Saudi Aramco EXPEC Computer Center Achieves HDI Support Center Certification

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- HDI (http://www.thinkhdi.com), a global association for IT service and technical support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, today announced that Saudi Aramco's EXPEC Computer Center (ECC) recently achieved the third renewal of its HDI Support Center Certification. The EXPEC Computer Center first received this prestigious certification in 2003 and has subsequently achieved renewal in 2005, 2007, and 2009.  The EXPEC Computer Center is the first support center organization in the world that HDI has recertified three consecutive times.

Craig Baxter, HDI's managing director, expressed his respect for this achievement stating, "Achieving HDI Support Center Certification is proof of ECC's dedication to quality operations, continuous improvement, strategic vision, a positive work environment, and high levels of customer service, and we are delighted to award this certification to the ECC Support Center."

To achieve this prestigious designation, the ECC Support Center successfully underwent a thorough on-site audit to verify its compliance to the HDI Support Center Certification Standard.  Paul Dooley, an HDI-certified auditor, conducted the site audit.  He stated, "It was a pleasure working with ECC on this audit.  The organization's management team is very focused on strategic leadership and quality support for the organization's products and services, as well as providing a satisfying work environment for its people.  The award of HDI Support Center Certification is well-deserved and represents the end result of much hard work and preparation." Rick Joslin, executive director of training and certification, HDI stated, "ECC clearly exemplifies excellence in all of the core areas on which the HDI Support Center Certification program focuses - leadership, policy and strategy, people management, resources, process and procedure, people satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and performance results."

First introduced in 2000, the HDI Support Center Certification program is based on the HDI Support Center Standard, an open industry standard that focuses specifically on IT service and technical support quality. Evaluation is based on a set of activities, each with four levels of maturity to evaluate the support center. In order to become an HDI Certified Support Center, a support center must achieve minimum scores as defined by the HDI International Certification Standards Committee.

Abdulaziz AbdulKarim, General Manager for EXPEC Computer Center, Saudi Aramco said, "This achievement and international recognition is an acknowledgement of ECC's continuous process improvement initiatives, deployment of appropriate technologies and exposing our professionals to challenging development opportunities in programs that support Saudi Aramco's Exploration & Producing (E&P)  business line. Achieving this certification for the fourth consecutive time shows that we are able to deliver quality services in a cost-effective manner that has a positive impact on our E&P customers' productivity and efficiency."

For more information about the HDI Support Center Certification program, contact HDI at 800.248.5667, or visit www.thinkhdi.com .

About HDI

HDI is the world's largest IT service and technical 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 and 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 & Expo. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, HDI offers training in multiple languages and countries. For more information, visit www.thinkhdi.com. HDI is part of UBM TechWeb.

About UBM TechWeb (http://www.ubmtechweb.com)

UBM TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology. Through its core businesses – media solutions, marketing services, and professional information – UBM TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands, applications, and services in the technology market. More than 14.5 million business and technology professionals (CIOs, IT and IT Support managers, Web and digital professionals, software and game developers, government decision makers, telecom providers and business executives) actively participate in UBM TechWeb's communities. UBM TechWeb brands include: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Game Developers Conference (GDC), Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; large-scale online networks such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Gamasutra; research, training, and certification services, including HDI, Pyramid Research, and InformationWeek Analytics; and market-leading magazines such as InformationWeek and Wall Street & Technology. UBM TechWeb is part of UBM, a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

About Saudi Aramco

Owned by the Saudi Arabian Government, Saudi Aramco is a fully-integrated, global petroleum enterprise, and a world leader in exploration and producing, refining, distribution, shipping and marketing. The company manages proven reserves of 260 billion barrels of oil and manages the fourth-largest gas reserves in the world, 253.8 trillion cubic feet. In addition to its headquarters in Dhahran Saudi Arabia, Saudi Aramco has affiliates, joint ventures and subsidiary offices in India, China, Japan, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. For more information, go to www.saudiaramco.com

SOURCE HDI