Faces Of Pinnacle | Meet The IT Services Team | Graham Lilley

Tell us about your background?

I’ve been working in IT for just over 15 years. I worked for a small company during my work experience when I was at college studying electrical engineering and found I had an enjoyment and prompt understanding of the way a computer worked. This encouraged me to look towards a job in IT. In February 2002, I was given the opportunity to work in this field at Ibex Systems - a company later acquired by Pinnacle. I’d say I can implement and support pretty much any IT Infrastructure system, but my expertise would lie in Microsoft Windows Server and Exchange Server platforms. I manage and support these and any associated platforms, such as backups etc in my role at Pinnacle.

Give us an overview of your typical week at Pinnacle?

My role is very diverse. I perform helpdesk roles supporting our customers or implementation team with any support queries they may have. I also get involved in administration of our support contracts and assisting the Sales Team with creating quotations for solutions our customers require.

Challenges mainly involve finding the best correct answer for the question I am being asked! Often in an IT environment, a query can have numerous solutions and you should find the best (most efficient and cost -effective) way of delivering that. I am mainly based at home in Somerset, but do occasionally attend customer sites all over the country for meetings and onsite work where required.

What is the most memorable support query you have encountered?

This is going back about 10 years now, but I remember a fellow engineer attending site to look into a PC that was no longer switching on – the engineer attended site, took the side off the unit only to be surprised with a mouse! Unfortunately, the mouse didn’t survive chewing through random cables!

Are there any recent developments in the IT world that you find particularly interesting?

Whilst not particularly new, I do enjoy the world of virtualisation and backups. Right now, VEEAM backup and replication is really catching my eye and some of the new features they are bringing in are really going to give us the ability to provide some excellent solutions to our customers.

What do you like most about working for Pinnacle?

The best thing about Pinnacle has to be the people, it really is that simple. Most of the members of the team I work in have been colleagues and friends for 5-10+ years now. Other people around the company who I deal with frequently are always kind, attentive and understanding. Everyone is willing to help out where they can.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

This is really pretty simple too – I’m a family man at heart and a dedicated father. Every spare minute is spent with my family. Enjoying days out, simple walks to the park, a walk up to the seafront (I live a 5-minute walk from Burnham-On-Sea seafront) and putting coins into the slots! Eating out has to be my favourite thing to do with them mind you, can you really beat pub grub?

What is the one thing about you that might surprise people?

I’m not really too sure how to answer this, I’m not a very surprising person! Perhaps the fact that I have a disabled son, Joshua, who has Down Syndrome, to whom I have dedicated the last 4 years of my life and put my own goals on hold for. My life revolves around him and my wife, I would not have it any other way.