Enterprise Connect recently unveiled its inaugural list of 2021 IT Hero Award winners, a celebration of the people behind impressive technology implementations and a perfect complement to Lifesize’s focus on the Human Enterprise.

We’re particularly thrilled that Frank Santistevan, platform technology manager at Pearson Education and Lifesize cloud contact center customer, was one of just five individuals honored for going above and beyond their everyday responsibilities to provide outstanding service and expertise.

Among the accomplishments that sparked Santistevan’s nomination for this award was transitioning Pearson’s contact center organization to the Lifesize CxEngage cloud platform – a feat that not only saved Pearson about $1.5 million from a licensing perspective (as reported by No Jitter), but also enabled some 5000 global agents to work from home via the cloud the very next day after the COVID-19 pandemic set in. “One of the things I had really sold this [solution] on was getting out of brick-and-mortar contact centers and letting people work in their home environments, and that’s where it’s really shone,” according to Santistevan.

Santistevan, whose nomination praised him for having a calm demeanor and positive influence during complex, high-pressure situations, also had the opportunity to serve as a panelist alongside the other award winners on the Enterprise Connect virtual session, 2021 IT Heroes: Sharing a Vision of Excellence, to share his success story and discuss how to make a difference every day.

During the session, he walked through how he approaches problem-solving with his team and the process he had to go through to meet the demands of the business during an unparalleled year like 2020. After all, as Weyerhaeuser’s Ian Hamilton remarked, “2020 was the year that didn’t quite align with the roadmap.”

When faced with such challenges, Santistevan’s first step is to always “frame up the severity and level set” what his team is working on. He acknowledges not everything can get done all at once, even during a crisis, so understanding and accepting that is an important part of the process. In Santistevan’s own words during the round table, “We’re going to get through it. We might not get through it in the next 15 minutes, but I’m gonna get you through this.”

Forging trusted relationships with both vendors and internal resources (and, of course, having a “rockin’ product” like Lifesize CxEngage) also plays a vital role in his leadership approach to overcoming obstacles. “I try to build a trusted relationship, so they’ll want to run through a cinderblock wall for me, because they know I’ll do that for them, as well.”

In rounding out the panel, fellow honoree Brady Naugle of Amgen shared, “One thing I’ve personally tried to do is just say thank you and let people know how much I appreciate and how grateful I am for the work they do. That goes a long, long way.”

In that spirit, we’d like to take a moment to sincerely thank Frank – and all the IT heroes out there – letting them know how much we appreciate all they do day-in and day-out to keep their organizations effective, efficient and committed to the customer experience, even during the most trying of times.

To learn more, read No Jitter’s full profile of Santistevan or watch the IT Heroes during their Enterprise Connect virtual round table.