220-1202 Operational Procedures Study Guide for the CompTIA A+ Core Series Exam

General Information

Any IT operation must have procedures in place covering safety, communication, professionalism, and environmental impact. These must be standard for all people with access to the system and accurately communicated and recorded for reference. The procedures must also be based on industry best practices. The CompTIA A+ 1202 test assesses your knowledge of operational procedures in 21% of the questions. A little over half (about 60%) of the questions about operational procedures begin with a scenario.

Information Management

Information management refers to the practices, policies, procedures, and technologies used to gather, store, use, and protect data within and associated with a network. Documentation is vital for information management and the smooth running of the network and system. Documentation best practices and policies are designed to streamline the running and troubleshooting of a network or system.

Questions in this section will be scenario based, and you should be able to implement best practices pertaining to creating and maintaining documentation as well as the support systems involved in the documentation process.

Ticketing Systems

A ticketing system is a system that creates individual tickets or requests for assistance from the IT department. A ticketing system provides a method of tracking, addressing, and recalling instances of issues encountered by users. A ticketing system also provides accountability, reporting, collaboration, remediation, and escalation tracking to ensure that the help desk is running as efficiently and effectively as possible.

User Information

When opening a ticket, the user information is typically the first thing collected. This information is essential for communication between the user and the technician responding to the ticket. User information may include the user name, full name, phone number, and/or email address of the user.

Device Information

Device information is generally collected next to provide the technician with additional insight into what may be the cause of the problem. Examples of device information include device type, model number, operating system (OS) being used, and network access type.

Description of Issues

After the essential information is gathered, the user will be asked to enter a description of the issues encountered. It is important to gather as much information from the user as possible. For example, you should determine what is occurring, when did (or does) it occur, and what actions the user took to initiate the problem.

Severity Level

A severity level is assigned to a ticket by the user and the technician to address the urgency of the problem. Keep in mind that when a user is reporting a problem, the user may feel that the issue is more severe and urgent than it actually is. The technician must use their best judgment when assigning severity levels to a ticket.

Escalation Levels

Escalation levels, or levels of support, refer to the structure of the IT department as a whole. While every enterprise structure may vary, they are typically numbered levels 1 to 3, with level 1 responders having basic knowledge, level 2 having advanced knowledge, and level 3 having expert knowledge. If a level 1 technician is unable to address the problem, it can be escalated to the next level.

Written Communication

Written communication between the user, the technician, and any escalation points should be clear and concise. There are three documentation stages of communication between the involved parties: the description of the problem, progress notes, and the resolution.

Issue Description

The first stage involves the description of the problem. The problem description should be as clear and understandable as possible so that the user, technician, and any other person reading can follow it. Avoid using highly technical jargon or references.

Progress Notes

Progress notes should be written to document the steps that are being taken to address or resolve the issue. Progress notes should also document the communications that occur between the user and the technician so that, if reviewed, a clear timeline of actions and interactions is presented, which may be needed for escalation or review.

Issue Resolution

The final part of the written communication documentation is the problem resolution. This should include what steps were taken to resolve the problem, and it should be easy to follow for others, such as another technician who encounters the same issue.

Asset Management

Asset management is the process of keeping track of the fixed tangible assets of a company. Asset management systems track physical assets throughout their lifespan.

Inventory Lists

Inventory lists are a record of all the assets of a company, detailing equipment types and quantities. Inventory lists are useful and sufficient for smaller enterprises but may become overwhelming with larger inventories.

Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

For larger inventories or more complex asset lists, a CMDB system can be created and used. A CMDB has the ability to store and retrieve asset information quickly and efficiently, and it can also provide insight into asset usage, value, and trends.

Asset Tags/IDs

An asset tag or ID is a method used to track equipment within an asset management system, typically in the form of a scannable barcode with an assigned numeric number. This allows the asset management system to identify all equipment as well as retrieve data associated with the asset tag.

Procurement Life Cycle

The procurement life cycle covers the lifespan of an asset within an enterprise. The procurement life cycle for IT typically starts with the purchase of the asset, the deployment of the asset, the continued management of the asset, and the retirement of the asset. The procurement life cycle can be tracked manually or with an asset management system.

Warranty and Licensing

Some assets may come with the manufacturers’ warranties or licensing agreements. The warranty and licensing information can be tracked with asset management as well. Monitoring warranty and licensing information is necessary to stay up to date on potential warranty or licensing expirations that may affect the life cycle of the asset.

Assigned Users

Assigned users are the end users who are responsible for an asset. Assigned users are typically monitored by an IT manager who is ultimately responsible for the assets and users of those assets, such as laptops or cellular phones.

Types of Documents

It’s vital to ensure that you read any required documentation before you begin working on any system. Documentation includes items such as processes and procedures, network diagrams, knowledge base (KB) articles, and much more. It’s also important to document any fixes that have been implemented so they can be referenced later.

Another example of documentation includes safety data sheets (SDS), also referred to as material safety data sheets (MSDS). The SDS outlines the procedures for disposing of hazardous materials.

Incident Reports

An incident report is a document indicating a situation outside of the norm. An incident report, like security alerts and indicators of compromise as specified in NIST publication 800-61r2 “Computer Security Incident Handling Guide,” may not require a full incident response. Verify that an incident has actually occurred prior to executing a full incident response.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

SOPs document the specified steps that should be followed to comply with policies or regulations set by the company and outside entities. The SOP provides a plan of action for meeting those policies.

Software Package Custom Installation Procedure

When installing custom software packages, the entire process should be clearly documented by the initial technician who installed the package. This creates a document and process that can be followed by other technicians for subsequent installations of the package.

Onboarding/New-User Setup Checklist

New employees in a company need to be onboarded, which is commonly coordinated between the IT department and Human Resources. Onboarding is the process of entering the employee into the network, assigning relevant permissions and devices, and informing the new hire about policies and procedures for the company.

A new-user setup checklist is helpful in the onboarding process to ensure all necessary actions have been taken. This list may include assigning and showing a user how to log in to the network, informing them of acceptable use procedures (AUPs) and bring your own device (BYOD) policies, and going over email policies and procedures.

Offboarding/Employee Termination Checklist

When an employee leaves a company, they need to be offboarded, which is the process of removing the user from network access and retrieving assigned devices. An employee termination checklist is a list that provides set actions that need to be taken when an employee is offboarded and ensures that nothing has been overlooked during the process.

Service-Level Agreements (SLAs)

An SLA is a formal document that defines the expectations between two parties, such as a service provider and a customer or user. SLAs outline key metrics that are used to ensure both parties are meeting agreed-upon standards, responsibilities, and expectations.

Internal

An internal SLA is one that is used within an organization to define roles and expectations between parties, such as between different departments or teams.

External/Third-Party

An external or third-party SLA, also referred to as a customer SLA, is one that defines expectations between two parties in different organizations, such as between a vendor and a consumer.

Knowledge Base (KB) Articles

A knowledge base is a repository of information regarding an application or system. When working on a system or troubleshooting an issue, individuals should first visit the system’s KB articles to see if a solution to their issue already exists.