What I do:
Change Management Team Leader - ITAssist
IT Assist aims to deliver a cost effective ICT service, providing improved levels of service availability and resilience to meet the needs of our stakeholders. IT Assist operates within a constantly changing environment where new demands, opportunities and technologies all have to be managed without impacting on our baseline services which underpin nearly all internal business and several citizen facing services.
The key responsibility of my role is therefore to assess and control the implementation of changes to IT services or the underpinning IT infrastructure in a controlled manner, to minimise or negate the number and impact of any related incidents upon business services. I am also the administrator of the business critical Service Management Tool used by IT Assist, NICS Line of Business IT units and departmental customers to record, monitor and progress Incidents, Problems, Changes and Service Requests.
In January 2007 posts for ICT Level 2 (ServiceDesk Technician) were advertised to form part of the newly created IT Enterprise Shared Services, IT Assist. This grade required no formal IT qualifications and after passing an ICT aptitude test and interview I transferred from General Service into IT Assist. Through internal recruitment opportunities I have been promoted to ICT Level 3, Level 4 and now Level 5 working in numerous different support areas of IT within IT Assist. During this time I have gained numerous IT qualifications and hold the ITIL Expert qualification, a qualification scheme that is recognised in both private and public sectors as the most widely accepted approach to IT Service Management in the world.
Working in NICS ICT has opened a career path to me that would otherwise never have been possible, enabling me to gain recognised qualifications and straightforward career progression with the option of varied career streams. Delivering ICT services to the 27,000+ civil servants who provide services to Northern Ireland citizens is rewarding, challenging and no 2 days are the same. I feel extremely fortunate to have been involved with IT Assist since its formation and being part of an organisation that has grown in maturity and success and continues to do so. Our senior managers encourage us to be involved and take ownership and responsibility in all aspects of the organisation’s targets and to develop effective work/life balance through flexible working, a must have when trying to juggle a career and the demands of family life.