Alternative Spotlight: Service Desk Manager

At Alternative, our personnel are as diverse as the products and solutions we provide to our clients. We recruit from a wide range of backgrounds and aim to provide long-term, satisfying careers. To achieve this, we try to ensure that jobs are not merely fulfilling and rewarding, but suited to the way the individual employee works. In this week's spotlight we speak to Service Desk Manager, Lorna Grayston.

DESCRIBE YOUR JOURNEY FROM YOUR EDUCATION TO YOUR CURRENT ROLE?

When I left school I had no career path mapped out. I started working as an administrator for a bookstore that had recently branched out into software and PC builds. As I had been ordering the components, I decided to help the engineers build the PC's in a busy period, then I started to install the OS and applications. Naturally the trouble shooting came along with that and I found my love of technology.

WHAT WAS YOUR MOST INTERESTING JOB?

I have to say it's my position at Alternative! I have so many aspects to my role, customers, team management, problem solving, no one day is the same and of course being busy helps! There is a real sense of company expansion and growth, everything we build today is paving our future in the market.

WHAT IS THE GREATEST TRANSFORMATION IN TECHNOLOGY YOU'VE WITNESSED IN YOUR CAREER?

Citrix, Cloud services, the growth of the internet …I could name so many, but then I would be showing my age. When I started out, there were not many DCs, and their only role was to backup data. Fast forward and now we host out of them, a very simple concept.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THAT WOMEN WHO WANT TO VENTURE IN THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY FACE TODAY?

Women today still have a fine balancing act of family and career. Some women, despite being mothers, want a good career and good prospects for themselves, and they should never feel guilty for that. No one said you couldn't have it all. I still believe there is a great pressure from society if you are a working woman, to stay at home with the children. IT is also a very unforgiving industry as it moves very quickly and any break can set you back in terms of technological advances. Any one woman taking time out of an IT career should try to keep as informed as possible, so the return is not too daunting. Another challenge is our sheer numbers! IT has grown so much as an industry and there are so many opportunities and so many potential paths to follow. You really need to shine.

WHAT STEPS cOULD BE TAKEN TO ATTRACT MORE WOMEN TO TECH?

Flexible working hours and equal pay. Many companies are now starting to recognise this. In fairness things are starting to change, and many companies CTO's and Directors are women

HOW vital is technology to BUSINESs?

In a world where we need answers immediately, technology delivers. Information is more assessable and quicker than ever before, services we rely on have minimal downtime and work disruptions. Small to medium business do not have to employ IT staff and with products like Online Desktop the spend is controlled by the business.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR MESSAGE/ADVICE TO anyone TRYING TO break INTO THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY?

Gain your certification, make sure that you understand the industry you work within, and how your individual talents in IT can help achieve the business objectives. Never let anyone tell you can't achieve your goals.