Announcing My Very Own Joe The IT Guy Blog!

Lately, I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling. First up was HDI in Vegas, then SITS13 in London (both great shows!), then on to Israel, New York, and HDI Brazil (check out my Twitter account @Joe_the_IT_guy for pics).

Now that I’m finally back in the office, I’ve had some time to reflect, and came to the realization that the 140 character cap on Twitter, although I’m a huge fan of the platform, can be limiting, especially when I want to share more in-depth thoughts on my experiences and receive feedback from my fellow IT crusaders.

Enter my new blog. My goal is to share insights on IT/tech related issues and provide guest contributors the opportunity to share theirs. Although I somewhat understand the words of Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant when he said, “a daily blog would just about finish me off completely,” I do aim to post articles about once a week and have an ongoing dialogue with anyone who’d like to participate.

In that vein – a quick thought after reading Forrester analyst Nigel Fenwick’s recent blog post, Why Customer Experience Will Become the #1 CIO Priority (definitely worth the read!). Nigel outlines how CIOs are increasingly taking an active role in assuring customer experience as companies are placing more of a strategic focus on this “outside-in” approach, as it “drives significant business results.” He maintains that every customer is on a journey, and in companies focused on customer experience, IT teams play an integral role by supporting customer experience professionals looking to make more than superficial technological changes. It seems obvious – part of the reason IT professionals can be so effective in assisting with this process is because we often have a bird’s-eye view of the company’s entire ecosystem. We are all consumers and we understand the level of service we have come to expect – so why shouldn’t we be the prime candidates when assisting with the customer service process?

In my opinion, this applies to both external and internal “customers.” As IT professionals, we should always be thinking of ourselves as service providers and trying to effectively maximize the end user experience regardless of whether it’s for customers or for our colleagues.

As an IT admin and self-styled tech geek, I often come across technologies that I’d like to explore in more depth, whether to enhance my job performance and assist with my workload, or just because I think they are cool. I’m also going to try to provide some honest reviews and in-depth technical advice when possible and I’d love to hear your feedback!

Here’s to a new blogging adventure and I hope you enjoy the ride!