Establishing the Agency IT Department

Business impact

Built the agency's IT function from zero: budget, service levels, vendor governance and device lifecycle, turning ad-hoc purchasing and support into a managed, accountable operation.

Problem

The agency had no IT function. Purchasing, vendors, support and equipment were handled ad hoc, with no budget, no service levels and no systems inventory.

Solution

Established a dedicated IT operations function: an annual technology budget, a centralized systems and vendor ledger, a tiered support model with a defined response SLA, and a managed device lifecycle.

Results & highlights

• Career progression: Licensed Sales Producer, then a home-insurance sales seat, then promoted to Technical Solutions Manager (August 2025; full-time November 2025) and Agency Operations & Systems Manager (April 2026)
• Authored and own the FY2026 Technology Department Budget
• Launched a standardized equipment-request intake with a weekly procurement cycle (November 2025)
• Designed a tiered IT service desk: an AI support chatbot as first line, escalating to an IT request form with a 1-business-day response SLA
• Built a centralized systems ledger tracking 81 tools; System Administrator for 41
• Own onboarding and offboarding, device imaging and a secure wipe, recycle and donation pipeline

Competencies demonstrated

• IT leadership: Progressed from Licensed Sales Producer to Technical Solutions Manager to Agency Operations & Systems Manager.
• Budget ownership: Authored and own the FY2026 Technology Department Budget.
• IT service management (ITSM): Tiered service desk: an AI support chatbot as first line, escalating to an IT request form with a 1-business-day SLA.
• Vendor & systems governance: Centralized ledger tracking 81 tools; System Administrator for 41.
• Procurement: Standardized equipment-request intake with a weekly procurement cycle.
• Asset lifecycle management: Onboarding and offboarding, device imaging, and a secure wipe, recycle and donation pipeline.

Architecture