Organisation: Transport of NSW
Job Title: IT Analyst
Location: Parramatta
1. Experience in an IT support role and in the operations of an IT service and support service desk.
For the past 4.5 years I have held several IT support roles at Fujitsu (Australia and New
Zealand). These roles have included Railcorp Service Technical Support, Level 1 and 2
Support 24×7 Service Desk and Support Team Shift Leader 24×7 Service Desk. Each of these
roles, have provided me with active experience in the smooth and efficient operation of
customer service through timely IT support.
As one of the three largest IT support companies in the world, Fujitsu provide an
exceptionally high level of IT support services to a wide range of organisations, including
Railcorp, RTA, Victorian Police, Caltex, Tenix, Toyota, AusGrid and others, totaling 40+
clients. The Fujitsu focus is on operational support of customer servers, including proactive
monitoring of servers, incident resolution, and performing standard and non-standard
changes both on Microsoft Windows and Unix/Linux environments; as well as maintenance
of current account profiles, hardware, software, system design, applications and customer
contacts; monitoring back-ups and re-running failed back-up jobs, investigation and
troubleshooting, as well as tape preparation. Central to my role is resolving daily requests,
on demand, and providing daily and weekly reports.
The Fujitsu Service desk is divided into “business hours” and “24/7” roles. The 24/7 team
works regular business hours, after hours and during the weekend. The Service Desk
support team working during business hours are client specific, and generally have staff with
a higher level of client specific knowledge. Those individuals who work on the 24/7 after
hours service must have a greater breath of knowledge and ability to resolve issues for any
of the 40+ clients who may call, each with their own operating systems and contract
agreements.
My employment started as a part of the Railcorp Service Technical Support and was focused
on the one account, before moving onto the Level 1 and 2 Support 24/7 Service Desk. This
role meant I was now responsible for providing service to any one of the 40+ clients who
would call through after business hours. I was appointed Support Team Shift Leader 24×7
Service Desk, which involved looking after up to 11 people, monitoring their work and
addressing any Level 3 technical issues. As Associate System Engineer I now focus on Server
Monitoring and all high priority Level 3 IT related issues.
During this career progression my experience and broad understanding of all IT service
support and operation can be clearly seen through my advancement from single client
service technical support, to high level multi client, multi system monitoring and trouble
shooting.
2. Demonstrated knowledge of support service best practice, processes and procedures.
While fulfilling my role as Support Team Shift Leader on the 24/7 Service Desk at Fujistu, a
position I held for 5 months, I was able to demonstrate my knowledge of support service
process, procedures and best practice. During this time the Railcorp Human Resources
payment system would process all employee payments fortnightly, on a Friday afternoon.
This time slot fell within the hours covered solely by the 24/7 Service Desk, as opposed to
the specific Railcorp Service Technical Support Team, who operated only during regular
business hours.
During this regular fortnightly payment run, employees would seek access to the online
system regarding their pay advice from Railcorp. As a direct result the SAP system would
frequently become overloaded and effectively crash under the weight of the online activity.
As a natural consequence, we would receive a substantially higher than usual number of
phone calls from staff, telling or asking us why the system wasn’t working and enquiring
when it would be running again, each of these calls would require logging, ticketing and a
response. This was of course an unwelcome addition to our usual workload responding to
Level 1 and 2 service related escalations requiring immediate attention from any one of
Fujitsu’s 40+ other clients.
I immediately identified this as an ineffective operating situation and undertook to review
the process in an effort to ascertain how we could rectify and enhance this system and
provide a more effective service. It was identified that, according to our Service Level
Agreement, we could change anything related to the network operations and timing. At a
team meeting, I suggested to our manager that we move the regular system maintenance
and procedures carried out on these Friday nights to commence on the Saturday. In
conjunction with other client service agreements, we adjusted regular scheduled
maintenance to be performed out of peak user times, not just for Railcorp but for all clients.
