Systems Support Specialist

A creative and dedicated applicant offering experience in network management and telecommunications support, eager to further develop skills and implement new initiatives within a dynamic and forward-looking organisation.

My educational qualifications include:-

Degree: BA Psychology (Hons) - 2:1 Sussex University
I focused my interdisciplinary courses on Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, and directed my major towards Organisational and Business Psychology.

A-Levels:
? English Literature - B
? Mathematics - B
? Physics - B
? General Studies - C

GCSEs: 7As, 3A*s

More recently, I have been working at American Express, providing support for their premium customers in Centurion Card as a Systems Support Specialist. I have the key responsibility for providing high level 1 hour response, 24 hour support, to users of around 500 computers across three separate sites within the organisation. I have documented and resolved around 350 separate issues every month, and less than 1% of these calls have been actioned outside the service level agreement. Of the issues that have been outside the SLA, at least 95% have required either project work or the involvement of external support groups with a different level of commitment.

Within my current role, I am responsible for diverse forms of support, including requesting and setting up several types of user access and general systems administration tasks. I monitor and maintain the performance of the tele systems, which run on a Unix-based Sun Solaris Server, and of the data networks, including remote dial-in over IP. I keep the intranet and document installation procedures up-to-date, and am involved in all hardware and software installations.

I support several desktop applications from MS Office to Lotus Notes, and analyse network and systems security within Novell Netware, Windows 2000 Server, and other areas. I check and edit the registry over the network using scripting languages, and I have identified recurring desktop issues and adapted our methodologies to solve them. I have also been first point of contact for training and support for the other Systems Support Specialists in our team.

I have been closely involved in the roll out of all new technology over the last year, including the Windows 2000 desktop image and Windows 2000 Server deployment. I have responsibility for all laptop installs, screen and voice monitoring software, remote desktop sharing, new printer network installations and Citrix thin client WAN published application installs. From these experiences, I now believe that change should be managed from a user-focused perspective to integrate systems upgrades into the organisational climate.

I have had a life-long interest in all aspects of computing, ranging from the history of computers and networks through to computer programming, computer support and artificial intelligence. I am involved in interpreting the issues that viruses and security threats pose to computing standards, and I also maintain a home network across a variety of different operating systems.

I am also interested in film, novels, graphic novels, horticulture and kick boxing.