In the course of my career, I have interacted on a technical and business level with many companies − SMEs plus large corporations − and it is interesting to note how the challenges faced by resident IT managers and CIOs are constantly repeated.
A top issue is the chronic one of end-user problems − this is the one you all love to hate, as it undermines your credibility and standing within the company.
End-users bemoaning the fact that technology is great, when it works, does nothing to elevate the stature of hardworking IT managers and their teams tasked with keeping end-users productive on an hourly basis.
No matter how successful an IT group might be in implementing new technologies or delivering major projects on time and within budget, chronic end-user issues inevitably produce deep-seated concerns about the competence and efficiency of the overall IT in the organisation.
As one source puts it, while it might be exhilarating to celebrate some of the latest technology accomplishments, it's likely more useful to identify, acknowledge and address chronic end-user failures. It goes on to encourage renewed focus on failures − noting it will motivate IT managers to focus more attention on a permanent solution to these problems.
That suggestion may be open to debate by IT professionals trying to cope with trouble tickets, a deluge of e-mails from unhappy end-users and responding to them in order to communicate the resolution status, or lack of same.
The impact of COVID-19
As if all of that is not taxing enough, along comes the latest and greatest challenge: managing a remote workforce.
Across the globe, millions of professionals and employees across the board have had to adjust to this new normal. In some cases, companies have moved their entire staff component off site; others have opted for a hybrid model of some days at home, some at the office.
Employees and management alike have had to quickly learn how to improve communication and collaboration in a virtual setting. In this time, some businesses have reported productivity losses due to distractions; others note that the lack of commuting has provided staff with valuable time to focus better on tasks in hand and provide enhanced customer service.
The 2021 IT manager is expected to ensure backup of critical infrastructure while working with reduced budgets.
But the one thing all are agreed on is that they need connectivity, hardware that works, state of the art software updates, and cyber security solutions that effectively protect the company's IP in remote locations. All the foregoing falls onto the shoulders of the already beleaguered IT professional.
Industry forecasts note that facilitating the future of work and securing a hybrid working environment is top of the list of tough, pandemic-inflected issues IT leaders must navigate in 2021.
The 2021 IT manager is expected to ensure backup of critical infrastructure while working with reduced budgets.
But before we unfold the pain of the 2021 IT manager, let's unveil the full list of the traditional duties to which this new 'remote working' phenomena must be added.
Global Knowledge lists the top 12 challenges facing IT professionals as:
- Workload
- Cyber security
- Skills gaps
- Digital transformation
- Cloud computing
- Hiring
- Budget
- Leadership support
- Analytics and data management
- Automation
- Project management
- Career growth
Take all the foregoing and add the administration, support, maintenance, security measures, etc, necessary for a remote workforce. The latter looks set to remain − at least in a hybrid model − possibly permanently but certainly for the foreseeable future.
IT managers spend much of their time trying to ensure end-user skill and application is up to scratch − this requires a lot of time and effort. Add to that keeping track of aging hardware and outdated software, which often leads to security hacks, plus a host of legacy applications, and the picture becomes even more complex.
Gartner urges IT infrastructure managers to either modernise or retire legacy applications, even if they are regarded as valuable (albeit aging) application portfolios, computing platforms, etc. The report highlights the urgency of modernisation in the face of the ongoing retirement of baby boomers and the ever-growing dearth of IT skills in the market.
I would also add the issue of dealing with disruption and Gartner agrees, noting that disruptions always occur and are often predictable. IT professionals are recommended to have a proactive strategy in place that not only prepares them to deal with disruption before it occurs, but they are encouraged to embrace it, learn from it and develop best practices out of it.
What do IT managers really need?
The answer to that is simple: peace of mind. Ideally, all IT managers would like their work environment to be free of end-user problems, which would provide them with the time to employ their valuable IP to the use of technology to solve business problems − the latter is the real reason why they have a job.
They need a holistic IT environment that provides them with maintenance, software patching that is seamless and automated − and where hardware is concerned − they need a situation whereby it does not enter their picture; rather it is somebody else's problem.
In my next article in this series of three, I will outline what is available to harassed IT managers to free them up to do the job they were really hired to do.
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