Careers in Infocomm

As Asia Pacific Head of Desktop & End User Support Services with a United Kingdom bank, Mr Desmond Lee is part of the bank’s Infrastructure Services organisation which delivers desktop platform and end user support services through the IT Service Centre, provides trading floor support as well as user access and security administration, and is involved in the development and support of desktop, mobility and collaborative solutions. He also leads a team of infrastructure relationship managers that liaises with other technology communities at the bank. Asked what it takes to succeed as an infocomm professional in the financial services industry, he talks about the need for a high adversity quotient and creative quotient, to deal with the challenges involved.

What makes the financial services industry an interesting sector for infocomm professionals to work in, and what are the key competencies that are required?
There is never really a static point in the choice of technology products or the method of delivering services in the financial services industry. The FSI sector is quick to react to external market conditions and things can get pretty dynamic – and rough – sometimes. To be successful, we need high level of “adversity quotient” to accept – or deal with – difficulties and the ups and downs.

A high level of “creative quotient” is also essential for staying ahead. In the FSI sector where competition is getting tighter, and with the technology landscape constantly changing, innovation gives us an edge. That bit of creativity or innovation may just provide us with enough to outpace our competitors. I often remind myself and the teams around me not just to think out of the box, but rather, throw away the box and redefine the rules of the game.

What are some of the other important skillsets to have?
Let’s face it, the world is no longer what it is used to be and the consumption of technology has shifted quite a fair bit in the past five years. To keep up, collaboration, connectivity and networking skills are critical. We can no longer work in the dark room (of the data centre) or just communicate via emails. It is through active interaction that we can understand how technologies are being appreciated.

Maintaining a broad perspective of things has helped with my personal career. It is easy to be bounded by one’s own viewpoint, and lose sight of other crucial perspectives. So it is important to remain objective, maintain an open mind and open communication channel, and always consider multiple viewpoints, not just across IT but also across various domains before reaching a conclusion.

Can you tell us about your early infocomm career – how you got started and the various roles that you have held.
I have been in the infocomm industry for about 15 years. My first job was with Hewlett-Packard (HP), as a business application support analyst directly supporting the internal finance community.

I went on to several other roles. For example, I was a system process engineer, focusing on system or business workflow improvement and reengineering and the implementation of ITIL processes. I also managed helpdesk support services for local and regional clients through the Managed Services Division. I joined my current bank few years ago and went from managing the local end-user support services to managing end-user support across the Asia Pacific region.

What were some of the key milestones in your career and how have they impacted you?
I was perhaps fortunate enough in my career to have been gone through two large-scale corporate mergers – the first being the largest IT merger when HP acquired Compaq, and the second being the largest banking acquisition a few years later. The two events offered a valuable learning experience in the integration of two separate companies. It was a daily challenge to keep the car on the road while integrating multiple technologies, platforms and operating model to support the go-forward business plan. On top of that, the experience of managing the human, cognitive and social aspect of change was an eye-opening journey. I have learnt during these times of transition, to always remain focused on the business.

Another highlight of my career is perhaps happening right now, with us being at the epicentre of a technological shift. The consumerisation or socialisation of technology is all too real. In my opinion, the evolution of consumer technologies has perhaps outpaced their enterprise cousins and created an imbalance in perception and unreal expectations with regard to corporate IT solutions. The “liberation” of data capture and distribution has now forced a rethink of policies surrounding governance, control, risk and privacy management. For many of us in the industry, the call is to deliver pragmatic and effective IT solutions that balance expectations and create the right perception for our end-users.

Based on your experiences, how important is it for infocomm professionals to gain in-depth industry domain knowledge?
In my view, it is important to understand and appreciate your area of business before sound technology decisions can be made. The more you understand of a sector and its dynamics, the better the technology support you can deliver. It is a simple linear equation. Post-2008 and with the explosion of distributed computing in the past couple of years, the sector has undergone tremendous changes and the overarching governance – regulatory, compliance, risk and security management – has shifted a fair bit. Appreciating the domain will enable us to better manage these changes.

You have also worked on the IT vendor side of the equation. How useful has this experience been?
It is certainly beneficial to have been on both sides of the fence. It has inculcated in me a strong process and service management mindset and very strong focus on customers’ perceptions and expectation as I deliver services for my internal customers now. It also helps instill a keen business sense which helps with IT-business conversations and, in turn, further hones the business and commercial acumen. Having avoided certain pit-falls in delivering vendor-managed services in the past also makes it easier to have conversations with vendors.