Information technology management

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Information technology management or IT management is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities. Managing the responsibility within a company entails many of the basic management functions, like budgeting, staffing, change management, and organizing and controlling, along with other aspects that are unique to technology, like software design, network planning, tech support etc. [1]

Contents

Purpose

The central aim of IT management is to generate value through the use of technology. To achieve this, business strategies and technology must be aligned.

IT Management is different from management information systems. The latter refers to management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making. [2] IT Management refers to IT related management activities in organizations. MIS is focused mainly on the business aspect, with a strong input into the technology phase of the business/organization.

A primary focus of IT management is the value creation made possible by technology. This requires the alignment of technology and business strategies. While the value creation for an organization involves a network of relationships between internal and external environments, technology plays an important role in improving the overall value chain of an organization. However, this increase requires business and technology management to work as a creative, synergistic, and collaborative team instead of a purely mechanistic span of control. [3]

Historically, one set of resources was dedicated to one particular computing technology, business application or line of business, and managed in a silo-like fashion. [4] These resources supported a single set of requirements and processes, and couldn't easily be optimized or reconfigured to support actual demand. [5] This led technology providers to build out and complement their product-centric infrastructure and management offerings with Converged Infrastructure environments that converge servers, storage, networking, security, management and facilities. [6] [7] The efficiencies of having this type of integrated and automated management environment allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with simpler manageability and maintenance, and enables IT to adjust IT resources (such as servers, storage and networking) quicker to meet unpredictable business demand. [8] [9]

IT management disciplines

The below concepts are commonly listed or investigated under the broad term IT Management: [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

IT managers

IT managers have a lot in common with project managers but their main difference is one of focus: an IT manager is responsible and accountable for an ongoing program of IT services while the project manager's responsibility and accountability are both limited to a project with a clear start and end date. [18]

Most IT management programs are designed to educate and develop managers who can effectively manage the planning, design, selection, implementation, use, and administration of emerging and converging information and communications technologies. The program curriculum provides students with the technical knowledge and management knowledge and skills needed to effectively integrate people, information and communication technologies, and business processes in support of organizational strategic goals. [19]

IT Managers need to know predominantly Technical and Managerial skills such as analyst of computer systems , information security analyst, compute, planning, communication technologies, and business processes. [15]

Graduates should be able:

  1. to explain the important terminology, facts, concepts, principles, analytic techniques, and theories used in IT management.
  2. to apply important terminology, facts, concepts, principles, analytic techniques, and theories in IT management when analyzing complex factual situations.
  3. to integrate (or synthesize) important facts, concepts, principles, and theories in IT management when developing solutions to IT management multifaceted problems in complex situations. [20]

Consequences of IT management deficiencies

In 2013, hackers managed to install malware with the intent of stealing Target's customers' information. The malware targeted “40 million credit card numbers—and 70 million addresses, phone numbers, and other pieces of personal information”. About six months before this happened, Target invested 1.6 million dollars to install the malware detection tool made by FireEye, whose security product is also used by the CIA. The software spotted the malware, and alert was sent out as intended. However, nothing was done beyond that point. The hackers successfully got away with one third of US Consumers’ confidential information. Target's security system’s unresponsiveness led to 90 lawsuits being filed against Target, which went on top of another approximate $61 million USD spent just responding to the breach, [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

Chief information officer (CIO), chief digital information officer (CDIO) or information technology (IT) director, is a job title commonly given to the most senior executive in an enterprise who works with information technology and computer systems, in order to support enterprise goals.

A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves people, processes and technology in an organizational context.

Information technology service management (ITSM) are the activities performed by an organization to design, build, deliver, operate and control information technology (IT) services offered to customers.

Information Logistics (IL) deals with the flow of information between human and / or machine actors within or between any number of organizations that in turn form a value creating network. IL is closely related to information management, information operations and information technology.

The Center for Information Technology (CIT) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that compose the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a cabinet-level department of the Executive Branch of the United States Federal Government. Originating in 1954 as a central processing facility in the NIH Office of the Director, the Division of Computer Research and Technology was established in 1964, merging in 1998 with the NIH Office of the CIO and the NIH Office of Research Services Telecommunications Branch to form a new organization, the CIT.

IT portfolio management is the application of systematic management to the investments, projects and activities of enterprise Information Technology (IT) departments. Examples of IT portfolios would be planned initiatives, projects, and ongoing IT services. The promise of IT portfolio management is the quantification of previously informal IT efforts, enabling measurement and objective evaluation of investment scenarios.

Autonomic Networking follows the concept of Autonomic Computing, an initiative started by IBM in 2001. Its ultimate aim is to create self-managing networks to overcome the rapidly growing complexity of the Internet and other networks and to enable their further growth, far beyond the size of today.

Security level management (SLM) comprises a quality assurance system for electronic information security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloud computing</span> Form of shared Internet-based computing

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations, each of which is a data center. Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and typically uses a pay-as-you-go model, which can help in reducing capital expenses but may also lead to unexpected operating expenses for users.

Dynamic Infrastructure is an information technology concept related to the design of data centers, whereby the underlying hardware and software can respond dynamically and more efficiently to changing levels of demand. In other words, data center assets such as storage and processing power can be provisioned to meet surges in user's needs. The concept has also been referred to as Infrastructure 2.0 and Next Generation Data Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IT infrastructure</span> Set of information technology components that are the foundation of an IT service

Information technology infrastructure is defined broadly as a set of information technology (IT) components that are the foundation of an IT service; typically physical components, but also various software and network components.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FDIC Enterprise Architecture Framework</span>

FDIC Enterprise Architecture Framework was the enterprise architecture framework of the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). A lot of the current article is about the enterprise architecture framework developed around 2005, and currently anno 2011 out-of-date.

