HDI, an IT service and technical support association, announced the formation of the HDI Customer Technical Support Advisory Council today. The council will focus on developing resources for professionals that provide technical support to external customers–companies that sell products/services needing technical support from other organizations.

The advisory council will consist of directors, executives, support firms chosen from an invited applicant pool. The members of the council will be dedicated to assisting the community of support professionals, providing guidance, and promoting clear knowledge in the industry.

For the Technical Support Industry

Craig Baxter, HDI’s Global Brand Director, commented on the strength of this new group:

“There are over 120 years of collective experience between the members of the Advisory Council and this new initiative will be a great resource for all customer technical support professionals, helping guide the support industry to greater heights and continued innovation.”

On the organization’s website, the stated primary mission of the council is to:

“… counsel HDI on product and professional development, industry trends, best practices, content needs, and the nuances of this support specialty. The council will also ensure that HDI continues to respond to the needs of the industry and community; identify collaborative educational and research opportunities; serve as a source of ideas and support for members and content development; and be an advocate for HDI in the customer technical support community.”

There seems to be much opportunity for the partnering organizations in the council to benefit. By leveraging the information, experience, and perspectives at different levels of the value chain, the group can better formulate ideas for improvement. The multilevel approach should foment many interesting tactics that go beyond the typical myopic view of one organization. Still, the council is new and results have yet to be realized.

Currently the council consists of 17 members from a range of different specialties, backgrounds, and firms:

• Aramis Alvarez, Bomgar Corporation
• Jeff Brooks, Gartner
• Shea DeAntonio, Red Hat
• Denny Goldberg, Avatier Corporation
• Josh Harriman, Ziften Technologies
• Leslie Leaf, FrontRange Solutions Inc.
• Kevin Lewis, NTT America
• Rob Matheson, DriveSavers Data Recovery
• Jeff Mumford, Bentley Systems
• Matthew Neigh, Cherwell Software, Inc.
• Jeremy Spacek, Sungard Data Systems Inc.
• Tamara Spalding, ScriptLogic
• Jim Tate, PC Helps Support, LLC
• Philip Verghis, The Verghis Group, Inc.
• Tatsumi Yamashita, HDI-Japan
• Craig Baxter, HDI
• Leslie Cook, HDI

The work that comes from this motley group should prove interesting.

Do you think HDI’s Customer Technical Support Advisory Council will be a great contributor to the general knowledge in the industry? Will all the different perspectives generate innovative and original solutions? Share your thoughts in the comments below.