"I was impressed with the cost-effectiveness of the support center assessment. We were able to identify several areas where we exceeded HDI standards, and some where we need to focus our efforts. Well worth the investment."

Dan Pasquerilla
Manager, Programs Office
QAD Global Support
 

Support Center Certification

"It has been a delight working with HDI and Optimal Connections. Paul Dooley, Optimal’s HDI certified Auditor, has been there every step of the way ... advising on needed improvements in the areas of communication, employee and customer satisfaction management, and metrics."  Dan Pasquerilla, Manager, Programs Office
Global Learning and Support Services, QAD

Read All About It!

May 13, 2008 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections (www.optimalconnections.com) President and Principal Consultant, Paul M. Dooley, will be presenting at the upcoming  itSMF USA "Fusion 2008" Conference in San Francisco.  The conference is slted to take place Sept 7-10, in San Francisco California.  Paul will be presenting on "Building a Web Self-Service Portal:  Keys to Success", on Sept 9, at 4:30-5:30 PM.  Don't miss this important industry event, and Paul's presentation!  For more information, and to register, go to: http://www.itsmfusion.com/program.aspx.

April 7, 2008 - Portland, OR - Optimal Connections (www.optimalconnections.com) President and Principal Consultant, Paul M. Dooley, will be teaching Two Support Center Analyst classes to the service desk personnel at Providence Health Services (http://www.providence.org), Portland, Oregon.

Mar 7-12, 2008 - Dallas, Texas - The ITIL class and other sessions went extremely well at the recent HDI (www.thinkhdi.com) conference in Dallas, Texas.  Optimal Connections President and Principal Consultant, Paul M. Dooley, presented a three day ITIL V3 course to about 22 students, which was received very well.  In addition, Paul presented two jam packed sessions on popular topics:

"Building a Web Self-Service Portal:  Keys to Success"
"Easy to Use Financial Tools for Effective Decision Making"

Both sessions were standing room only, with plenty of interest in the handouts and presentation material.  For downloads of the slides on these two sessions, plus the handouts, please visit our Resources page at http://www.optimalconnections.com/resources.htm.  Thanks to all who made these vents such a success!

Jan 15, 2007 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections (www.optimalconnections.com) President and Principal Consultant, Paul M. Dooley, will be teaching ITIL Foundations, and speaking during two workshops at the HDI Conference in Dallas.  Paul will be teaching ITIL Foundations from March 7-9 (for more information, see www.thinkhdi.com).  Paul will also be providing two workshops on the following topics:  "Building a Web Self-Service Portal:  Keys to Success", and "Easy to Use Financial Tools for Effective Decision Making".

Dec 12, 2007 - Colorado Springs, Colo.  HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals, has just published a Focus Book authored by Paul M. Dooley, our Founder and Principal Consultant.  The book, being mailed to HDI members and available as a download from their web site (www.thinkhdi.com) is entitled "Building a Web Self-Service Portal:  Keys to Success".  The book describes in detail how to design, develop, launch and maintain a successful web support portal.  Paul is going to speak on this topic at the spring 2008 HDI conference as well.

Nov 26, 2007 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) has announced that it will be providing Support Center Analyst training to the California Dept of Forestry, now know as CalFire.  Paul M. Dooley, our lead instructor, will be delivering the SCA course at Cal Fire headquarters in Sacramento.  All of the front line IT support staff will be attending the HDI Support Center Analyst (SCA) course.

Nov 1, 2007 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) has announced a full set of HDI and ITIL certification training courses for Q1, 2008.  Courses to be offered include Support Center Analyst (SCA), Support Center Team Lead (SCTL), Support Center Manager (SCM), and ITIL Foundations.  For more information on courses, and to check the Course Schedule, please visit our main Training Services page.

Sept 29, 2007 - Colorado Springs, Colo.  HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, announced that T-Systems (www.t-systems.com), has been awarded HDI's prestigious Support Center Certification.  During the month's leading up to the audit, HDI Auditor Paul M. Dooley assisted T-Systems staff with preparing for the audit, addressing various opportunities for improvement.  The result:  improved processes and operational effectiveness.  For more information on Optimal Connection's HDI Support Center Certification Services, please visit http://www.optimalconnections.com/help_desk.php. Or visit HDI's Support Center Certification web page.