IT cost transparency is a category of information technology management software and systems that enables enterprise IT organizations to model and track the total cost to deliver and maintain the IT Services they provide to the business. It is increasingly a task of management accounting. IT cost transparency solutions can integrate financial information such as labor costs, software licensing costs, hardware acquisition and depreciation, data center facilities charges from general ledger systems and combine this with operational data from ticketing, monitoring, asset management and project portfolio management systems to provide a single, integrated view of IT costs by service, department, GL line item and project. In addition to tracking cost elements, IT cost transparency may track utilization, usage and operational performance metrics in order to provide a measure of value or return on investment (ROI). Costs, budgets, performance metrics and changes to data points are tracked over time to identify trends and the impact of changes to underlying cost drivers in order to help managers address the key drivers in escalating IT costs and improve planning.

Lean IT is the extension of lean manufacturing and lean services principles to the development and management of information technology (IT) products and services. Its central concern, applied in the context of IT, is the elimination of waste, where waste is work that adds no value to a product or service.

Business process management (BPM) is the discipline in which people use various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes. Any combination of methods used to manage a company's business processes is BPM. Processes can be structured and repeatable or unstructured and variable. Though not required, enabling technologies are often used with BPM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Converged infrastructure</span> Way of structuring an IT system

Converged infrastructure is a way of structuring an information technology (IT) system which groups multiple components into a single optimized computing package. Components of a converged infrastructure may include servers, data storage devices, networking equipment and software for IT infrastructure management, automation and orchestration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HP Cloud</span> Set of cloud computing services

HP Cloud was a set of cloud computing services available from Hewlett-Packard that offered public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, managed private cloud and other cloud services. It was the combination of the previous HP Converged Cloud business unit and HP Cloud Services, an OpenStack-based public cloud. It was marketed to enterprise organizations to combine public cloud services with internal IT resources to create hybrid clouds, or a mix of private and public cloud environments, from around 2011 until 2016.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of practices and a framework for IT activities such as IT service management (ITSM) and IT asset management (ITAM) that focus on aligning IT services with the needs of the business.

"X as a service" is a phrasal template for any business model in which a product use is offered as a subscription-based service rather than as an artifact owned and maintained by the customer. Originating from the software as a service concept that appeared in the 2010s with the advent of cloud computing, the template has expanded to numerous offerings in the field of information technology and beyond it. The term XaaS can mean "anything as a service".

Operational technology (OT) is hardware and software that detects or causes a change, through the direct monitoring and/or control of industrial equipment, assets, processes and events. The term has become established to demonstrate the technological and functional differences between traditional information technology (IT) systems and industrial control systems environment, the so-called "IT in the non-carpeted areas".

References

  1. ↑ McNurlin, Barbara; et al. (2009). Information Systems Management in Practice (8th ed.). Prentice Hall.
  2. ↑ O’Brien, J (1999). Management Information Systems – Managing Information Technology in the Internetworked Enterprise. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. ISBN   0-07-112373-3.
  3. ↑ Bird, M. (2010). Modern Management Guide to Information Technology. Create Space.
  4. ↑ Talbot, Chris, “HP Adds to Converged Infrastructure Lineup,” ChannelInsider, June 7, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Gardner, Dana, "Converged Infrastructure Approach Paves Way for Improved Data Center Productivity, Private Clouds," February 9, 2010, IT Business Edge". Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  6. ↑ Huff, Lisa, “The Battle for the Converged Data Center Network,” Data Center Knowledge, August 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Harris, Derrick, "Can Open Converged Infrastructure Compete?" GigaOM, October 10, 2010". Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ Oestreich, Ken, "Converged Infrastructure," CTO Forum, November 15, 2010. Archived January 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Golden, Bernard, "Cloud Computing: Two Kinds of Agility," CIO, July 16, 2010". Archived from the original on December 6, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  10. ↑ 28 Nov. 2008
  11. ↑ 28 Nov. 2008
  12. ↑ McKeen, James D., and Smith, Heather A., Making IT Happen: Critical Issues in IT Management, Wiley Series in Information Systems, 2003
  13. ↑ CIO Wisdom: Best Practise from Silicon Valley's Leading IT Experts, Lane, D. (ed), Prentice Hall 2004
  14. ↑ Veen, Annelies van der; Jan van Bon (2007). Foundations of ITIL V3. Van Haren Publishing. ISBN   978-90-8753-057-0.
  15. 1 2 3 Meinke, Hannah (2020), "How to Become an IT Manager: What You Need to Succeed", Technology Blog, Rasmussen University.
  16. ↑ Axelos (2021). Axelos ITIL 4 Foundation. Axelos.
  17. ↑ Stationery Office, Claire Agutter (2012). ITIL Foundation Handbook. ISBN   9780113313495.
  18. ↑ Thomas, Rhané (June 15, 2009). "IT Managers and Project Management". PM Hut. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Master of Management (Information Technology)". Charles Sturt University. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
  20. ↑ "Journal - Knowledge of Management, Economics and Information Technology" (PDF). scientificpapers.org. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
  21. ↑ Riley, M., Elgin, B., Lawrence, D., & Matlack, C. (2014, March 13). Missed Alarms and 40 Million Stolen Credit Card Numbers: How Target Blew It. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from
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