This required the additional employment of staff to work during these specific times,
however the resulting effect was that it freed the systems to operate more smoothly overall
and increased customer satisfaction.
It was as a result of actively using knowledge of support service best practice and a detailed
review of processes and procedures that enable the rectification of a previously ongoing
service issue and enhancement of client usability.
3. Excellent diagnostic and analytical skills and ability to develop and implement
solutions.
My excellent diagnostic and analytical skills are utlised on a regular daily basis through my
ability to monitor data, identify system issues, and then develop and implement the most
effective solution. As an IT service desk employee, you must have sound diagnostic skills and
the ability to analyse situations to enable you to troubleshoot even the most basic of IT
issues.
A larger more specific example of this can be seen early on in my current role at Fujitsu
Australia as an Associate System Engineer (Level 3 Technical Support) a position I have held
since January 2011. This role provides Level 3 technical support, and in general involves
providing solutions to more complex software and server related issues.
This particular example relates to Fujitsus’ client Caltex, who had been operating under the
Arc Serve software to process their back-up. The primary issue was that the system used to
back-up would more often than not fail and require immediate attention. Arc Serve is an
older server system, and I had to use my knowledge to resolve these issues on a regular
basis with manual monitoring and re-running failed back-up jobs.
I suggested upgrading their server and migrating Caltex over to the more current Netbackup
server. While this seems like a relatively simple solution, this was not straight forward and
regularly threw errors such as the server not connecting to client, as well as the ongoing
back-up problems. Further analysis was needed to ascertain, why this was happening and to
correctly understand what software version and which server system would actually talk to
each other. Using my extensive operating system knowledge in conjunction with further
research, I investigated which solution would result in the best outcome for the client. In the
meantime, patches where used to support the server.
In a relatively short time this issue was resolved and Caltex now successfully runs on a new
operating system which correctly and accurately processes back-ups. It was a direct result of
my diagnostic and analytical skills that allowed the 24/7 service team to develop and
implement an effective solution to this problem out of regular business hours.
4. Demonstrated ability and commitment to the provision of excellent customer support service.
I regularly demonstrate my ability and commitment to the provision of excellent customer
service. It is a strong part of my nature to be engaged and flexible using an adaptable
approach to focus square on the client’s issues and how best to resolve them quickly and
efficiently. I do enjoy the positive feedback I receive from these satisfied customers. While
employed on the Level 1 and 2 Support 24x 7 Service Desk at Fujitsu, my role was as
frontline technical support to any one of the 40+ client companies who had entered Service
Agreements with Fujitsu.
During one particular weekend, Fujitsu took over the entire support system for Toyota.
Previously, Toyota had managed level 2 and 3 service requests internally, and relied on
Fujitsu to support them for their Level 1 IT requirements only. Now Toyota would be
transferring all background information, all server monitoring, and networking; basically
everything IT / system, software and hardware related. Their whole IT system was to be
migrated over from Toyota to Fujitsu systems in one go. This required an extraordinary
amount of work and was schedule to take place after hours on a weekend. However as it
was being conducted over a weekend it had the potential to negatively impact the clients,
being Toyota dealerships, who heavily rely this online system for sales and data. Naturally,
the weekend is the most crucial time for this system to be operating correctly.
The process was to be started at 7pm and completed by 6am. With so many people
involved, and so much information and processes to be transferred, it continued on for an
additional 6 hours past the estimated finish time. During this entire time it was my
responsibility to be the middle-man between Toyota staff, field service engineers, technical
engineers, and Fujitsu technicians. By remaining actively on top of all processes I was able to
provide useful information and knowledge as to what happening when and where.
This commitment to completing my role well after the estimated end time, helped to ensure
that the task was completed and that our client, Toyota, was satisfied with our service. I was
pleased that this contribution was acknowledged both by Toyota, who were extremely
happy with the end result, and by Fujitsu, who nominated me personally for a staff service
award. Being the 3 rd largest IT company in the world, it is quite an achievement to receive
such a nomination.
