Alan Howard

Past

• Service Desk Manager at Australian Communications & Media Authority
• Business Analyst at Attorney-General's Department
• Applications Support Officer at DEEWR

• IT Support Officer at Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO)
• Technical Support Specialist at Gen-i
• Service Delivery Manager at Gen-i
• Systems / Sharepoint / VoIP Administrator at Gen-i
• Sharepoint 2003 Trainer at Gen-i
• Hepdesk Analyst / Senior Analyst at Computerland

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Connections

76 connections

Industry

Information Technology and Services

Alan Howard’s Summary

Having been in the IT industry since 1996, I have extensive experience in IT operations and management, business analysis, website design, community management, and social media. I'm passionate about helping businesses improve their practices in order to achieve better results and improved business objectives.

My current role as a Service Desk Manager has allowed me to manage and support the client's service desk operations and service improvement during a period of extensive change. I was instrumental in analysing workplace practices and providing documentation and improve processes and workflows to ITIL standards. I was also responsible for the successful management of the service desk staff and its objectives of IT support and communications.

As a Business Analyst, I have strong skills in stakeholder liaison, documentation, prioritisation and time management. Being ITIL-qualified as well allows me to assist service delivery operations in accordance with international standards of process improvement within IT service operations and delivery environments.

Social media integration with business is another of my passions. I assist business owners with their website and internet strategies to take advantage of the leverage of social media for their promotional and marketing strategies through tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, managing communities, etc.

Alan Howard’s Specialties:

Service desk management and operations, business and process analysis, business applications of social media, blogging, writing, community management

Alan Howard’s Experience

• Service Desk Manager

  Australian Communications & Media Authority

  (Government Administration industry)

  November 2008 — April 2009 (6 months)

  Managed 1st and 2nd level service desk staff including availability, training, workplace practices, and reporting; implemented ITIL processes and workflows that resulted in improved quality of service; documented Service Manual and Service Catalog; created Operational Level Agreements (OLAs) throughout supporting business units.

• Business Analyst

  Attorney-General's Department

  (Government Administration industry)

  April 2008 — September 2008 (6 months)

  Was responsible for the implementation of ITIL process improvements to improve service desk objectives; setup and implemented 2nd level support structure to improve 1st level availability; documented Service Manual and Service Catalog; created Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs).

• Applications Support Officer

  DEEWR

  (Government Administration industry)

  July 2007 — January 2008 (7 months)

  Responsible for 2nd level support of infraEnterprise (Infra), an ITIL Incident Management system; resolved and documented faults, bugs and troubleshooting procedures; monitored essential system applications using network and server monitoring tools

• IT Support Officer

  Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO)

  (Defense & Space industry)

  April 2007 — June 2007 (3 months)

  Provided desktop and telephone support for Windows and Mac computers; setup and provided administration support for Sharepoint 2003 / 2007; assisted with administration of Windows Server 2003 and Cisco Networking environment

• Technical Support Specialist

  Gen-i

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  January 2006 — January 2007 (1 year 1 month)

  Involved in analysis and improvement of service desk processes; created a Bird Flu Pandemic Plan as part of the Disaster Recovery Management (DRM) process, in line with NZ government standards and regulations; assisted Telecom New Zealand in creating and implementing service desk operations for Westpac, supporting 8,000 users around the country, including being responsible for setting up ITIL 'best practices' for all supporting business units

• Service Delivery Manager

  Gen-i

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  October 2005 — November 2006 (1 year 2 months)

  Managed the improvement of IT services, processes and communication methods, resulting in increased client satisfaction for a number of clients.

• Systems / Sharepoint / VoIP Administrator

  Gen-i

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  June 2005 — October 2006 (1 year 5 months)

  VoIP Administrator
  
  Provided secondary support and administration for the primary VoIP technician, using Cisco Call Manager vs. 4 for setting up and administering user accounts.
  
  Systems Administrator / SharePoint Administrator
  
  Provided 2nd level support to internal Computerland staff and the service desk; provided SharePoint 2003 administration and training.

• Sharepoint 2003 Trainer

  Gen-i

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  September 2004 — May 2005 (9 months)

  Directly responsible for creating a web-based, self-paced training program using Microsoft FrontPage and SharePoint 2003 to train 800 staff across the Enterprise environment (17 branches around the country). This saved the company many thousands of dollars by avoiding travel and accommodation costs, as their original intention was fly me around the country doing PowerPoint presentations.
  
  The training program included general user training and higher-level Administration training. I was also responsible for assisting departments in setting up Team Sites and providing relevant support and training.

• Hepdesk Analyst / Senior Analyst

  Computerland

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  January 2000 — August 2004 (4 years 8 months)

  Provided 1st and 2nd level telephone support for software and hardware issues; acted as Client Champion for a number of clients, being responsible for client liaison and primary escalation point.

Additional Information

Alan Howard’s Interests:

Personal development, writing, working out how to save the world, driving, philosophy, psychology, blogging and taking it easy

Alan Howard’s Groups:

•    ITSM (ITIL) Professionals
•    Social Media Today
•    Twitter Me

Alan Howard’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch