One of the greatest changes to make to improve the reputation of tech support, and the IT infrastructure support group in general, is to follow the ITIL process model for Service Management. Tech support cannot do it alone. (Yeah, I’ve drunk the ITIL kool-aid) This ‘Best Practice’ model is not a tool you buy, but a process model that defines the roles & handoffs between the various infrastructure support areas (help desk, problem mgmt, change control, etc) for smooth efficient handling of troubles, detection of root cause, and implementation of changes with minimal disruption. The results are amazing.