5. Excellent organisation skills and the ability to set priorities to ensure customer satisfaction and service level targets are met.
I have developed strong organisation skills and place a high priority on providing exceptional
client service. This ensures customer satisfaction and service level targets are met
consistently. By the use of proper organization, this helps to reduce call waiting times and
queues have been kept to a minimum. The team I manage have been able to regularly meet
all client Service Level Agreements, often in tight timeframes.
One particular example of this, is my review on the way the service teams at Fujitsu work.
While employed as Support Team Shift Leader 24×7 Service Desk, it became apparent that
the 8 staff on the 24×7 Service desk would often times not be enough people to cope with
demands, while at other times they would not have enough to do. I analysed recorded data
and suggested a more effective rostering system to cover those busy periods, and a
reduction of staff during more traditionally quiet periods.
In addition to this, I recommended that 24/7 Service Desk staff be trained in the intricacies
of each particular clients’ operating system and Service Level Agreement. My previous
experience on the Railcorp Service Technical Support team meant that I had a strong
understanding of the exact requirements of the Railcorp systems. However, moving to the
24/7 Service Desk, I was now required to have the same understanding of each of the 40+
clients of Fujitsu. This meant time was wasted researching data and network systems
relating to each individual client.
In order to facilitate my suggestion of increasing 24/7 Service Desk staff’s overall system
knowledge, I recommended that each individual sit with a specific Technical Support team
member. By watching closely and asking useful questions, each staff member could then
understand more clearly how that individual system operated. This process took just two
months to rotate each staff member through all client support teams. The direct result of
this initiative was a significant increase in knowledge, but more importantly, a drastic
reduction in the time taken to resolve issues, as well as an increase in job satisfaction for all
staff.
As a result of my organisational skills and ability to focus on customer service priorities, I
was promoted to Associate System Engineer (Level 3 support).
6. Good written and oral communication skills and the ability to deal tactfully with people at all levels including customer, IT professionals and vendors.
Excellent communication skills are a necessary requirement of IT Service Desk. Often times
customers ring in a frustrated state as a result of their equipment, or system failing to
operate correctly. It is necessary to be consistent in dealing tactfully with all levels of
customers, both internally and externally to the organisation. Written below is one example
of a re-occurring situation, which happens quite frequently and that can become quite
frustrating for clients.
While working both in Railcorp Service Technical Support and on the Level 1 and 2 Support
24/7 Service Desk at Fujitsu Australia, we regularly receive relatively minor requests from
clients who have repeatedly miss-typed or forgotten their password and are now locked out
from their system. Each Service Level Agreement has a different set of processes to rectify
this lockout. As an example, Railcorp has a Service Level Agreement which states that all
Railcorp staff must complete a security challenge question for IT staff to ask so as to verify
the user. Unfortunately, staff regularly skip this step when they first log into their computer.
Once a customer has called through to request their password reset, we must follow the
Service Level Agreement guidelines. These state that if the user does not have a challenge
question set, they must provide written confirmation from their supervisor, and we are only
then able to reset their password. Often times when this occurs during regular working
hours, although it may take some further time to wait for this written confirmation, it is
easily resolved with a simple fax. However, the situation changes dramatically after hours.
For instance, if someone has locked themselves out of their computer at midnight, with no
completed challenge question and there are no supervisors around to verify them, it can
create great frustration for the client. As a result of being tactfully told that we are unable to
proceed further without some form of verification, individuals often become quite stressed
and insistent we disregard policy and reset their password or escalate the issue further.
While remaining calm and speaking in a clear and simple manner, I am able to convey that
we are following strict Railcorp procedures. Often, just by remaining calm and helping them
to see that I do understand their urgency to work, I am able to talk them through a last
resort work around which may involve them having their supervisor contact us directly with
a phone call and written confirmation via email.
