Documentation: Best Practices
IT Glue Basics
Here's a video overview of IT Glue.
Document Anything New or Changed
When we set up or learn about anything new or changed, it must be documented.
When something is changed by a technician, it is generally that technician's responsibility to document it. For example:
- A user password is changed. The change needs to be reflected in that password asset.
- We install a new firewall:
- The LAN (Local Area Network) flexible asset needs to be updated to link to the new device.
- In the security asset the new firewall needs to be referenced (linked to as a "related item").
- In the IT Glue configuration, a new configuration backup needs to be uploaded.
When the change is more administrative, it is the office administrator's responsibility. Examples might include:
- A license is purchased for a new piece of software. The office admin, after placing the order, would add that to the Licensing asset.
- A user emails us from their personal email address because they're having a problem with their company email. The address should be added as a secondary email address in their contact in Autotask. (Autotask assigns the correct account and user to a new ticket based on the the email address the request was sent from, so it is a big help to have these secondary addresses on file. This ensures the ticket information is correct. )
There may be times when both administrative and technical personnel are involved in the change. For example, if we add a new service, the office admin will be aware of this due to the logistical coordination and the billing changes. The tech who is implementing the change will of course also be aware of it. In such a case, the team members will need to coordinate on who will add/edit the information.
Updating documentation can be time-consuming, but not nearly as time-consuming as scrambling to find information later when it isn’t properly documented.
Related Items
Be aware of the related items when you update an item. Make sure any related items that need to be changed are edited as well.
Hide Personally Identifiable Information (PII)!
When creating a how-to article, you may want to include screenshots. You must mask any personally identifiable information whether the documentation is internal or customer-facing. PII includes customer names, end user names, email addresses and phone numbers. Here is an example:
Further Info
Please read the following for more information on documentation practices:
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