Staff Case Studies: Manmit
I started my career in IT working for Marks & Spencer PLC as a support analyst for over 5000 users worldwide. Dealing with everything from support for various versions of Microsoft Office to troubleshooting mainframe and Citrix Metaframe applications, the scope of the job certainly put me in at 'the deep end'!
I moved on to become a 2nd/3rd line engineer for the Chancerealm Group, where I had more opportunity to become involved in purchasing and training, as well as valuable experience with the Keiro Mail Server structure and in upgrading Active Directory and DHCP.
"The most rewarding aspect of the work was in finding new procedures to improve communications between clients, or improving those that already exist."
It's important to accommodate clients' wishes, but a technical advisor has an unusually wide overview of the situation - and therefore a unique chance to suggest and implement creative and economic solutions. It's important to listen, but also to be proactive in finding the best solutions.
"I joined Wanstor in 2006 as a 1st line engineer, which gave me opportunities to keep up to date with my existing skills and to gain entirely new ones."
As well as building, configuring and maintaining Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 servers and VMware configuration and maintenance, I have a very proactive role in visiting clients, checking their infrastructure and making recommendations for improvements.
The image of technical support staff as basement-dwelling 'geeks' cut off from the mainstream of the business workflow...well, I can't speak for all sectors of the market, but effective business IT requires far more social and mental flexibility.
"You need imaginative yet practical solutions - and the ability to explain them clearly to clients, and follow up after they've been implemented."
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