Although this is an easily resolved example, it is one that can cause quite a high level of
frustration both with customers and service staff who are regularly dealing with the same
issue. It is only due to calm, clear, detailed communication and tactful handling of this
situation, treating each caller as an individual, that I can keep customers satisfied that they
are being looked after with the best level of service.
7. Ability to operate within the values of impartiality; integrity; trust; service; accountability and safety.
To carry out responsibilities with professionalism,
fairness and commitment and to do so in order to place the customer at the centre
of all that is produced and delivered.
I am highly committed to providing the most professional service, with impartiality, fairness
and integrity. During the course of my employment with Fujitsu, I have been given an
increasing level of trust to deal with matters confidentially and with a high level of
accountability attached to my roles. I have demonstrated this level of professionalism and
impartiality recently.
My current role as Associate System Engineer, a role I have held for 16 months, revolves
around monitoring servers and systems for the 40+ clients of Fujitsu. This provides me with
access to all sorts of confidential information. In the case of the Victorian Police
Department, all their information is, by the nature of their work, highly sensitive. Recently I
received a call directly from a head within the Victorian Police Department. They were in the
middle of a highly classified investigation and had a suspicion that information had been
removed from their system. I was required to retrieve data and logs from their windows
server, monitor and return to the Police Department who had accessed the information at
what time and what they had done with it, ie. deleted or removed via USB, as it was in this
case. This was all completed after hours, after the individual in question had left the office.
Pleased that I had found a solution, this highly ranking individual requested me to forward
this information to him on his personal email account. I had to be impartial and not swayed
by his position of authority. This would have been a clear abuse of the Service Level
Agreement and Victorian Police Department policy. I had to protect myself and my
employer, who would have been held accountable had I been influenced to send it to him
outside the proper channels.
I forwarded the relevant information to his Police Department email address, and they were
exceptionally pleased with the result and level of service that I provided. They now had the
necessary evidence as to when this Police Officer was logging in and out, and could
accurately trace what information he was accessing.
I believe that I handled this situation in an exceptionally professional manner, being
committed to completing the task and remaining accountable to my employer and our
client. My history of service, integrity and trust were recognised in my being given this task,
and the result showed that I placed the customer at the centre of the service provided.
8. Relevant technical qualification or equivalent experience in a related field.
My knowledge has been ever increasing through my progression of steadily higher level
roles at Fujitsu. These roles have been service orientated in IT Service support, starting with
Railcorp Service Technical Support focused on the one individual client, and moving up
through the ranks to Associate Team Engineer (Level 3 Support), including working as
Support Team Shift Leader on the 24/7 Service Desk for their 40+ clients.
My knowledge and understanding of a wide variety of systems is built through my love of
learning and the desire to continually increase and improve my abilities. I enjoy using this
extensive knowledge base in conjunction with my natural attributes, including the ability to
understand a situation and problem solve effectively, as well as outstanding time
management and task prioritisation skills.
I have gained excellent skills with system administration, and have developed strong
leadership and mentoring skills, which I use along with my natural easy-going nature to
contribute to a cohesive working environment.
My extensive hands on roles over the past 4 years have provided me with the opportunity
to gain a wide breath of knowledge over a variety of operating systems, including Windows
and Unix/linux, as well as server storage systems, including TSM, Arc Serve and Netbackup.
This multi client exposure has also provided me with the skills to retain and recall
information specific to each individual system and operating style.
As a basis for this working knowledge I have a Bachelor of Information Technology (2005)
from the University of Ballarat, and a Diploma of Information Technology (2002). In an effort
to increase my abilities I have more recently completed training for Red Hat 6 Server
Administration and Linux 1 and Linux 2 Administration, and received Sun Certified Solaris 10
Associate Certification.
My highest priority is always to provide an effective, time efficient and exceptional level of
technical support. My goal is to ensure client satisfaction in both my personal service and as
a reflection to that of my employer.
