In order for an IS organization to successfully support the needs of its constituency, a wide array of disciplines must be efficiently and effectively managed. These disciplines include both technical and non-technical processes, and require the skills and talents of a variety of specialists.
A recent study conducted by Computer Economics indicates that there is a wide disparity in the effective management of many of these critical disciplines within IS organizations across literally every industry sector.
As part of the annual Computer Economics Information Systems Spending & Technology Trends study, Computer Economics asked over 215 technology executives and managers to rate the effectiveness of 22 critical management and technical disciplines that cover nearly every aspect of maintaining a large data center environment. The following IS disciplines were rated in the study:
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Asset Management |
Process Management |
A key question that the IT executives and managers were asked was “How effectively are each of these IS disciplines managed in your organization today?â€
Included in the group of IS disciplines that were rated as the least effectively managed were problem management, service level management, customer management, strategic planning, and IT & business alignment. The low rating of these critical disciplines will be disturbing news to IT and business executives alike. All of the lowest ranked disciplines have “customer facing†aspects that can be very detrimental in terms of the IS organizations credibility when they are poorly executed.
Our analysis of the trends in this area indicates that many IS organizations have a lot of work to do to improve the effectiveness of many critical IS disciplines and strategies. While there were a few bright spots in the study, such as very high rankings for personnel management and financial management, overall there were more sub-par ratings than above par ratings.
The IT disciplines study is included in the 2004/2005 Information System Spending and Technology study. The 2004/2005 study was completed on June 1, 2004 and is now available. This important planning tool has assisted hundreds of senior IT managers in making critical budget and technology forecasting decisions for 15 years.
Additionally, the results of the IT discipline study will be available in a new report entitled IT Technology & Management Strategies, which will be available by mid-July.
For additional information or to purchase either of these annual studies, please contact Computer Economics at 1-800-326-8100 ext. 51
June 2004