A high-end tech solution or cutting-edge automation project is only as good as its uptime and reliability: it's nothing if it fails. Helpdesk Support Analyst John Naughton is one of the key members of our team who keeps our large public sector projects running smoothly. In this OpenSky Employee Spotlight, we'll take a look at John's story, and how he came to be such a critical part of OpenSky's world-class support services.
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When it comes to delivering world-class Govtech and technology solutions, support is just as important as the platform being on the cutting edge. If your service doesn't run reliable and with zero downtime, you might as well not run it at all; and keeping these cutting-edge platforms and services running is where people like John come.
As a Level 1 Helpdesk support analyst, John's average work day is taken up with solving people's problems quickly and smoothly.
"Most of my day is split between administration, regular reports on our services, and solving many different tech problems. It's a lot of reporting, as I need to produce our required daily, weekly, and quarterly reports as part of our client transparency measures.
In the background, I'm always trying to figure out better and faster ways of doing things so we get fewer issues. Figuring out where and what we can upgrade or automate to shorten the pipeline."
At the heart of this role is a great deal of customer interaction.
"Typically I'll get loads of emails, and lots of logged issues and support tickets. It's always such a rewarding challenge to figure out what is actually happening, figure out who can solve the issue, come up with potential fixes, and feedback to the client and other parties in a timely manner.
These are the three key ingredients that are integral to getting such world-class support delivered in line with the extensive demands of our Service Level Agreements. And for John, these are skills he has learnt from his diverse background of consistent self development and hard work across an interesting array of jobs.
"I've always worked hard, and tried to build up myself to do great work and get to where I am now. I wasn't always in this support and IT industry.
Just after leaving school, I've worked in all manner of jobs that were heavily demanding. I've worked with plumbers, in chocolate packaging factories, even teaching kids how to code. Everything I've picked up along the way has helped me to go the extra mile, get the job done, and work with clients and people as close partners."
He picked up new skills to keep developing.
"I knew I wanted to be in IT. I did a few courses, did a Software Development Training Cert, and a level 6 Software Development Cert. I've also done a bit of web design, a bit of social media management, project management, computer modelling, and a host of digital skills training.
I think it's come in use in my Support Role, where you need to be able to think innovatively, actively search for information and come up with solutions, and be engaged in solving problems."
John's drive for upskilling fits in well at OpenSky, where certification and professional accreditations are a key part of ensuring we can deliver industry-leading technologies and service.
"In my time at OpenSky, I've had free access to learning sites and learning portals, and all of our technologies' knowledge bases. There's always plenty to learn and lots of on-the-job education, as you work with so many new and varied contracts, customers, and systems. I’ve learnt a lot while being here.”
Now 2 and a half years into his career at OpenSky, John works on some of the largest and most exciting tech projects in the public sector.
"Just this last month I've been working with the team in Citywest, a very exciting and challenge time of training users to work with our new emergency accommodation portal used to allocate Ukrainian refugees with emergency accommodation."
The work John does is never the same, and never leads to a boring moment.
“It’s pretty good. You learn a lot and interact a lot with people, lots of work with lots of departments. You meet tonnes of people and the work is enjoyable, varied and never leaves you bored."
For John, excelling at his work is all about care, creativity, and professionalism: you need to solve people's problems quickly, and with the best service you can.
“Rule number one I'd say is always be on time. Respond quickly. Give a good impression of you and your company. Handle things with care and professionalism. Some people like to think you're just dealing with users and tickets. Really what you're doing is you're helping people."
Of course, keeping going the the rigours and demands of OpenSky's SLAs and many support tickets it receives every hour can be a challenge.
"You get bogged down, things can pile up.... you have to manage that. My advice is to keep all the pieces in place; you’ve gotta keep going. I'd say the number one skill you need is time management. Having a quick head – to deal with multiple calls, tickets, and clients in a day – is essential."
For John, the best part of OpenSky is its close partnership with people, and the variety and flexibility the work brings.
"There are lots of new projects, systems, and clients that we're taking on all the time. You meet new people, learn new frameworks, encounter new puzzles and challenges. There's loads of flexibility. The work doesn't have you stressed all the time, and you're not pulling all-nighters, so it's a pretty good job to have. I love that I'm always learning something new, or meeting someone new."
This flexibility and approachable work-life balance gives John time and space to pursue his person interests, which are all about the great Irish outdoors.
"When it's good weather out, I love spending weekend hiking and camping, kayaking when I can. Recently I started rollerblading. I enjoy the odd movie night and cooking, but now that things are finally opening up and restrictions easing, I want to get right back into Live Music and seeing exciting things."
in the coming year, John fully intends to keep up his track record of learning, self-improvement, and deep career development.
"I think as far as support is concerned, I've really done and learned about as much as a support analyst can. My next step, while keeping up with delivering to our partners, is to upskill into Quality Assurance and more development-aligned roles. I'd really love to get more involved in the development side of the projects
building them."
At OpenSky, we're always looking for talented, hardworking, and development-minded professionals to join our team. With us, flexibility, rewards, and career progression are just as vital a part of work as KPIs, customer success, and timely service delivery.
If you're looking to join a large technology company that builds products that help real people with technology services that help to build modern hiring, housing, homeless assistance, refugee support, green waste management, and more, we encourage you to see where you could fit in on our careers page, and get in touch with us.
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