Case study: Heather Webster, Allen & Overy

Heather Webster is a firm believer in studying with the Open University

Sixteen years ago, Heather Webster began her working career as a secretary in the finance department with international legal practice Allen and Overy. Encouraged by her boss to study part-time for some management exams, several years later she emerged with an MBA from the Open University (OU) and was heading a department of 130 staff.

‘I started with the Certificate in Management, followed by the Diploma in Management and finally went the whole way and completed my MBA,’ says Webster.

‘Having an MBA has helped tremendously with my career and is certainly useful in the role I now enjoy. It gives me a much larger corporate viewpoint, rather than a narrow IT focus, and that is definitely helpful when I am dealing with global issues facing the practice.’

Today, Webster’s management role involves being in charge of 220 IT professionals who provide support for the global service desk. Responsibility for IT training worldwide and problem management also falls under her remit, as does the ITIL framework.

‘A significant part of my job is to manage the relationship between the business and IT – hence the relationship management part of the job title,’ says Webster.

‘I have IT professionals who are based in the legal practice and who work with the international IT managers to bring project and change requests back to the IT department.’

In the past, Webster says someone would pop into IT and say that they need an application, and the technical guy would come up with a piece of new programming or software that met that need, without realising the commercial implications for other parts of the business.

‘Today the business looks at the IT department to lead the way forward – there is little point in demonstrating whizzy technology if it will not appeal to or benefit the business. To do that successfully requires commercial acumen and knowledge,’ she says.

‘When proposing a new piece of technology it is about improving working practices, head count ratios and cost benefit analysis – all the things that good management training help you to understand and put into practice.’

A firm believer in the benefits of studying with the OU because of its flexible study options, Webster encourages her staff where appropriate to take its courses.

‘The OU allows you to take the qualifications and continue to do the day job,’ she says. ‘And the management courses encourage you to use issues arising in your job as the context for study. I recommend the OU to a lot of my staff to encourage the broad commercial awareness that is now required of IT professionals.’