May 11, 2007 - Colorado Springs, Colo.  HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, has awarded HDI's prestigious Support Center Certification to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC - www.sabic.com).  HDI Certification has helped the center optimize its support center facilities, improve performance, and raise employee and customer satisfaction in the process.  The center has also received valuable advice concerning further opportunities for improvement.  Paul M. Dooley, our Principal Consultant, acted as the HDI Auditor.  For more information on Optimal Connection's HDI Support Center Certification Services, please visit our HDI Support Center Certification page.

May 8, 2007 - Stockholm, Sweden - Support Services Institute (www.supportinst.com), a leading provider of help desk and customer support training services in Sweden and Finland, has retained Optimal Connections, LLC to deliver two HDI Support Center Analyst (SCA) classes this June in Europe.  Paul Dooley, Optimal Connection's lead consultant and a Certified HDI Instructor, will be teaching the classes.  The first class will be held in Helsinki, Finland, on June 11-12. Immediately following will be a second SCA class, held in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 13-14. For more information, or to register, please contact SSI at www.supportinst.com.

Colorado Springs, Colo. – May 8, 2007 – HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, today announced an agreement with Microsoft Corp. that recognizes HDI Support Center Analyst Certification along with Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) Certification as a new generation of Microsoft certification.  To read more:  http://www.thinkhdi.com/Microsoft/.

April 15, 2007 - Milwaukee, WI - ARI Network Services, Inc. (www.arinet.com), a leading provider of electronic parts catalogs and related technology and services to increase sales and profits for dealers, distributors and manufacturers in the manufactured equipment markets, has selected Optimal Connections to perform an on-site Support Center Assessment of their help desk operations.  Paul M. Dooley, President and Principal Consultant at Optimal, will be conducting the 2 day on-site assessment May 10-11, 2007.  A comprehensive report and presentation, complete with findings, recommendations, and a best-practices roadmap, will be delivered to the client.  Visit our Support Center Assessments (SCA) Services page for more information.

Mar 12, 2007 - Auburn Hills, MI - Paul M. Dooley, or Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) has been selected by T-Systems (http://www.t-systemsus.com) as their HDI Auditor.  T-Systems, originally audited by HDI in 2003, is renewing their HDI Support Center Certification status as a best-in-class customer support center.  The audit is being conducted March 12-14, 2007, and results are expected from HDI within the next 30 days.  For more about HDI's Support Center Certification program, please visit www.thinkhdi.com.

Feb 26-28, 2007 - Saudi Arabia.  Paul M. Dooley, or Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) has delivered two Customer Support Specialist (CSS) classes for HDI-MEA at a key customer site in Saudi Arabia.  The customer, SABIC (http://www.sabic.com), is the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chemicals, fertilizers, plastics and metals.  The classes were composed of 24 students, all technical support people of various specialties.  Class reviews received were excellent.

Feb 8, 2007 - Irvine, CA - Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) announced today that it will be offering Support Center Assessment (SCA) Services to internal help desks and service desks, as well as external support centers.  The Support Center Assessment (SCA) service is a set price, 2 day on-site engagement that provides a support center with a professional, 3rd party assessment of its support capabilities.  The standards used as a benchmark are the HDI Support Center Certification standards.  Strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement are identified, as well as a "roadmap" to eventual HDI Support Center Certification.  For more information see http://www.optimalconnections.com/SCA_Services.php.

Jan 23, 2007 - Irvine, CA - Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) announced today that it will be offering ITIL Foundations training.  Teaching the periodic 2.5 day course offering will be Paul Dooley, President and Principal Consultant at Optimal Connections.  With 30 years of IT and service/support experience, as well as ITIL Foundations and Practitioner Certifications, Paul is well qualified to teach this basic ITIL Foundation course.  The ITIL Foundations Certification course is designed for all IT service and support staff members. Whether you are just adopting ITIL or are working on continuous service improvement, you will gain a fundamental understanding of how IT service and support can be best organized to align IT with business needs, improve service quality, and reduce long-term costs. A 1-hour proctored ITIL Foundations Certification exam is conducted on the last day.  For more information on the next ITIL Foundations class scheduled, please visit our Course Schedule.

October 26, 2006 – Colorado Springs, Colo.  HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, has published an Optimal Connections White Paper to all its 5,500 members worldwide.  The White Paper - "HDI Support Center Certification - A Pragmatic Approach to Verifying Core ITIL Process Maturity", by Paul Dooley, provides insight to how the HDI SCC program acts as a valuable, objective, cost-effective way of laying down foundational processes for IT Service Management core processes—Service Support and Service Delivery—and assessing to what extent organizations have implemented core ITIL Service Management processes. Visit HDI's White Papers to get the final version,  or get the copy locally: Download the White Paper.

