A Day in the life of an ITC

Tuesday 13 December 2011

What do you do?

I work as an Implementation and Training Consultant (ITC) within the Professional Services division of Xn Leisure.  My role primarily involves managing the customer implementation and expectations following the internal handover from the Sales team until project go live, at which point I will hand the project over to the Customer Support Team.

My day to day activities involve delivering training at customer sites to dedicated implementation teams, understanding the unique requirements of the implementation and guiding the team on how to configure the software to best meet their requirements.  It’s a key requirement of my role to be observant so that I can identify the gaps and needs of the client.  Following each training course I am also accountable for ensuring the post training documentation is completed and following up any outstanding items from the course in a timely manner to ensure the project remains on track.

 

The Implementation and Training Consultants manage multiple projects at once so in between delivering onsite training to the implementation teams we offer support to our projects by phone and email.  I have responsibility for familiarizing myself with the latest releases of the software and supporting other departments within the business when required, for example attending tender demonstrations with the Sales team.  The whole Professional Services team are constantly looking for new things to learn so that we can find new ways to add value, each Friday we take part in a Professional Services conference call where all the ITCs and Technical Consultants share their experiences from the week.

A typical day.

8:45 AM – On route to site I call the Xn Credit Controller to ensure that she has received confirmation of payment for an outstanding invoice against one of my projects as I don't want there to be any delays to the scheduled project go live.

9:00 AM - Arriving on site I am greeted by the lead of the implementation team and requested to sign in at reception.  We head straight to the training room to ensure everything is in order ready for the day ahead as I don't want any unnecessary disruptions to the training course.

9:30 AM – The implementation team arrive and are already excited about this week’s learning opportunities and challenges.  Before we start the training we review the list of homework that I compiled at the end of the last training module; this helps to focus everyone on the tasks that are key to a timely project go live.  In an ideal world all the homework would be completed before we start the next training module, but on this project the implementation team will be performing a dual role alongside their normal daily duties.  Once any outstanding items have been discussed and actions assigned I introduce the topics for this week’s module to ensure everyone is clear on the aims and objectives for the week.

11:15 AM – Due to the wide range of abilities within the classroom we take a short break for 10 minutes; this allows me to speak with individuals and ensure they are comfortable with the pace of the course.

11:25 AM – We restart the training and discuss the various options for setting up course groups and price structures, I use my past experience to advise the team of all the options available to them to ensure the setup matches their reporting requirements.  Putting theory into practice the team try out their new skills in the training environment before launching into live data input.

12:30 PM - During lunch break I take the opportunity to confirm details for my training the following week and to quickly scan my emails and voicemails to action any urgent items.

1:30 PM – After this morning’s training session the lead of the implementation team has asked the Sports Development Manager to join the training session to discuss if the system could work for their department.  Post discussions we continue with the hands-on data entry into the live database.

4:00 PM – Tomorrows training will venture into new topics so we address any outstanding queries from today ensuring the team is happy with progress.  Customer feedback is key to ensuring we deliver a high quality of service so at the end of each training module we also ask the attendees to complete a post training questionnaire to evaluate the course.

4:30 PM - When I arrive back at the hotel I setup my laptop and deal with my emails from the day to manage any last minute communication.  I have received an email from head office detailing the enhancements which will be included in the next release of the software; these enhancements have been driven by our regional user groups which is great as I can tell the site tomorrow how important the regional user groups are to the development of our products.  I also take some time to prepare for the following day.

7:00 PM - I turn off my laptop for the evening as days onsite can be exhausting and I want to ensure I am fresh and ready to deliver to the best of my abilities again tomorrow.  Time to eat!