I need to know the the workload of a desktop tech. In other words
how many computers can one individual support. As an example:
9 servers and 170 desktops/laptops what would the support staff requirement be?

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Request for Question Clarification by chellphill-ga on 25 Apr 2003 05:58 PDT

In order to answer your question, I could use a bit more information
from you.
What would be the hours of operation for the facility? How many days
of the week would support be required?
Were you looking for some sort of "official" guidelines on desktop
support staffing, or will my firsthand knowledge of "what works"
suffice as an answer?
thanks!
chellphill-ga

For 9 servers and 170 desktops, my estimate is for not less than 2 and
no more than 4 staff would be needed for support.

A good technician should be able to complete 4 or more problem calls
in an 8 hour work day.
If you desktop environment is setup well, than no more than 5% of your
population should have a problem at any one time.
5% of 170 = 8.5 (2 techs)

The addition of 1 or 2 more technicians will assure a quicker response
during times of heavy volume, and allow for vacation and sick time
coverage as well. On call support may be needed and having the
additional 1 or 2 staff will ensure a better received rotation.

Source: First hand. I am a manager of desktop support for a med-large
corporation (2000+ PCs, 150+ servers)

However, I am not an official Google researcher. Please take my
comment as just that, a comment.
Regards
-flajason

I can confirm the company I work for has 10 servers and around 170
desktop users and we have 2 support staff (myself included) who deal
with the day to day support and a support supervisor who controls all
the paperwork and ordering of spares etc.

Projections will depend on the operating system serviced by a tech:
Linux, Window$, Mac.  I would suggest adding more specific information
regarding the primary OS that the tech would be dealing with.

Rgards,
slawek