Bite-Sized Training™

What is IT Management?
 What is IT Management? Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

What is IT Management?
Bite-Sized Training
This e-book is published by:

Mind Tools Ltd.

Copyright © Mind Tools Ltd, 2008-2012. All rights

reserved.

Version 1.4

This e-book is protected by international copyright

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the Mind Tools Club™. If you have any queries,
please contact us at
[email protected].

Cover image © iStockphoto/ermingut

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 What is IT Management? Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

Contents

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4

2. IT Management Basics .................................................................................................................. 5

3. About IT Managers ........................................................................................................................ 8

4. Key Learning Points ..................................................................................................................... 11

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1. Introduction
When you start work in the morning – and that So, whether you’re a user of technology or a
can be in the office or on the road – you probably developer or maintainer of technology,
turn on your computer and phone. Then, you’re understanding the nature of managing information
connected to the processes, people, and systems and technology is an important strategic
information that you need in order to do your job. issue that managers in all departments should be
It’s a situation that was unimaginable a aware of.
generation ago, of course. But we now expect this
“as standard,” and we probably only think about With this Bite-Sized Training session, we’re going
the people in IT when something goes wrong. to introduce you to the basics of the IT
management function. The objectives for this
In this session, we’re encouraging you to take a session are to understand:
step back to find out more about the IT activities
that go on behind the scenes. These ensure that  The fundamental role of IT in
the IT function at your organization runs smoothly organizations.
all of the time, and progresses and develops as
required.  The skills required to be a good IT
manager.
Managing IT isn’t solely the responsibility of IT
managers. Mangers in human resources, sales,  The challenges of IT management.
manufacturing, legal, financial, and many other
functional departments must work with their IT
colleagues. They must ensure that business
needs are being best served by technology, by
achieving the most appropriate balance of cutting-
edge versus tried-and-tested systems, cost
versus functionality, and change versus stability.

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2. IT Management Basics

A Definition The Two Main Functions of IT

IT is about automating business processes. So Typically, IT services in large organizations are

managing IT requires an understanding of the split into two main categories: Infrastructure and
business, an understanding of the process of applications. You can think of infrastructure as
automation (including the technologies and being like the tracks and stations of a railroad
methods that can be used), and an assessment operation, and the application services teams as
of the economics of automation to ensure that being the equivalent of those who run the actual
value is generated, not consumed, through the train services.
automation process.
Infrastructure provides networks, data centers,
Proactive and Reactive servers, storage, databases, connectivity,
backups and the tools and staff to manage all
IT Management involves a lot more than simply these core components. Typically the
providing the service requested. Typically, the infrastructure team will also provide “desktop”
business will drive the request for automation, services, which include everything that the user
and the IT function will act in a service capacity to can touch (PCs, laptops, mobile devices, printers,
deliver the automation required. However, it’s phones, and so on).
often the case that the IT department can identify
automation opportunities that the business Application teams will implement or develop
functions have not seen, because the IT team has applications to support specific business
knowledge about the capabilities and economics processes. For example, accounting systems,
of certain technologies that the business does stock ordering systems, HR management
not. systems, and so on. The exception to this rule is
highly commoditized applications (for example,
Equally, the IT department may be in the email or Microsoft Office applications) which are
strongest position to be able to question the often installed straight “out-of-the-box” with little
economic benefit of an automation exercise, or no customization. These applications are
because it may be uniquely aware of the potential usually managed by infrastructure teams rather
complexities. Hence, in mature businesses, key than application teams.
business leaders are increasingly expecting and
empowering IT managers to act in a leadership As well as keeping day-to-day operations going,
role, as well as in a service capacity. IT departments are also usually involved in the
projects that develop and extend the IT
IT strategy must always be a facet of business capabilities of the organization. Change activities
strategy. In many cases it’s the component of primarily managed by infrastructure teams would
business strategy that defines what and how to include network upgrades or the integration of
automate. But in an increasing number of new buildings, or business acquisitions.
businesses it’s also the rationale for a business
strategy. For example, a university might decide Meanwhile, application teams would handle
to develop a set of e-learning courses to things like delivery of new functionality specific to
complement its campus-based courses if its IT a business process.
manager demonstrates that new technology can
be implemented in a cost-effective way to deliver
these.

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Many functions of the IT division require Action: Think about the importance of IT to your
application teams and infrastructure teams to role. What technologies do you rely on to do your
work closely together (for example, delivering work, and how do they impact your efficiency and
new applications, testing the ability to recover output?
from certain types of “disaster,” or designing
security mechanisms to keep data safe).

Technology Impact

Action: Now think about how you work with your Was this an infrastructure issue or an application
colleagues in the IT department. issue?

Who, in IT, have you had contact with in the past

few months, and what was it about?

