No matter how much one knows about its purpose and importance, strategic planning, at the moment to manage an IT environment, does not always receive the due attention. It is one in a hurry or this step is even skipped. Many claim lack of time. The outcome is certain: customers and employees unhappy with systems and / or slow network, among other serious infrastructure problems.
Even when IT management is often seen as an “ugly duckling” of the sector, if well designed and followed up, it can bring numerous benefits, including financial ones, on account of the stability of systems. Even the internal image in the company with respect to IT may improve with the board.
Below are highlighted the top five mistakes that should not be made by IT management:
Not having a professional dedicated to monitoring: The monitoring needs to be done by someone who understands and knows what to do to remedy the problem and prevent damage when some fault alarm sounds. Or if there is an experienced and dedicated team or a specialized service company is hired.
Not knowing which KPIs are the most important to the business: Take your time! It is needless to monitor everything from the start, at the same time. Start by identifying what is most important to the business of the company, and thus, the alignment of IT to the business will naturally happen. After mastering a first situation, it is easier to increase the actions and the monitored items. Try to know what the greatest concern of the company is, start with it, and treat it. Then identify what follows on.
Choosing the tool before setting the processes: The tool alone does not solve all the problems. Tool + knowledge = solution. Therefore, to do well, one must know where “to hammer”, even when already getting the best and strongest hammer in the world. Make the tool be well managed, for it defines who will analyze the reports, and what will be done when a warning signal sounds. The process of management is continuous and never ends. Technology is always changing, and always new pains are discovered and need to be resolved. Do not put a team on the field without tactics. Data analysis should be done by dedicated managers, and not shared inexperienced professionals.
Not knowing TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and ROI (Return on Investment): The Head Count (human resources) usually makes up the largest expense in a project of this type. If the company has already set the ideal tool, it also needs to have the appropriate professional to handle it.
ROI: knowing the value of the damage at the time of any crash or fall in the system is the principal means of achieving the return on the investment in the team and tool.
TCO versus “designer clothing”: it is not always that the most expensive thing is guaranteed to have been the right choice. It is no use having the costliest tool, if no one knows how to configure it, or if it lacks the necessary flexibility for the company. It is essential to assess all this before purchasing.
Not knowing how to value the IT work: Learn how to make “personal marketing” of IT and always disclose positive data related to day-to-day, based on statistics. Providing dashboards / control panels with data about the availability of the system or the Internet, for example, for the user, is known to decrease the number of calls. Insufficient minimum indicators to measure the performance of the IT devices and items. Currently the technology makes it possible to send alarms by phone, email or otherwise make available via the company Intranet access, for example.
