Craig is the leader of the Centralized Services Department at Accent. He suggests thinking of the work he and his team do managing technology like you think about electricity. You flip the switch, and the light turns on. You don’t need to know how it works. What seems like magic, however, is actually the coordination of a multitude of integrated functions that together turn the IT and cyber security management wheels for Accent and our clients.
Craig’s favorite part of his job is the start of his day when he’s looking at what’s on his plate and deciding how to tackle what he needs to do. He gets satisfaction from completing tasks. It’s his way of measuring progress when the task list is endless and can change at any time.
Craig’s supervisor, Abel observed, “I admire Craig’s work ethic and his ability to stay focused when there can be multiple tasks and goals to meet. He’s always willing to help others no matter what the day brings, and he’ll work to deliver on any promise that he makes.”
Behind the Scenes IT and Cyber Security Management
Many of the tasks that the Centralized Services team is responsible for take care of the routine monitoring and management of security and IT processes. These are things like software patching and data backup. They’re involved with client onboarding, as well as Accent employee onboarding and offboarding. The team manages all of the software tools for Accent operations and acts as the internal support team for employees.
Then there’s troubleshooting when issues pop up and responding to the alerts that the various tools produce. Add to that the time it takes to stay up to date with the ever-changing world of technology and you can understand how Craig’s day fills up fast.
“You can’t survive if you don’t pay attention to the changes in this industry,” said Craig. “You could be seriously out of date in just six months to a year if you don’t keep up because things just change.”
Moving Forward with Technology
Making his way through his to-do list might be how Craig approaches his day, but what he’s really concerned about is helping Accent and our clients move forward. He’s spearheaded some improvements that have had tangible results. For example, he took the lead on vetting and implementing new security tools that are visibly stopping potential intruders from causing harm to client networks.
“As soon as this new tool was approved, I personally deployed it. It’s our practice to experience a tool ourselves before we implement it for clients,” said Craig. “Since we started using this, we’ve seen attempts, but they’ve been shut down.”
Vast Experience in the IT Industry
There’s a reason why Craig is the guy who gets to be the first to work with the new stuff. His body of knowledge is huge and his experience vast. He’s been in the IT industry since he was 16 years old when he worked as a mainframe programmer at a bank. After that, he spent nearly 12 years managing a team of programmers before starting his own consulting business.
He became the IT director for one of his clients, which was a physician group. After 22 years, he made another career move when the doctors retired and closed the practice. That employer was hit hard when COVID happened, and the company went from 500 to 50 employees. Craig’s last initiative there was to find a managed IT services provider to take over IT.
Corporate IT Director to Managed Services Company
Funnily enough, he wasn’t specifically looking for a managed services provider when he was looking for his next opportunity, but that’s when Craig came to Accent. Going from IT Director to middle management has been a change, but he’s found that leadership is open and eager to hear what he has to say.
Another thing that’s different for Craig is that he doesn’t always have to be the one on call as he was when he was an IT Director. There may be times when he has to work late, but when he goes on vacation, he can truly unplug.
Craig’s IT career may have taken him down a road that he didn’t expect, but his role at Accent means that he has a huge impact on clients and coworkers. Their software gets updated. Their information is stored in backups. Cyber intruders get caught. Problems get solved.
It’s all in a day’s work for Craig and his team who work behind the scenes to make sure that when someone hits “on,” everything just works.