Sept 6, 2006 - Washington, D.C.  HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, announced that the Technical Service Center of the National Help Desk, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security, has been awarded HDI's prestigious Support Center Certification.  SSC Certification has helped the center optimize its support operations, improve productivity, and raise employee and customer satisfaction.  The center has also received valuable advice concerning further opportunities for improvement.  Paul M. Dooley, our Principal Consultant, acted as the HDI Auditor.  For more information on Optimal Connection's HDI Support Center Certification Services, please visit http://www.optimalconnections.com/help_desk.php. Or visit HDI's Support Center Certification web page

August 7, 2006 – Colorado Springs, Colo.  HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, announced today an agreement with Zavata, Inc., a provider of healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) services and technical help desk outsourcing and certification services. The agreement grants HDI exclusive license for the education and certification curriculum, online knowledge base and Mindshare resources of STI Knowledge, a division of Zavata.

The combination of expertise from HDI and STI Knowledge will result in the industry’s largest centralized repository for IT service and support best practices, industry benchmarks, training and certification. HDI will incorporate the best practices of both companies by creating a combined curriculum utilizing HDI’s open standards and the STI best practices.  In connection with HDI's expanded training and certification capabilities, Optimal Connections is happy to announce that Paul Dooley has been named as one of the select HDI Certified Instructors with the expanded training organization.

July 20, 2006 - Lake Forest, CA - HDI, the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals (www.thinkhdi.com) has selected Optimal Connections to provide a series of service and support training classes to the personnel of the State of Oregon.  Thus far, several Help Desk Analyst classes have been delivered in Salem, Oregon, receiving excellent reviews.

June 6, 2006 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) announced today that its President, Paul M. Dooley, has been selected as the HDI Auditor for HDI re-certification of the  Marine Corps  MCTSSA C4I Support Center (www.mctssa.usmc.mil). MCTSSA, a subordinate command of the Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, VA, is the USMC Center for C4I Interoperability and Integration. They provide technical support to Marine Corps Program Managers in acquiring, developing, testing, fielding, and maintaining C4ISR systems, in addition to technical support to Marine Corps Operating Forces for C4ISR systems.

April, 15, 2006 - Colorado Springs, CO.  HDI, the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals (www.thinkhdi.com) has awarded HDI's prestigious Support Center Certification (SCC) to the first two of eight QAD Support Center locations:  QAD Mt. Laurel, and QAD UK.  Additional sites that are in the process of being re-certified include the Netherlands, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong and Australia.  QAD, Inc. (www.qad.com) is a leading supplier of ERP and supply chain applications.  For more on their support operations, please visit http://support.qad.com.

Feb 11, 2006 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) announced today that its President, Paul M. Dooley, has been selected to teach the new Support Center Team Lead (SCTL) class being offered for the first time at the upcoming HDI Annual Conference in Nashville, TN.  The Support Center Team Lead (SCTL) Certification is designed specifically for support center analysts, team leads, and supervisors that require fundamental management and leadership skills due to current or future increased responsibilities. This skills building and certification course focuses on best practices for support center operations and how to effectively coach and lead a team. The accompanying two-day course will prepare current and future team leaders for excellence in their changing roles and assist them in preparing for the HDI SCTL Certification examination.

Jan 28, 2006 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) has been selected to participate in a special Support Center Certification workshop at the upcoming HDI Annual Conference (www.thinkhdi.com).  This special session, scheduled for March 21st at 10:45 AM, will feature a presentation on HDI's Support Center Certification (SCC) program, plus a panel discussion following to discuss the benefits and Return on Investment (ROI) of the program.  For more information visit http://www.thinkhdi.com/HDI2006/session.aspx?SessionID=699.

Sept 15, 2005 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) has been selected by the National Help Desk, Customs and Boarder Patrol (CBP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to provide Support Center Assessment and HDI Support Center Certification Services.  The Assessment Services will deliver valuable information concerning further opportunities for improvement in their support center, leading to eventual achievement of HDI Support Center Certification (SCC).  Paul M. Dooley, our Principal Consultant, will be acting as the HDI Auditor.  For more information on Optimal Connection's HDI Support Center Certification Services, please visit http://www.optimalconnections.com/help_desk.php. Or visit HDI's Support Center Certification web page at http://www.thinkhdi.com/certification/siteCertification/.

