Think Services’ HDI Announces 2009 Team Excellence Awards Winners

Perot Systems and TECO Energy Embody Customer and Employee-Centric Support Operations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 30 /PRNewswire/ — HDI(R) (http://www.thinkhdi.com), the world’s largest membership association for help desk and technical support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, today announced the 2009 HDI Team Excellence Award winners: Perot Systems’ End User Services Global Service Desk for external support and TECO Energy Service Desk for internal support. These awards were presented at the 2009 HDI World Conference on Technical Service and Support held recently in Las Vegas, NV.

These awards honor Perot Systems and TECO Energy for achieving the highest standards of excellence in service desk operations. The HDI Team Excellence Awards are the “gold medal” of the technical support profession. The selection of the HDI Team Excellence Award winners is based on specific criteria that evaluate the companies’ ability to demonstrate excellence in three categories: people, process and technology.

HDI Team Excellence Award – External Support: Perot Systems

Perot Systems’ End User Services Global Service Desk has 300 tier 1 agents across 5 locations: Plano, TX; Bowling Green, KY; Guadalajara, Mexico; Bucharest, Romania; and Noida, India. These centers seamlessly integrate Perot’s off-shore and on-shore capabilities by load-balancing calls during peak volumes and routing calls to the most cost-effective service support associates.

HDI Team Excellence Award – Internal Support: TECO Energy

The TECO Energy Service Desk provides support to 5,000 internal customers located in 34 Florida offices, 5 offices in Kentucky and 2 power plants in Guatemala. The TECO Energy Service Desk has a total of 10 desktop support analysts that handle first-level support, along with an IT service quality analyst, one manager and one director.

Rich Hand, HDI Executive Director of Membership and conference host, commented on these achievements. “Both award recipients embody customer and employee-centric operations. Perot Systems’ End User Services Global Service Desk has made true connections with their customers and it showed. The management team focused on motivating their team to make the service desk even stronger. The TECO Energy Service Desk exemplified the true nature of what teamwork and management support can produce. The TECO desk presented a very creative, caring culture that made the team feel empowered and involved. Congratulations to both organizations for mastering critical facets of this industry.”

About Perot Systems

Perot Systems is a worldwide provider of information technology services and business solutions. Through its flexible and collaborative approach, Perot Systems integrates expertise from across the company to deliver custom solutions that enable clients to accelerate growth, streamline operations and create new levels of customer value. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Perot Systems reported 2008 revenue of $2.8 billion. The company has more than 23,000 associates located in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific. Additional information on Perot Systems is available at http://www.perotsystems.com/.

About TECO Energy

TECO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: TE) is an energy-related holding company. Its principal subsidiary, Tampa Electric Company, is a regulated utility in Florida with both electric and gas divisions (Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas System). Other subsidiaries include TECO Coal, which owns and operates coal production facilities in Kentucky and Virginia, and TECO Guatemala, which is engaged in electric power generation and distribution and energy-related businesses in Guatemala.

About HDI

HDI, a Think Services company, is the world’s largest IT service and support membership association and the industry’s premier certification and training body. Guided by an international panel of industry experts and practitioners, HDI is the leading resource for help desk/support center emerging trends and best practices. HDI provides members with a vast repository of resources, networking opportunities and the largest industry event – the HDI Annual Conference and Expo. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA, HDI offers training in multiple languages and countries. For more information, visit www.ThinkHDI.com or call +1 719.268.0174.

About Think Services

Think Services connects specialized communities worldwide using educational events, consulting, training, certification, and innovative media. Providing comprehensive opportunities for people to learn from, network with, and inspire each other, Think Services builds strong brands and works within communities to foster a unique affinity with its products and services. The division’s flagship products include the Game Developers Conference, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, Game Developer magazine, the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), and HDI. Think Services is a subsidiary of United Business Media, a global media and marketing services company with a market capitalization of more than $1.6 billion. To learn more, visit www.think-services.com.

SOURCE HDI