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Pete Around Town

ITSM Strategies for 2008 - join Pete and Rich Hand from HDI as they explore the strategies, opportunities and challenges for IT Managers.

 http://mcgarahan.com/images/mcgarahan/Pod_cast_with_Pete_McGarahan.mp3

St. Francis of Assisi - Grade 3B

I spoke to my daughter's Kayleigh's class this morning about what Mr. McGarahan does for a living. It certainly makes you stop and think about what you REALLY do for a living given your audience is a group of 8 year olds! God bless them - they actually pretended to be interested in what I had to say! 

Thank you Mrs. Midkiff and the wonderful students of 3B! 

HDI 2007 Conference & Expo

(Delivering the Technology Keynote at the 2007 HDI Conference and Expo
at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas during Ron Muns’
State of the Industry Address.)

 

Pat Albright, Manager of HDI Support Center Services and Scott Hanson, Art Director at HDI

 

The HDI Faculty at the Faculty Retreat, Colorado Springs, January, 2007

CA World, Las Vegas (11/14-16/2005)
I was minding my own business at CA World when I met Jeremy Sutton. We had a great conversation as he painted my portrait. It was a new and wonderful experience. I typically do not expose myself to new experiences at conferences. Jeremy and I became good friends quickly. I was impressed how he used his creativity and artistic talent to show people what they can do with computers - by using the "other-half" of the brain. For actual photos of the session, please go to http://www.jeremysutton.com/caworld2005.html

Help Desk Professionals Conference, San Diego (10/26-28/2005)

HDI Executive Forum, Half Moon Bay (5/17-18/2005)

The 4th Annual Government Customer Support Conference
STI Knowledge Certified Help Desk Manager Course

May 2-3, 2005 Bethesda, MD



 



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Change or Irrelevance: Career Changing Technologies
07/14/2011
 
Rapid, breathtaking technology advances are forcing radical changes not only in how IT organizations function, but also in terms of their culture, leadership, and even careers. Combined with business, social and global trends, as well as technology investing (spending), IT organizations must accelerate their organizational change plans in order to survive and thrive. They must assess and plan for complete transformation - strategy, structure, people, processes, and tools.

Are we preparing our IT professionals to plan for and make these changes? Are we helping them position themselves and their organizations for success in this dynamically evolving world?

This Cutter Consortium article assess and addresses the impacting wave of the rapidly changing IT and business trends on traditional IT careers, positions, and skill sets.

This wake-up call is best described by a quote from four-star US General (Ret.) Eric Shineski: "If you don't like change, you'll like irrelevance even less."



The “Business” Service Leadership Agenda
07/14/2011

BSMReview.com
Next Practices in Business Service Management

The “Business” Service Leadership Agenda  by Peter J. McGarahan

The Defining Moment of Truth

Why do some companies consistently exceed their business customers’ expectations and others fail to meet their customer’s basic demands and needs? Why do smaller, flexible companies seem to care more about the business impact of customer service than larger credit card, banking and cable organizations? Does the exuberant profits and size of these larger companies (“Too Big To Fail”) create a situation where customer service is no longer a competitive differentiator nor a strategic imperative?
MSN Money’s fifth annual Customer Service Survey was recently published revealing the top ten companies earning a place in their Customer Service Hall of Shame and Hall of Fame. The “business” service differentiation comes down to knowledgeable and friendly staff, available and responsive staff, trust, transparency, genuine care and understanding of their customer. Simple you say, obviously not!



The Service Leadership Agenda
11/21/2011

The Service Leadership Agenda
 
The Defining Moment of Truth

Why do some companies consistently exceed their customers’ expectations and others fail to meet their customer’s basic demands and needs? Why do smaller, flexible companies seem to care more about customer service than larger credit card, banking and cable organizations? Does the exuberant profits and size of these larger companies (“Too Big To Fail”) create a situation where customer service is no longer a competitive differentiator nor a strategic imperative?



Learn How to Create a Highly Efficient and Effective Support Organization
04/21/2011

SupportIndustry.com Webinar:
Best Practice Strategies for Creating a Highly Efficient
and Effective Support Organization

In case you missed it, SupportIndustry.com recently conducted a webinar on Best Practice Strategies for Creating a Highly Efficient and Effective Support Organization, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive by attendees. In response to this, we are offering the on-demand version to you to watch at your convenience. More information about the event is below!



Professionalism in the Contact Center
04/21/2011

What is professionalism anyway & why does it matter?

Dana Pigford, founder of Professionalism Matters, Inc, defines professionalism as "being responsible and accountable and treating people the way you would like to be treated."1 Service and support consultants, Pete McGarahan and Ric Mims, in an excellent article, "The Essence of Professionalism,"2 suggest that professionalism is composed of such values as courtesy, respect in dealing with clients and, "Do they take pride in their appearance, their work ethic, and the quality of the work they do?"3 In addition, they observe that "In simpler days, professionalism had everything to do with customer service, relationship building, and creating the foundation for effective, persuasive communication across all levels of the organization."4 They also suggest that a good definition of professionalism "...isn’t your appearance and your aptitude, its attitude: knowing what to do, and doing it with passion and purpose."5


A CRM Approach to Business Service Management?
04/21/2011

A CRM Approach to Business Service Management?
by Peter J. McGarahan

I have been designing, delivering and supporting IT services for most of my 27 years as an IT professional. Time and time again I’ve encountered IT organizations that didn’t keep the customer or their business top of mind when designing and delivering services. Instead, they delivered “cool” technologies or strategies that met IT’s expectation and requirements, but didn’t directly benefit the business customers.



Are You Missing The Point About Customer Care?
12/04/2010

Are You Missing The Point About Customer Care?
By Peter J. McGarahan
Inbound Magazine - Issue 01:2010
Design customer centric services that improve service deliver.



Reducing Support Costs!
06/01/2010

Reducing Support Costs with a "Shift-Left" Strategy: An Interview with Pete McGarahan
By Cinda Daly

"Arise, ye service leader! The time is now!" proclaims Pete McGarahan, an industry thought leader and respected consultant for twenty-five years. It's not a new concept that service leaders need to run their support organization like a business. Achieving that point, however, is challenging. With continuing pressures to drive down support costs, service leaders need to optimize the business model: determine what's really important, then dive deep into the detail of structure, process, people, and tools.
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