Badass IT Support Paperback – March 5, 2018

Any IT department can claim to be world-class. But what does that even mean anymore? If you’re truly Badass, your customers will let you know. And that seems to be the goal of this book – to help the CIO or IT Manager transform IT into something customers admire and appreciate as partners in the business. There’s a lot more to it of course. But Ben is clearly writing from experience when points out IT teams are too often focused on the wrong metrics – more! faster! - when those things do not actually benefit the customer. Paraphrasing from the book, the customer does not care one bit about how many calls you answered last month. They only care about the one call you handled for them. If you knocked their socks off, every time, good things will inevitably follow. IT departments DO NOT GET THIS.This book so completely aligns with my own perceptions, goals, and plans for IT, I wanted to share it with my bosses, coworkers, and employees. As it turns out, I was reluctant to do so, due to an excess of foul language in the book. It just isn’t SFW – at least, not our workplace in 2018. Though the insights are valuable, I feel the delivery doesn’t help the message, even for a book with ‘Badass’ in the title. He could have replaced maybe 45 words, while keeping the tone of happy defiance and expanding the potential audience. Still, I respect what he’s done here. It’s an easy read, with potential to fuel a much-needed culture shift in corporate IT. Well worth the time, IMO.

Alright, I have to start out with a confession: no, I’m not in anyway associated with the world of IT. However, with that being said, I do represent the other side of the IT fence: the guy with malfunctioning tech. Having my own negative experiences working with various IT departments, it is refreshing to hear someone from the inside identifying these same problems (and many more behind the sceens hang ups) and giving passionate solutions and clear examples on how to fix them. Now, IT can seem like a dry topic (I first thought so), but the author mixes in enough humor, real life examples, personal testimonies and easy to follow step-by-step problem solving that even a non-techy like myself could enjoy the read. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in improving their IT experience. I feel inspired to be a better person after reading this, so I can only imagine how someone in the IT field will feel afterwards.

This is a book that every IT manager (new, experienced, or those thinking about diving into the deep end) should read. Badass IT Support is the blueprint for modern IT departments.Let’s face it, IT has a bad reputation… something the majority of teams deserve. Your customers, the employees your team support are more tech savvy than ever before. Being the IT nerd who knows computers is not enough, when those entering the workforce have had mobile phones and laptops for the majority of their lives. In today’s era, IT has to take it to the next level and proactively provide solutions vs. just fix things when they break. Badass IT Support will show you how.Simply put, Badass IT Support will teach you how not to suck… and as a byproduct, make your IT team indispensable to the company — and, oh yeah: make your customers more productive than ever.This book will guide you through redefining IT support at your company, including step-by-step guides on: Giving your customers a voice, defining your strategy, measuring success, and how to manage talent for maximum results.In addition to the info-packed resources in the book, real world examples from IT life in Silicon Valley are sprinkled throughout, making this an enjoyable read.

This is a great book and a better tool for any place of business that works with people. It should be required reading for all managers in any job, it is that powerful and the book transcends all areas. I now try and incorporate this into my job as much as I can and boy I know it is hard, but I still try.

The days of snarky insular IT departments are long gone. Shadow IT is on the rise. Why? Because "the business" is more technologically sophisticated. Everyone carries a powerful "computer" in their hand or pocket 24/7/365... And they know how to leverage it to make their life easier! Meanwhile IT is stuck in the 80's, driven by ITIL processes that are mystical and far removed from business areas. Tired old metrics - that are at best non-actionable and at worst self-serving - continue to be the standard measure of "IT performance".Enter the Bad! Ben Brennan is a disruptor in the best way imaginable. By refocusing IT in terms that are business focused (and that the business understands), he arrives at a new way of identifying actionable metrics that make a difference and transform IT from the stodgy geeks in the corner into a group of customer oriented badasses.If you're in IT support, DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK or you might miss the boat!

Wow! Ben Brennan's frank and no nonsense approach to IT support is indeed Badass. He lays out an extremely easy roadmap to transform your support group from the company default where the customers don't have a choice,to a very customer centric organization. He explains how to eliminate the groans and rolled eyes and give the customers what they want and need - a voice.One of the best customer experience books that has come along in years. Other support organizations besides IT could easily implement the changes.

If you work in IT and you want to wow the people you support read this book. It is motivating and practical. I do warn you if you dont care for curse words in your reading this might not be the book for you. If you dont mind some colorful words in your reading then pick it up and have fun.