Can IT help you get your clothes washed?

posted by Sean Deuby on May 08, 2007

I had an unexpectedly great IT experience the other day that should make us proud to call ourselves IT pros. And this time I was on the receiving end.

Our family has a fancy combination washer / dryer instead of the traditional separates: You put in dirty clothes, add detergent, fabric softener, and more than a little time, and out comes clean clothes. Very nice, very high tech, very low energy and water. I’ve heard it described as a “clothes processor”, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that fancy a name. We bought the unit from an internet business based in Austin, Texas, and had it shipped to us. It’s worked very well, but the other day the water pump started making ominous noises. We called the manufacturer, who referred us to a local repair shop. The shop naturally asked us how old the unit was, and whether it was still in warranty. Off I went to dig up the receipt…which, to my chagrin, I couldn’t find. (I try to keep these things organized.) Before I began hopelessly badgering through piles of old papers, I wondered if by some chance the company had a customer database that still contained any information on us, or had they most likely purged it after a few years?

Since I didn’t have the receipt I didn’t even remember the company name. Fortunately, after a few searches I was able to remember the name and found the company’s website and phone number. And here’s where the great thing happened:

“Hi, uh, I bought an appliance from you a few years ago, and I uh, well…I can’t find the receipt for it.”
“What’s your name?”
“Deuby - Delta Echo Uniform Bravo Yankee.” (I’m quite good at that after years of having my name butchered.)
“Is this still your valid email address? Good, here you go.”

I hit Send / Receive on Outlook, and ta-da! there was my receipt looking back at me. It took less than 5 minutes from trying to remember the company’s name to having the receipt. That’s less time than it would have taken me to dig through my receipts folder! Isn’t that a great example of IT as a competitive asset to a company? I know it makes me more inclined to use them in the future.

I don’t get to provide this kind of coolness directly; instead my team provides one of the building blocks for ALL of the coolness. My name is Sean Deuby, and I’m not afraid to admit I’m an IT pro. I’m the senior engineer on the team responsible for our corporate directory service here at Intel, and the newest contributor to the IT@Intel blog. (If you’re curious you can read more about me in “Meet The Bloggers”.) I celebrate my 10th year with Intel this summer. As a directory service guy, some of my contributions to this blog will be around the issues, questions, and decisions one makes to keep a world-class directory servicing a world-class company. Some entries will be technical commentaries around the service itself. And some will just be about being an IT pro in a big company, or whatever else seems relevant at the time. I’m looking forward to it.

Comments (4) (closed)

tagged: deuby, directory service, Intel, IT