What is IT management?

Modern IT management differs from more traditional technology management tools and processes. Specifically, effective IT management employs several key features.

There are many advantages to using the cloud for IT management. Cloud-based services allow IT departments and CIOs to offload the responsibilities associated with installing, managing, maintaining, and updating onsite IT systems, freeing up resources and allowing IT professionals more time to focus on other priorities. In addition to reduced overhead, cloud computing also offers improved data security and scalability. Cloud computing for IT management significantly reduces the burden on IT-departments, allowing them to manage more IT-related resources more effectively.

The more complex a system, the more difficult it is to get a complete, accurate picture of all its parts. Advanced analytics solutions place IT services, processes, employee, and even customer demographics under a microscope, mining terabytes of operational data to uncover actionable insight and identify root causes of issues. Reliable IT management analytics improves efficiency and reduces cost and helps ensure that every aspect of a business is moving towards their established goals.

Although effective IT management demands a single source of truth and a central location from which to manage IT resources, it also depends on coordinating and analyzing many separate assets. Using internet-of-things (IoT) platforms, IT management easily analyzes data from individual devices. This results in improved reporting and more proactive resolution of IT issues.

Gathering essential data is only the beginning. To really benefit from analytics, IT management needs to be capable of intelligently picking out trends and predicting issues before they arise. Artificial intelligence systems connect the dots in the data, learning and improving as they go. At the same time, AI is improving user support, powering virtual agent chatbots and customizing experiences to individual users.

Just as IT management encompasses nearly everything related to information technology in business, IT managers’ responsibilities are expansive and inclusive. IT managers lead computer related initiatives within their company, and are responsible for coordinating, planning, and helping determine and fulfill the IT needs of the organization. To do this, IT managers generally accountable for the following tasks:

IT managers play a key role in growing IT departments. They are responsible for establishing baseline requirements for new IT employees, evaluating potential hires, and ensuring that new IT team members are quickly brought up to speed on relevant technologies and processes through comprehensive training.

Beyond simply managing costs, IT managers need a complete understanding of their cost structure and drivers. IT budgets exist to ensure that spending remains within key targets, but the responsibility of IT managers extends much further to establishing and using budgets to drive increased value from IT resources.

Every hour of every day, businesses rely on information technology to support vital operations, provide service, coordinate team and department efforts, and more. And when these day-to-day operations run into unexpected problems, they can affect nearly every aspect of the business. IT managers help ensure that on-going IT operations are functioning properly, and that they are effective in supporting employees and business goals.

The number of possible threat vectors targeting business IT systems is growing every day. IT managers must be up-to-speed on current IT security best practices, capable of recognizing and preparing to defend against digital threats of all kinds.

Sales, service, manufacturing, and other departments all depend on effective systems and tools to perform their tasks. IT managers are often responsible for creating or adapting operating systems or other software to support departments across an entire company.

IT managers may also be the go-between for technical experts and non-technical stakeholders. They must be able to understand complex technical concepts and communicate them in ways that are relevant and digestible for a non-technical audience.

IT managers are not only responsible for training IT staff; they also often are expected to train non-technical employees in using important hardware, software, and tools. Because essentially all employees need to be able to rely on various systems to perform their jobs effectively and safely, this responsibility encompasses almost every individual on every level.

IT issues are seldom limited to the IT department. When general managers, department heads, and decision makers have IT-related questions or concerns, IT managers are the most obvious source of information.