Level with Me: The Levels of Production Support

I'd like to take a pause and answer a question: What are the levels of Production Support?

This is a question I see a lot in forums all over the Web. It regards what the different Support levels mean. Of course, this already is a loaded question because it assumes all companies have different levels of Prod Support. I can tell you, from experience, that this isn't always the case. Some companies' Support staff answer the phone, perform investigations on questions, and also perform break fixes (which would be a combination of the typical levels of Support).

But the question that most people mean to ask is, "In a 3-Level Support Model, what does each level mean?" This question is good and relevant because many, many organizations structure their Support teams this way.

So without further ado, here are the 3 Levels of Production Support...and what I notice they typically mean in various organizations:

1. Level 1: This is the most basic of Support levels. Staff performing this level of support generally perform eyes-on-glass type monitoring. In the event of an alert, Level 1 staff rely on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that they need to follow in order to correct a situation. The SOP might call for staff to run a script, restart a process, etc. Level 1 staff also field business requests and prioritize tickets. If Level 1 staff doesn't have an SOP to resolve the question or request, they must escalate to staff performing Level 2 Support. At this level, no in depth troubleshooting is done; only troubleshooting that will help define the issue at hand is undertaken.
2. Level 2: This level of Support generally involves more in-depth troubleshooting and requires that the staff understand the way a system works quite intimately. Level 2 Support includes finding resolution to incidents for which SOPs are not available and finding answers to questions which involve intimate knowledge of the system. This might include poring through log files to determine why something went wrong or why a system transaction behaved in an unexpected way. Level 2 Staff might utilize the application code to resolve an issue. They're also in charge of handling service requests that involve creating custom queries to automate reports. When Level 2 staff cannot handle a particular request, they must escalate to Level 3 Support.
3. Level 3: Level 3 Support involves an in-depth understanding of an application, so much, that break-fixes can be done by this level staff. Ideally, Support staff can generate this level of knowledge, however, many times, Level 3 Support is done by the application Development team.