Date Published July 5, 2017 - Last Updated December 6, 2017
In January 2017, HDI presented the Top 25 Thought Leaders in Technical Support and Service Management. To help you get to know them better and learn what it means to be a community leader, we’ve interviewed each of our thought leaders. Today, we hear from Ryan Ogilvie.
Tell us about your day job and also how you are involved in the community.
I have had the good fortune to be part of a team that is responsible for the client services in the service desk capacity. My primary focus as the manager of the service desk is to ensure that the business that we serve is as satisfied as possible. To be able to do this successfully, I need to leverage the right best practices where they fit our business units and blend that with solid communication and reporting to measure our success and make adjustments where appropriate. Each day is different than the last, so positioning myself and the team to be as agile as possible is critical in achieving our goals.
I also find it important to “pay it forward” in the service management community wherever I can, whether it is presenting at a local service management event, participating in a twitter chat, writing in my blog, or having soon-to-be graduates from the local college job shadowing. I believe that the more we share the more we can learn from each other.
What motivates you to be active in the community?
I find that the more I contribute to the community the more that I learn and gain out of the collaborative experience. There are a multitude of experiences across diverse cultural backgrounds to bounce ideas off of. Using social media allows for this knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer without leaving the confines of my office.
What suggestions do you have for tech support professionals interested in getting more involved in the community?
Just start. At first, you might feel a bit out of your comfort zone. But try a wide variety of platforms and find out which ones work best for you.
What trends do you anticipate for the role of ITIL in service management over the next few years?
I think that keeping an open mind to frameworks and what tools you keep in the toolkit will allow you to be better prepared for whatever may come your way from managing services effectively. Keep in mind that there are many complementary frameworks, capabilities, and methods that work with ITIL. Being open to possibilities will allow you to maximize potential improvements.
There are many complementary frameworks, capabilities, and methods that work with ITIL.
Amy Eisenberg is the editor for HDI where she works with industry experts and practitioners to create content for technical support professionals. She has worked in B2B media and scholarly publishing for more than 20 years, developing content for print and digital magazines, print and email newsletters, websites, conferences, and technical seminars. Follow Amy on Twitter @eisenbergamy, and connect with her on LinkedIn.