Systems management - the time has come to think more strategically

The time has come to think strategically about systems management, and how it can be used in a co-ordinated and effective manner to deliver real business benefit. This is one of the key conclusions drawn in recently published report by Europe's leading IT research and advisory organisation, Butler Group. According to the report, IT Systems Management (Technology Comparison), as organisations demand the IT infrastructure delivers increased levels of availability and quality of service, the focus for IT managers is shifting towards a business service perspective.

“Organisational IT structures are often characterised by many different siloed teams of technical specialists,” says Roy Illsley, Senior Research Analyst with Butler Group and co-author of the report. “These silos often drive the technology selection process in organisations, which to a large extent is governed by the existing skills within the IT department. This approach has created tensions between the requirements of the business users, and the capabilities to manage the technology of the IT department. The result of this siloed approach is that IT resources are locked into technologies, and organisations face expensive retraining or new hiring cost if technologies new to the organisation are selected.”

Systems management = simplification

The market in Systems Management has evolved over recent years. The leading vendors have all integrated the ability to monitor and manage a variety of infrastructure components, from virtual servers to network switches, into their solutions. Systems Management tools are changing IT from being mainly reactive in its response, to being more proactive and business focused.

The new, more holistic approach to Systems Management is that of simplification, so that the IT department can manage the technology stack at a higher level, and therefore enable it to manage a wider range of technologies more efficiently.

Allocation of IT resources becomes a major factor in how IT departments are perceived

As IT becomes ever more ingrained in the organisation, the need to be responsive to business demand in a controlled approach has increased in significance. In fact, Butler Group believes that the approach to this problem will differentiate the good IT departments from the average.

In the current economic climate, many organisations are facing a tightening of financial controls and spending, IT is not immune from this recession; a recent Butler Group survey found that 73% of respondents expect their IT budgets to be reduced or remain flat in 2008, as compared to 2007. With this more prudent approach, the allocation of IT resources becomes a major factor in how IT departments are perceived.

Different approach required when it comes to managing infrastructure

In order for IT to perform this role, a number of fundamental changes are required to its operation and its remit, and the executive management team must endorse these.

Firstly, the IT department must have envoys in the business units/departments who act as the eyes and ears of the IT department, while also representing the department/business unit when it comes to delivery of IT change. This dual role creates a tension that IT must exploit so that it can on the one hand collect the real significance and value of any change requested by the business unit/department, and on the other hand ensure that the requirements are in line with IT strategy. Obtaining this level of intelligence will allow IT to establish the impact on existing services, and cost the change accordingly.

Secondly, the IT department must act as the arbitrator, and not decision maker, in the prioritisation of business demand; to do this it must be the IT department's role to chair a cross-departmental strategy meeting. This meeting should act as the control body where the decisions are made on which new changes are developed, and which services are of a greater importance than another is.

Finally, the IT department must develop a strategy that is intrinsically linked to the business strategy; this is a critical shift for most organisations, as IT is not usually invited to the business strategy table. Butler Group contends that having a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with the responsibility for IT strategy, and making some IT staff have dual reporting into the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the CTO, provides not only the independence but also the separation required so that IT can play a significant role in the development and execution of business strategy.

Illsley concludes:

“Taking a holistic perspective to managing the organisation's infrastructure requires a different approach and one which many IT organisations are not equipped to adopt. The concept of business-driven demand is not new - in fact, IT has evolved based on this premise - however, currently the IT department responds to the department/business unit that either shouts the loudest, or has the capital to invest in new projects. It is our contention that the landscape is moving, and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are increasingly looking toward the CIO as the guardian of business process prioritisation; in other words the IT department is being asked to police the business units based on corporate prioritisation.”