The term ‘IT support specialist’ is a commonly used term that can encompass a wide variety of specialized roles within the IT industry. Since the COVID pandemic tightened the labor market, many positions have been difficult for employers to fill. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world of IT. 

IT recruiters love nothing more than to poach a specialist from a medium-sized business and place them at a larger organization with higher pay. This leaves many smaller businesses struggling to retain IT staff, leading to gaps in IT coverage and huge training costs. Thankfully, IT companies in Houston and elsewhere can help.

Types of IT Support Specialists

Support specialists can be generalists or specialize in their skills. Here are a few common types of specialists to give you an idea of what an IT company does:

General Support Specialist

This is usually the ground floor for any IT career. General support specialists often focus on simple things, such as resetting passwords, installing software, and providing IT support for employees who need basic help. 

At this level, generalists get a bird’s eye view of the whole system. This allows them to later move into a more complex role they find interesting. 

Network Support Specialist

This role goes way beyond password resets. People in this area are typically responsible for maintaining the health of the overall computer network as it relates to the business. 

They make sure everyone, from the CEO to the customer, has access to what they need within the company's network. If parts of the network go down, this specialist is your go-to person. 

Cybersecurity Support Specialist

This is probably the most relevant and in-demand specialist in the world of IT. The rise of AI and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks have made this specialist required for IT departments. Preventing attacks is just one aspect of the job. Another is recognizing when an attack has succeeded and mitigating any damage that may have occurred while preventing further lapses in security.

Cloud Support Specialist Cloud Support Specialist

This role should not be confused with that of the network support specialist, though their jobs often overlap and they often collaborate. The cloud specialist is responsible for managing and monitoring access to the cloud, as well as making sure all the systems are running smoothly. 

Many businesses today have their entire suite of software in the cloud. This creates an environment in which these software applications are in demand 24/7, making cloud specialists critical to any organization's daily operations. 

All the IT Roles Under One Roof

As you can imagine, hiring each of these roles individually would cost a small fortune. Because of this, many small and medium-sized businesses opt for a jack-of-all-trades IT role that supports the office in each of the tasks listed above 

As you can see, however, each of these roles is complex, and it simply isn’t possible for one person to retain this much knowledge while staying abreast of all of the latest shifts in technology. To help alleviate this crunch, many companies have turned to managed IT services, such as those offered by Xvand. 

What is IT service management, you ask? For one low subscription cost, you can have an entire team of IT specialists at your beck and call 24/7. Managed IT services can handle all of your cloud computing and cybersecurity needs, and they can recommend the latest IT offerings that will help take your business to new heights.