Christopher Ford Email & Phone Number

Houston, Texas, United States

Manage desktop support personnel regarding hiring, training/development, goal setting and tracking, ensuring adequate coverage with PTO & on-call rotations. Ensure productivity of employees and foster positive company culture of dedication & accountabilityEnforce, maintain and add IT policies and procedures as necessary. Work with IT Security/audit, Legal, Compliance to ensure sufficient levels of policies and procedures Oversee and ensure proper purchasing of equipment, asset tracking, adherence and tracking of budget. Work with IT leaders to forecast and establish required budgetsOversee and set the overall direction of the Desktop Support group. Ensure the group is meeting the needs of the business and recommend changes as necessaryField, document and process incoming communication (calls, web requests, instant messenger requests, emails, etc.) to ensure courteous, timely, and effective resolution of end user desktop and application issues.Oversee incident and request management system to ensure business and IT staff is able to easily and accurately have issues resolved with minimal overheadProvide mostly second and third level but also some first-level contact and incident resolution for users with hardware, software and application issues. Ensure cases are escalated to other groups and/or management in a timely manner when requiredReview and provide input on analysis of trends in end user requests and incidents to determine possible improvements in case handling, software configuration or other root causes.

Houston, Texas, United States

Field, document and process incoming communication to ensure courteous, timely, and effective resolution of end user issues.Provide mostly second level but also some first-level contact and incident resolution for users with hardware, software and application issues.Assemble, install, configure, repair and maintain computer hardware, peripherals and components.Coordinate and perform hands-on system modifications at the desktop level, including installing and upgrading software and hardware, implementing file backups, and configuring systems and applications.Follow procedures and policies for the documenting and handling of support cases. This includes meeting established SLA’s, accurate and timely logging of activities related to diagnosis and resolution of the issue which should include, but is not limited to, decisions made, actions taken and results of actions.Monitor and test system modifications to ensure issue or request is resolved.Identify and escalate issues, as necessary or required, to the appropriate support department and IT management.Provide off-hour on-call support for critical issues that would negatively impact business operations.Review and provide input on analysis of trends in end user requests and incidents to determine possible improvements in case handling, software configuration or other root causes.Work individually or conjunction with ITNC / Help Desk and Houston Desktop Support, as dictated by the topic, to develop and disseminate help sheets, usage guides and FAQ lists for end users. Work closely with Enterprise IT Services Demand Management, Infrastructure, Networking, and Telecomm teams to a) maintain IT services and equipment for Houston end-users or b) identify and deploy new systems technologies to aid the Default management in obtaining their business goals.Monitor and maintain inventory of computer equipment, parts, tools and supplies. Utilize asset management systems to track inventory per guidelines.

Houston, Texas Area

• Administered help desk software and redirected problems to teams/resources for resolution• Educated end user base on new and current company software and hardware to maximize utilization• Provided first-third level incident resolution for all personal hardware, operating systems and application problems according to service level agreements• Successfully implemented laptop refresh to entire corporate group 200+ users• Proficient use of System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) to complete and task software and image pushes• Oversaw the configuration and support o mobile devices Android, iPhone, iPad• Maintain a 97% end-user satisfaction rating with professional demeanor while troubleshooting• Directly supported all C suite users in the company including after hour support

United States

• Ensured desktop computers interconnected seamlessly with diverse system• Delivered outstanding service while troubleshooting and resolving issues related to PCs, laptops, networks, local servers, printers, remote access and file shares• Learned the fundamental operations of commonly used software, hardware and other equipment to track, route and document problems and resolutions

Houston, Texas Area

Performed IMAC related tasks as assigned (e.g., hardware break/fix and hardware or software upgrades) including data migrationResolved reported incidents in the software & hardware environmentMaintained incident management system with up to date information on ticket progressCompleted assigned tickets in timely manner within the Client SLAsUpdated asset tracking inventory in accordance with work instructionsProvided support services for client’s conference roomsPerformed customer support related tasks and special projects as assigned by managementSupported Microsoft Office Suite, Windows Operating Systems, VPN client software (Citrix), Remote Desktop tools

Houston, Texas Area

• Applied best practices of software development while staying abreast of advances in the practice.• Installed and performed repairs to hardware, software and peripheral equipment, following design and installation specifications.• Conducted computer diagnostics to investigate and resolve problems and provide technical assistance and support.• Developed training materials and procedures.• Analyzed network packet information and computer OS system data to identify and characterize anomalies on networks. • Gathered and analyzed performance metric data. • Provided recommendations for resolving defects. • Worked on large enterprise and business critical applications. • Performed second-level support for all workstation and server class systems. • Oversaw local IT infrastructure including servers, security, networking, storage systems and desktops.

Houston, Texas Area

• Worked on secondary testing of all hardware components after initial failure• Worked with distribution companies to order bulk replacements of failed hardware• Responsible for Break/Fix issues on outgoing HP product• Built barebones PC and laptops to include hardware and operating system installation and configuration.• Performed installation and optimization of Windows XP-Vista, Microsoft Office Suites and any other customer requested/required application.