Organizing IT Better

it-organizationDesigning an IT organization to best meet the needs of your business is a never-ending task.  Just when you think you have the optimal design, factors such as changes in the business, new technologies, or new ways to work come along and mess up the success.  CIO Insight recently published a slideshow of the Nine Ways to Better Organize Your IT Department.  Their suggestions, based on IT consultant Janco Associates research, are:

1.  Chain of Command  Limit your direct reports. There should be no more than five to seven.

2.  Lock Step  Design the IT organizational structure to parallel that of your overall company’s.

3.  Blueprint for Success  Create a career path that allows IT specialists to take on enterprise-operational roles.

4.  Vital Components  Incorporate operational management, quality control and customer-service roles that provide direct feedback to you.

5.  Potent Mix  Integrate strategic planning with security and business continuity.

6.  Silo Smashers  Create positions that act as liaisons to non-IT pros, to elevate organization-wide operations and productivity.

7.  Personal Touch  Stay in close touch with HR on human-asset planning and training

8.  Watchful Eye  Assign a team to stay on top of industry trends, as well as the competition’s moves.

9.  Sharing Intelligence  If there are independent IT functions in other departments outside of your managerial duties, stay in close touch so you know what technologies they’re using.

How would you redesign about your IT function to make it more effective?

That’s a WRAP!  Have a nice weekend.

Speak Your Mind

*