Heritage Oaks Bank has promoted Darren McClellan to information technology supervisor.
McClellan has worked for Heritage Oaks Bank as a tech support representative for the past three years. Before joining Heritage Oaks Bank, McClellan gained the majority of his technical experience during the dot-com boom in Silicon Valley. There he gained experience as a tech support manager for two-and-a-half years for Arescom Company and then moved on to work as a second-level tech support representative for SBC Global.
“It has always been my nature to provide world-class customer service by empathizing with those who need technology assistance,” McClellan said. “I recognize we don’t want to think about computers, we just want them to work.”
McClellan’s focus in his new role is to provide the bank and its employees the most efficient and trouble-free technology possible.
“In my new position as supervisor, I have the opportunity to share my philosophy of caring about the callers’ needs and providing the best service possible,” McClellan said. “I realize people don’t care how much you know — until they know how much you care.”
Questions and answers with McClellan:
What is the role of an information technology supervisor?
“An information technology supervisor is responsible for all technology tools used by bank employees and is also responsible for supervising computer support specialists. Examples of these technology tools include all hardware and software as well as troubleshooting/problem solving computer problems to empower employees to provide world-class service to bank customers.”
How is information technology the internal driver for operations and services?
“If you think of technology as the ‘hub’ of a wheel, then you could say technology is used in every process in banking. Delivering timely information to the appropriate person within the ‘blink of an eye’ is everyone’s expectation. In the ‘service oriented business’ like banking, technology simply needs to work. Like using a car, you get in, turn the key and go. That’s all you want to think about, and that’s all you need to know. Technology isn’t something anyone wants to think about. They just expect it to work.”
Is safety and soundness for communication technology a daily responsibility?
“Nothing is more important than securing the confidentiality of customer information. This involves all forms of data, whether this data is in motion traveling over a network or simply at rest on a server. The primary role of the information technology supervisor is making sure this data travels to the appropriate person safely and securely, not to mention at the speed of light. Keeping the tools such as computers communicating over a network is both a challenge as well as the personal goal of each computer support specialist and their supervisor. The result is information delivered to the right person in a secure and timely manner.”
Faye Fraser represents Heritage Oaks Bank.