IAITAM Conference Preview: Robin Trebec at Chevron

ITAM News & Analysis

IAITAM Conference Preview: Robin Trebec at Chevron

Robin Trebec, IT Asset Manager at Chevron, will be presenting a session at IAITAM next month entitled “I don’t need friends at work, I have friends at home: ITAM from the trenches”.

I recently corresponded with Robin regarding her upcoming session and her experiences as an IT Asset Manager.

ITAM Review Q. Please tell me a little about your background

I have over 15 years experience in ITAM management spanning several different industries from healthcare to software development to energy.  I currently lead the Software Compliance, Maintenance and Controls Center of Excellence team at Chevron – a Fortune 50 company.  I was a contributor to the ISO 19770-2 standard and I hold certifications as a CITAM, CSAM, PCSAM, SIIP-F and ITIL Essentials.  I’m also on the Advisory Board for the Center for Infrastructure Management Advancement (CIMA).  I have a background in Accounting and Procurement.

Q. How did you find yourself in an ITAM related role?

I transitioned from Accounting into Procurement and took the lead effort in procuring technology hardware and software in 1996.  Shortly thereafter I began doing inventory and control efforts surrounding the hardware, which evolved over time to my current role as the software compliance lead.

Q. Based on your experience – what would you recommend to the folks that are just starting out in ITAM?

Educate yourself!  Get training – there are a ton of on line classes, education sessions, lunch and learns, etc.  Join the User Groups so you can leverage the wisdom of more experienced colleagues. Search out certifications.  Most importantly, get involved in what is going on – it’s the fastest way to become an expert and help drive the practice in your business.

Q. What can visitors to IAITAM expect from your presentation this year?

I’ll provide an overview of how my career, and thus the practice of ITAM, has evolved over the last 15 years from a hardware/physical inventory focused effort to a more software centric model.  I’ll spend most of my time speaking about how I’ve evolved the program at Chevron from a small, disconnected effort to a corporate wide program that continues to grow and how attendees can leverage my experience to grow their own programs and get their voices heard.

Q. Please provide an overview of your Center of Excellence Model and how it works.

We started by identifying what a CoE is and then outlining the responsibilities of a CoE – Support, Guidance, Shared Learning, Measurements and Governance.  The next steps were to define the Subject Matter Expert (SME) roles that should comprise the team.  We gathered information on all of the work efforts being done by the team regardless of who/what role the tasks currently resided in and then reassigned each responsibility to the appropriate SME role.

This created a realignment of the work effort that resulted in SME silo’s with cross functional capabilities.  Each person on the team is required to have and maintain certifications in ITAM disciplines and to stay current on industry information through attendance at seminars, conferences and webinars.

We vetted the alignment through our customers to ensure we would continue meeting their needs.  All processes and reports that flow through the team were thoroughly documented in their current state, and then a gap analysis was done to identify opportunities for a Wave 2 update.  We communicate our efforts through a Community of Practice led by a cross functional team of Software License Managers, Application Managers, Technical Tools analysts, etc. who provide guidance, direction and support of the greater community – some 300+ compliance folks embedded in the business environment.

Robin’s session at IAITAM is at 10am on Thursday 13^th October.

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