Media Releases

IT service with a smile – Soft Skills in a Hard Knowledge Industry

SYDNEY, December 21/05

The IT industry is currently under siege they are experiencing a revolution. Gone are the days when the stereotypical IT allegory consisted of a team of one, inarguably brilliant, though surly and often poorly presented “techie”, who would float into the office at hours of his choosing and leave late at night with perhaps a grunt in the general direction of night security, having magically solved all that ails the company who beckoned them.

Today’s IT family is an efficient, secure, machine much like the ones these intellectual behemoths create with all the add-ons and accessories. These well-dressed, sociable, “technical developers” come equipped with a sales and marketing team, a project manager, a business analyst, a commitment to quality and an attitude of dedicated customer service. Terms like “usability” and “client face time” fall from their lips with the same simplicity as “batch window” and “enterprise architecture”

Some industry names like the growing company; Computer Frameworks, an IT Consultant Company firm here in Sydney, are helping to bring an end to the faceless society which was once so characteristic of the IT industry. Computer Frameworks is a growth IT firm here in Sydney. They are well known in technological as well as financial and education circles. Most recently they have completed an enormous project for the University of New South Wales wherein they completed an IT strategy from the ground up to link UNSW Australia with it’s new campus, UNSW Asia, located in Singapore. They developed an initial Strategic Information Systems Plan, and Technical IT Architecture for UNSW Asia. The plan included a high-level transition plan for the development and implementation of the proposed information systems. They also conducted interviews and other communications with stakeholders to ensure the needs of the client were met. Computer Frameworks also recommended an application portfolio, detailed costing model, rationale for recommendations made and feasible alternatives. The plan included a high level transition plan for the development and implementation of the required suite of applications.

Used to working with larger financial institutions, John Spao, the managing Director of the firm has expressed an interest in garnering the business of smaller companies who will appreciate the service intensive style of the firm. “Customer service is the prime goal of this organization, we are here to serve customers” says John.

It is this kind of attitude that is changing the IT industry into a customer service oriented industry rivaling any other industry. The customer relations aspect, which used to only occur after the deliverables are in place or during the sales of software, now happens at the beginning of the client/firm relationship with contract negotiations and client interviews to ensure client needs are ascertained and met and continues until the project is complete and any support is deemed no longer necessary. The “soft skills” once seen as nearly useless in this “hard knowledge” industry are capturing the forefront in this ongoing battle between the stereotype that still exists for those in the industry and the fact that has presented itself at the clients door well-presented and ready to walk the client through the potential pitfalls of the technical world.