Investing in People

Companies today cannot survive without an IT department. Back in the day, communication was done with an old-fashioned rotary telephone and snail mail. Today, with computers, the internet, email, video conferencing, and a plethora of ever changing computer software and hardware, companies require special people with certain technical knowledge and customer service skills to help keep everything running smoothly.

OTA is lucky to have two of these special people: Thomas Redmond and Sean Mar. On behalf of OTA, I extend our deepest appreciation to the both of them for all that they do. Not only do they set up work stations for new employees in our fast growing company, they install and update software and hardware, help us with our email, support students, and cover back-end things like server management and internet back-ups.

“We just moved to a new set of server hardware. Getting it up and running has been its own project and fun in multiple different ways,” says Thomas.

Thomas and Sean also help find solutions, creating efficiency while troubleshooting at the same time.

“A lot of time management goes into this job,” says Sean. “Part of the reason we are so busy is because we have projects. And the biggest reason we have projects is because our team is giving us a lot of opportunities to learn and develop our skills. We get to work on the phone system. We get to work on the internet system. We get to work on virtualization. There are so many things we’ve gotten to play with this last year. That’s what makes working in IT so interesting.”

Thomas agrees. “My role continues to develop day by day. I learn from everything I touch. I’m a hands-on learner. Before I got into this role, I didn’t actually work in a formal IT job. I worked in retail management, but the customer service skills carried over well.”

Yes they do! Their patience, attentiveness and communication skills are on par and set the standard in customer service. They both have a positive attitude and can be relied on to get the job done.

“We would do anything for any one of our employees here at OTA. You’re never bothering us, and we are never too busy for anyone.” says Thomas.

By the way, Thomas and Sean are not just helping people here at the corporate office and Irvine, they are helping other corporate centers and franchises as well. And they are not doing it alone. “There are definitely others in the IT department who work just as hard on the back-end and deserve the shout out as well,” says Sean.

When you run into these two, or anyone else from the IT department in the halls of OTA, please take the time to thank them for their hard work and let them know how much they are appreciated.

Thanks for being so awesome! We love you!

Photo credit: Jason Gonzales, Media Graphics Specialist/Producer