Some of IT Management Challenges

 IT Management Challenges

Creating and managing a coherent IT infrastructure raises multiple challenges: makingwise infrastructure investments, coordinating infrastructure components, dealing withscalability and technology change, and management and governance.

• MAKING WISE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS

IT Infrastructure is a major capital investment for the firm. If too much is spent on infrastructure, it lies idle and constitutes a drag on firm financial performance. If too little isspent, important business services cannot be delivered and the firm’s competitors (whospent just the right amount) will outperform the underinvesting firm. How much shouldthe firm spend on infrastructure? This question is not easy to answer.A related question is whether a firm should purchase its own IT infrastructure components or rent them from external suppliers. As we discussed earlier, a major trend incomputing platforms—both hardware and software—is to outsource to externalproviders. The decision either to purchase your own IT assets or rent them from external     providers is typically called the rent versus buy decision.

• CHOOSING AND COORDINATING INFRASTRUCTURE

COMPONENTSFirms today create IT infrastructures by choosing combinations of vendors, people, andtechnology services and fitting them together so they function as a coherent whole. Wheneach element of infrastructure is driven by somewhat different forces, accomplishing this is a major management job. For instance, changes in law may mandate vast increases indata storage and retrieval, but the existing hardware platform may be incapable of supporting the addition computing demand.

• DEALING WITH INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGE

As firms grow, they can quickly outgrow their infrastructure. As firms shrink, they canget stuck with excessive infrastructure purchased in better times. How can a firm remainflexible when most of the investments in IT infrastructure are fixed cost purchases andlicenses? How well does the infrastructure scale? Scalability refers to the ability of acomputer, product, or system to expand to serve a larger number of users without breaking down.How can the infrastructure be changed, and over what time frame? Because the firm’sdigital infrastructure permeates every nook and cranny of the firm, and therefore directly affects how employees perform on a daily basis, any change in this infrastructurewould seem to have to occur slowly, guided by some vision (business or technologybased) or understanding of the future requirements for infrastructure. Left to constituentbusiness units, or a single chief information officer and his or her staff, chaos could reignor, alternatively, bold technologically advanced plans may come and go without any realchange. Who will supply this vision or understanding needed for long-term, stable evolution?

• MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE

A long-standing issue among information system managers and CEOs has been thequestion of who will control and manage the firm’s IT infrastructure. Should departments and divisions have the responsibility of making their own information technologydecisions or should IT infrastructure be centrally controlled and managed? What is therelationship between central information systems management and business unit information systems management? How will infrastructure costs be allocated among businessunits? Each organization will need to arrive at answers based on its own needs.

Source :

LEARNING TRACK 4: IT INFRASTRUCTURE: MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES,

CHALLENGES, AND SOLUTIONS