Sept 12, 2005 - Colorado Springs, CO.  Paul M. Dooley, President and Principal Consultant at Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) has been selected  by the Help Desk Institute (HDI) (www.thinkhdi.com) to lead an industry team to update the HDI Customer Support Specialist (CSS) and Help Desk Analyst (HDA) Standards.  These Standards represent "best practices" in help desk and customer support, and serve as the foundation for HDI Certification Training Courses.  The updated Standards are expected to be released in early 2006, with updated HDI Certification Training courses following.  For more on HDI Training from Optimal Connections, please visit our web page at http://www.optimalconnections.com/HDI_training.php.

August 15, 2005 - QAD, Inc. (www.qad.com), a leading supplier of ERP and supply chain applications, has selected Optimal Connections, LLC to assist in the achievement of Global HDI Support Center Re-Certification.  QAD was initially certified to HDI SCC standards 2 years ago, and is now embarking on global HDI re-certification for all of its support centers around the world.  The primary center in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, will be the first site to re-certify, followed by seven satellite support centers around the globe - the UK, Netherlands, Spain, Hong Kong, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil.

June 20, 2005 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) announced today that its President, Paul M. Dooley, has been elected President of the Help Desk Institute, Orange County Chapter (OCHDI).  In this capacity, Paul will  provide leadership and direction to HDI's local chapter in Orange County.  OCHDI is a connection point for help desk and support center professionals in Orange County, proving training opportunities, networking, special events, and informative monthly chapter meetings.  Visit OCHDI at www.ochdi.com.

May 15, 2005 - Colorado Springs, CO.  The Help Desk Institute (HDI) (www.thinkhdi.com), the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, has elected Paul Dooley, Principal at Optimal Connections, LLC, to serve on its International Standards Certification Committee for 2005.  In this capacity, Paul will be a member of an international team that will be reviewing and making updates to two sets of HDI Certification Standards:  1) the Customer Support Specialist Standards, and 2) the Help Desk Analyst Standards. 

April 27, 2005 - Irvine, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC has been selected to provide the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) with a series of HDI Help Desk Analyst Boot Camp Training Courses for their support center personnel.  The courses will be held during the month of June, 2005, in Sacramento, California.  The training courses will provide FTB support center personnel with skills needed to provide the highest levels of customer service and support. In addition, the courses will present best practices in terms of support center processes, procedures, and basic tools and technologies.  Read more about HDI's Help Desk Analyst Boot Camp training.

Feb 1 - Lake Forest, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) announced today that its President, Paul M. Dooley, will be speaking at the upcoming Help Desk Institute (HDI) Annual Conference in Las Vegas, March 6-10.  Paul will be featured in Workshop #406, "How to Market the Value of Your Support".  This session will be held on Wednesday, March 9, from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.  The presentation will focus on strategies and tactics that make for successful support marketing.  Key elements will include what makes up a support business plan, how to develop a good support marketing plan, how to develop key messages and value propositions, a review essential marketing collateral, and crucial marketing communication vehicles.  For more information please visit the HDI Conference program guide, Session #406, at www.thinkhdi.com.

Jan 12 - Colorado Springs, CO.  HDI (www.thinkhdi.com), the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, announced today that the Marine Corps MCTSSA C4I Support Center (www.mctssa.usmc.mil) has been awarded HDI's Support Center Certification.  Paul, HDI Certified Auditor, assisted MCTSSA with planning and preparations leading up to and including the audit.  MCTSSA, a subordinate command of the Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, VA, is the USMC Center for C4I Interoperability and Integration. They provide technical support to Marine Corps Program Managers in acquiring, developing, testing, fielding, and maintaining C4ISR systems, in addition to technical support to Marine Corps Operating Forces for C4ISR systems. The MCTSSA provides technical support for system engineering and integration through a Systems Engineering Environment.

Sept 21 - Colorado Springs, CO.  HDI (www.thinkhdi.com), the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, today announced the new members of its Support Center Certification (SCC) Standards Committee. Included among this group is Paul Dooley, Optimal Connection's President and Principal Consultant.  This volunteer committee sets the standards that support centers must adhere to in order to be HDI Certified for demonstrated service excellence, adherence to industry best practices and commitment to quality.  For more information, download the full press release.

