Posted by IN Articles, Digital Marketing

How to Succeed in Modern IT Management

11 May 2017
modern-it-management

It's a challenging time for IT Managers.

New fields have been infiltrating the traditional IT role – and modern IT management requires more than simply managing information technology.

Several recent reports have suggested that CIOs are starting to feel the heat from the growing popularity of the chief digital officer … CIOs need to adapt to more external business functions to fulfill digital expectations, or face being usurped by tech-savvy CDOs.CIO Australia magazine

IT managers need to do more than simply manage information technology. They need to master information systems, and that means dipping into the communications, security, marketing and even HR fields.

Modern IT Management inforgraph

Why so many fields? Because these days, everything is about technology. Staff are using their smartphones to dip into work emails on their commute. Hackers have more portals to enter through than ever before. As for marketing, with so much business being conducted online it's becoming essential for marketing and IT to form a strong bond.

Mastering Communications

While communications – the field – is something IT departments are having to interact with more and more, interpersonal communications are also an important area for IT managers to focus on.

CIOs who want to play a strategic role must master sophisticated business skills, which are more social than technical in nature. They involve striking relationships with leaders at the executive and board levels, marketing one’s value in terms of return on investment, and learning how to persuade.Steve Rosenbush (Wall Street Journal)

In other words, to succeed with modern IT management, departments need to learn to get along better with other departments.

Mastering Security

Technology research firm Gartner estimated that spending on information security increased by almost 8% in 2014, and it's going to continue to grow. Some companies are so concerned with information security that they're creating a new department for it, and that means taking resources away from IT.

The objectives of the IT and InfoSec teams are not the same. Information technology professionals are focused on functionality — on enabling the organization to achieve its goals… Simply put, they select and implement technology that enables work to be done. Performance, ease of use and cost are paramount, which can be at odds with security.Deena Coffman (Information Week)

Such separation would not be necessary for companies who have innovative IT managers and practice modern IT management.

Mastering Marketing

The marketing role is becoming more and more digital, and this puts IT departments under threat.

There’s a new synergy happening in the boardroom, and while some CIOs are left floundering by fast-shifting demands for them to become more agile, customer-responsive and creative, most are finding that they have more in common with their new best mate, the chief marketing officer, than they ever suspected.Fran Molloy (CIO Australia Magazine)

It's true that marketing drives a lot of business activity online. By being savvy about what needs to be done, IT managers can maintain control, remaining the conduit through which marketing must act.

Once upon a time...

Being in the IT department meant being left alone a significant amount of the time.

That is no longer true.

To really become masters in their field, modern IT Managers now need to learn how to master an ever-increasing number of disciplines.

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