root cause of systemic problems to prevent them from recurring across the entire environment. Ultimately, the department works to minimize the frequency the client requires support from XL.net’s Service Desk; less time spent on IT problems means more productive time for the client’s team.

The Two Roles

Both roles explained

Proactive Analyst

The department’s workflow starts with the PA.

The PA role is primarily rooted in the analysis of the client environment. Reviewing the on-premises and cloud architecture and devices against industry best practices and those centric to XL.net’s proprietary and proactive discipline is the PA’s mission. The PA conducts eight separate audits where each targets a certain technology or area per month.

A monthly review by the PA of support request tickets is intended to spot trends that can be corrected by changes to the environment. This isn’t to be confused with the break-fix support provided by our Service Desk team; the PA discovers areas that are not aligned with best practices but do not directly provide the fix.

System Analyst

Presentation of the data collected by the PA is where the SA takes over.

The SA reviews the information from the monthly alignment audits and ticket-trend summaries to prioritize their recommendations for the client.

What to expect, and when

The framework of the SA role is structured so the client knows what and when to expect their interaction:

Expect to see the SA in your office once a month for the Monthly Site Visit meeting. Or, if you do not have an office, the SA will perform their tasks remotely. No matter the type of Monthly Site Visit, each will include a 30-minute meeting attended by the PA and XL Technical Office (XLTO).
The SA will send a Check-in email with the Tracking Form attached before every Monthly Site Visit. The Tracking Form is used to:
- Review support requests sent to the Service Desk and discuss environmental or operational changes to prevent them from recurring
- Follow up on previous proactive tasks to confirm the corrective action was effective
- Explore new proactive initiatives to enhance the stability of the environment
- Review the health of the environment’s devices, noting when software updates are pertinent to their proper performance and secure operation and schedule the updates with the client
- Track routine expiration dates of public records to ensure timely renewals of Domain Names, SSL certificates, and other subscriptions to prevent interruptions to the business
The SA is expected to have a tactical and somewhat strategic discussion with the client to understand what high-level issues are experienced and work over the course of several Monthly Site Visits to propose and/or implement a solution. A strong rapport is expected to develop during these discussions as the issues are more complex than typical break-fix issues for which Service Desk is responsible.
The SA will discuss recommendations for the environment’s analysis with the PA and XLTO to promote necessary changes that will minimize disruptions for the client’s team.
After the conclusion of each Monthly Site Visit, the SA is responsible for sending a Check-out email where the Tracking Form relates the progress and status of each of the items on which the SA was expected to focus.
The SA role is not to operate at a “break-fix-helpdesk” level as this work is the responsibility of our Service Desk. If something is broken, contact the Service Desk. Break-fix work should never be done for the SA; the best action the client can take is to contact the Service Desk for immediate attention.

Examples

Who handles what

Here are examples of routine tasks handled by the Alignment Department and those by the Service Desk:

Examples of routine tasks handled by the Alignment Department compared with tasks handled by the Service Desk
Alignment Department	Service Desk
Review server Operating Systems version and plan for an upgrade	My password needs to be reset
Discuss the stability of their internet connection and its contract	My wifi isn’t working
Discuss domain name or SSL renewal and if payment method is still valid	My VPN isn’t connecting
Review user accounts and confirm no former employees are still enabled in the system	I need access to files in a particular file share
Review email phishing campaigns	My Word/Excel program crashes frequently
Review security settings and discuss enhancements	Add someone to an email distribution list
Confirm the new hire documentation is correct	My OneDrive doesn’t sync properly
Determine if the backup appliance has a spare drive	QuickBooks needs to be updated
Monitor whether Hyper-V checkpoints exist	Add external person to SharePoint site
Determine if the firewall is on a separate network than the servers and workstations	A new employee needs to be set up

Something broken right now?

The Service Desk is your fastest path to a fix — and the Alignment Department works to keep it from recurring.

Contact the Service Desk Call +1 (844) 915-5155