Sept 10 - Irvine, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC (www.optimalconnections.com) announced today the release of its series of HDI Certification Courses.  HDI, the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, provides individual as well as support center certification courses and standards.  With this announcement, Optimal Connections, LLC adds individual certification training to its array of help desk and support center service offerings.

August 2, 2004 - Camp Pendleton, CA.  The Marine Corps Tactical System Support Activity (MCTSSA), (www.mctssa.usmc.mil) has selected Optimal Connections, LLC as its HDI Auditor in connection with its goal of achieving HDI Support Center Certification.  Paul Dooley, Principal of Optimal Connections, will be assisting MCTSSA in reaching its goal by providing advice, supporting consulting services, and as on-site HDI Auditor.  The Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity (MCTSSA) overlooks the bluffs of the Pacific Ocean, and is a key support and integration center for the United States Marine Corps.  A component of MARCORSYSCOM, located in Quantico, VA., MCTSSA's mission is to validate and verify the integration and interoperability of various Marine Corps military support systems.   MCTSSA also supports other Services, Agencies, and Government organizations.

July 29, 2004 - Lake Forest, CA.  We are proud to announce that Optimal Connections, LLC has been added to the Government's Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database (www.ccr.gov).  The Central Contractor Registration (CCR) is the primary vendor database for the U.S. Federal Government.  The CCR collects, validates, stores and disseminates data in support of government agency acquisition missions. 

May 24, 2004 - Charlotte, NC.  QAD, Inc. (www.qad.com), a leading supplier of ERP and supply chain applications, has just issued a press release announcing that three of its major support centers have achieved HDI Support Center Certification.  Click here to review the press release.

March 5, 2004 - Colorado Springs, CO.  The Help Desk Institute (www.thinkhdi.com), has announced that QAD, a leader in ERP and supply chain applications, has just achieved HDI's Support Center Certification for three of its global support centers - Mt. Laurel, Sydney and Barcelona.  This completes "Phase 1" of QAD's global support center certification.

January 29, 2004 - Colorado Springs, CO.  QAD, Inc. (www.qad.com), a leading supplier of ERP and supply chain applications, has just achieved HDI's Support Center Certification for its Mt. Laurel support center.  Optimal Connections has been working with QAD to review and assess each of their support centers around the globe, identifying areas of improvement and strengthening global consistency.  We are proud to announce along with HDI that the Mt. Laurel center has just achieved HDI's Support Center Certification. 

January 20, 2004 - Irvine, CA.  Optimal Connections, LLC, has just completed an International Survey for the Irvine Chamber of Commerce (www.irvinechamber.com).  Optimal Connections surveyed over 1000 member and non-members to determine their participation and interest in international business.  Results of the survey are being used by the chamber to plan upcoming ICC International Committee 2004 activities.

August 20, 2003 - Seattle, WA.  Northwest Hospital and Medical Center (www.nwhospital.org), has selected Optimal Connections to provide help desk consulting services, including designing an deploying a comprehensive help desk customer satisfaction survey.

July 10, 2003 - Carpinteria, CA.  QAD, Inc. (www.qad.com) a leading supplier of ERP and supply chain applications, has selected Optimal Connections to perform support center assessments of its key global support centers, in preparation for attaining the Help Desk Institute's Support Center Certification.  Support centers to be reviewed and audited include Mt. Laurel New Jersey, Brierley Hill UK, Schiphol Netherlands, Barcelona Spain, Hong Kong, Mexico and Sydney Australia. The project is currently underway, and is expected to complete in the November 2003 timeframe.

June 12, 2003 - Orange County, CA.  We are pleased to announce that one of Principals, Paul M. Dooley, has been named VP of Communications for the Orange County Help Desk Institute.  OCHDI is one of the over 50  chapters of Help Desk Institute (HDI).  HDI offers a variety of services to meet the evolving needs of the support professional, including training classes, certification programs conferences, publications, local chapter meetings and other membership benefits.  Becoming an HDI member is a cost-effective way to keep up-to-date on the latest innovations in the industry.

Jan 27, 2003 - Lake Forest, CA. Optimal Connections, LLC completes training and receives authorization by the Help Desk Institute (HDI) as an authorized Auditor for it's Support Center Certification (SCC) program.

For further details on these stories ...

Please call 1 (949) 305-3544, or send us an email. And please check back here frequently!

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Optimal Connections, LLC
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