What skills do employers require from people who work in the IT client support role?

The term 'IT client support' is replacing a number of terms which represent jobs where support is provided to end users. If encompasses all the activities which enable clients of the IT systems to use their systems effectively. Despite the fact that this is a growing field, there is little published research on the skills required of people fulfilling this role. This research aims to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding employers' skill needs and this area. The research found that the most important competency standards were, data base backup and recovery, determining and adopting network problems and maintaining equipment and software in working order. However, there are discrepancies between what employers consider important, and the tasks actually performed, the main ones being, providing basic systems administration, completing data base backup and recovery and providing network systems administration. However, there were significant differences between larger and smaller employers.