Howard Kendall has IT service management flowing through his veins and is passionately committed to service in all its many forms. As Founder and Chairman of the SDI – The Service Desk Institute, he is recognised as the leading industry authority in Europe, regularly speaking at industry events and contributing to industry titles.

Howard cut his teeth in the technology arena as a computer operator at 3M, followed by positions in IT support management at Citibank and the Prudential. During his career, Howard recognised that there was a need to boost the service desk and IT support professionals’ ‘image’ within business and help shape industry best practice. In 1988 he established the Help Desk User Group (now SDI) to meet this requirement, and almost 20 years later SDI is still going strong . He was one of the original ITIL authors in 1989.

Howard was previously Chairman of the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) during 2001-2002 and his regular involvement in worldwide service standards development demonstrates his passion for the customer. He chaired the BSi British Standards committee that developed BS8600 (now ISO10002), the Complaints Management Standard, and is currently working with BSi and International Standards Organisation (ISO) to develop a class leading general Customer Service Standard – now BS8477 released in 2007. He is currently writing a book on customer service for the BSI, to be published in 2010.

A regular speaker on the service desk circuit, Howard has delivered thought provoking presentations on: Where the support desk fits in IT strategy and infrastructure; The evolution of service – the lessons of history!; Complaint management and quality improvement; Customer contact management; and Service level agreements and Service management disciplines, to name but a few.