Name Issue Infrastructure or Application

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As with other business support functions such as And people regularly take advantage of the
HR and finance, some activities that used to be powerful but relatively user-friendly functionality of
the preserve of the specialists in the IT programs like Microsoft Excel to create
department are now done by functional managers automated solutions to small parts of their
out in the business. In other words, IT business processes.
management doesn’t just happen in the IT
department. Action: What IT management activities are you
or members of your team able to, or assigned to,
Training, for example, is often done informally by work on yourself?
another team member, or arranged through HR.

Activity Infrastructure or Application

Action: What do you see as IT’s main activities in your organization?

Activity Infrastructure or Application

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3. About IT Managers

Skills Required for IT Management

The skills required in good IT managers are  Good technical leadership skills (including
complex and demanding. They include: the ability to define and demand specific
quality standards).
 A good understanding of the particular
types of technologies in use in the  Good project management skills (such as
organization (both application the ability to plan, track and deliver to
technologies and infrastructure milestones).
technologies).
 Financial astuteness – an ability to make a
 A good understanding of business good assessment on benefits arising from
processes in their organization. automation and to manage increasingly
large budgets.
 An ability to conceptualize and design
effective automation. Increasingly, IT management is becoming a very
lucrative career, reflecting the rich and
 Good change management skills. (IT demanding skills required, and their rarity.
projects, by definition, are almost always
change projects.) Action: Think about the most effective IT
managers that you’ve come across at work, and
 Strong interpersonal skills to facilitate also the least effective. What did the good ones
good interaction with a broad range of do that made them effective? What did the less
business and technical personnel, both in- successful ones do which led to their
house and externally in supplier ineffectiveness?
organizations.

Skills and Qualities of Effective IT Traits and Behaviors of Ineffective IT

Managers Managers

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You’ve probably found that the difference  The optimal approach to automation for a
between the effective and the ineffective IT given process (which technologies to use,
managers lies in their “softer” skills and general how to structure the project to achieve the
business acumen, rather than in their technical time, cost, and quality terms of the
expertise! business, and so on).

Job Titles  Staffing and sourcing strategy to deliver

the automation (including decisions on
Where there is a specific leader of IT supplier choice, contract management).
management in an organization, you might see
titles like:  How to approach to day-to-day issues with
live applications and infrastructure.
 IT Manager.
 Computer Systems Manager. Challenges Facing IT Managers
 Information Systems Manager.
 Management Information Systems (MIS) The biggest challenge for most IT managers is
Manager. the pace of change of business processes.
 Technology Manager.
Increasingly, the economics associated with the
Note: increasing speed of business mean that IT
In large organizations, the person ultimately solutions must be fast-to-deploy, adaptable, and
responsible for IT decisions is often the Chief economical. Legacy platforms, which have not
Information Officer (CIO) or the Chief Technology been well designed, can quickly reach the point
Officer (CTO). In smaller organizations, the role of where the cost of incremental change no longer
CIO is often incorporated into another key role or generates sufficient benefit to justify the work. IT
dispersed to other managers within the architecture is an increasingly critical discipline,
organization. enabling IT managers to build modular,
decoupled, “plug and play” components which
The Major Decisions that IT Managers can be easily integrated.
Make
Action: Note down some of the recent IT
The key decisions that IT managers have to make developments in both infrastructure and
are inevitably related to the fundamental purpose applications in your organization that you’re
of IT – that is, automating business processes. IT aware of.
managers will regularly have to make decisions
about:

 The suitability of business processes for

automation.

Infrastructure Developments Application Developments

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Were these developments a long time coming, or where the ability to process data ever faster gives
were they implemented rapidly? If it’s the latter, them specific competitive advantage (for
that’s a good indicator that your organization’s IT example, trading houses) some companies have
is being well-managed. gone as far as building their own power stations
to power their data centers.
A second significant challenge in many industries
is the increasing commoditization of hardware That said, basing servers and IT services
and the associated demand for faster, cheaper externally on “the cloud” is now a reliable and
processing power. For some businesses, the effective option for many businesses.
limiting factor in building faster processes is
electrical power. Many data centers have a “glass Action: Think about how the rising cost and
ceiling” on the amount of processing that they can reducing availability of power affect your
actually do, because they cannot source enough organization’s IT Infrastructure. What steps have
electricity from the grid to power the increasing your IT managers taken, or what steps could they
numbers of cheaper, faster, more power-hungry take to mitigate these impacts, if any?
server machines that they host. In industries

Impact of power cost and availability on your organization:

Steps being taken, or that could be taken:

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4. Key Learning Points

IT exists to support the processes of the business IT managers need substantial business acumen
through automation. IT managers therefore need in addition to technical skills if they are to be
to react to requests from the business to successful. They need a thorough understanding
automate processes, but also be on the lookout of their organization, its strategies, objectives,
for opportunities to use new technology to functions, and processes, and the people skills to
improve business processes. manage suppliers and to work successfully with
colleagues in other departments.
In addition to this developmental work, IT needs
to maintain and support existing infrastructure
systems and applications.

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