Power Design Inc is an innovative Design-Build, Multi-Trade Contractor operating across the United States, working across multiple construction trades. The company’s dedicated IT department consists of 5 distinct areas of IT; Infrastructure & Operations, Field Technology, Software Engineering, IT Programs & Technology Experience. The commitment of these divisions, and the IT department as a whole, is to provide exceptional service and experiences to customers and employees.
We recently spoke to their dedicated Director of Technology Experience, Josh Nelson, to discuss the many ways in which their service desk team has utilised SDI’s products and services, including Membership, Training, Service Desk Certification (SDC) and SDI Events:
Where did you first see/hear about SDI?
The discovery of SDI was prefaced by the desire to define the buzz word so often used “World Class”. We wanted to remove the subjectivity associated with being a World Class team. Our journey of definition and exploration led us to the SDC and it’s ranking scale which provided the only globally recognized, objective measurement tool for defining a 5-star World Class service team.
What motivated you to invest/engage in SDI’s products and services?
Once we learned about SDI, we began doing our due diligence around the SDC. As we explored the global standards and understood the vastness of the concept area coverage, we realized that this really could be a great measurement tool as well as provide a multi-year road map for the team to rally around. Additionally, the fact that multiple consecutive years as a 4-star certified team were required prior to even being considered for a 5-star certification showed us that this really is a commitment to ongoing excellence rather than a check in the box activity.
What key skills & benefits have you gained since joining SDI? And what challenges did you overcome as a result?
The key benefit to engaging with SDI, and specifically the SDC, has been an increase in maturity across the team in its processes, procedures, and approach. The requirement of evidence to show that we were walking the walk and not just talking the talk was a powerful motivator to formalize our operations and document them. This formalization and documentation improved consistency and clarity while simultaneously improving our onboarding experiences as team members can get up to speed much quicker since they can reference our operational standards and don’t have to rely solely on being shown how we do something by another team member.
How would you best describe your experience with SDI’s Membership, Training & your experience with SDI as a whole?
Our interactions with SDI have been brilliant. The people have been incredibly supportive and helpful and the content we have been exposed to has been invaluable in our continued growth, expansion and improvement.
What impact has this had on your team?
As most initiatives do, the initial push for SDC and SDI was led by leadership. However, it did not take long for the entire team to buy into the value that SDI and the SDC provided. The team is proud to be certified and are aligned in the pursuit of achieving even greater levels of sophistication by achieving a World Class certification. It has provided a tangible thing for them to point to as external validation for their efforts to support our organization and the industry.
What impact has this had on your customers?
The beneficial impact of the SDC program and the SDI membership has been multifold for our customers. Of course, they are getting better service, but they also feel more valued by our support team as they are included in the SDC audit. It allows for us to not only tell our customers we value their feedback but show them that we really do and are willing to make an investment to improve our services for them.
How was your experience as a USA Member coming to SDI’s Spark Conference?
The conference was a fantastic opportunity to network with other IT professionals and have exposure to different points of view especially for us as we are currently only operating in the US. The value provided from a less geocentric demographic allowed us to consider new ways to improve service that may not have been as obvious culturally.
Why should other service desk & support teams in the USA join the SDI Community?
I have been serving in IT Support for 20+ years and my only disappointment is that I was not aware of this program and organization sooner. I can’t say enough about the value it adds for an organization and if I ever do find myself in a different role, one of my first initiatives will be to engage SDI and the SDC program regardless of the level that organization is already at. I believe even exemplary support teams can continue to benefit from SDI and the SDC as it provides a level of accountability and requires a level of commitment that is incredibly difficult to cultivate and maintain without an external and objective partnership.
Revolutionize your IT services – Get in touch today:
If you’re looking to kickstart unbeatable service improvement for your IT service team & wider organisation as a whole, simply get in touch with us today. You can reach out via email, live chat, phone, or enquiry form. Don’t forget to explore our brilliant Membership, Training, SDC & Events services! We even now have trailered ITSM training courses specifically for our USA based audience.
