Assignment: Refer to The Adventures of an IT Leader: Barton writes “IT management is about management”. As a Reply to this message discuss the following: Is IT management different from other functions? Is it truly about management (skills, talent management, key contributors) or something else (technology, hardware, software)? What do you think? Justify your answer.
I absolutely agree with the sentiment that IT management is about management - at the end of the day that's really the point. Certainly IT management has it's own unique challenges, and an IT manager may need to be more aware of new technology and have a broader understanding of what those IT personnel he (or she) is managing are responsible for, but at the end of the day it really is about managing relationships between people, and groups, and ensuring that employees have the tools, materials and information they require to successfully perform their jobs. An IT manager doesn't need to know how to write SQL or hook up a router, but they do need to have a broader picture of what the tools are used for, and what is needed for a task to be considered satisfactorily completed. In some ways an IT manager may have a more difficult job that a manager on the business side of an organization - they have to work with people who may be far more intelligent in their specific field, but in many cases a programmer or network admin may not have the experience to understand their role from a broader business perspective. It becomes the responsibility of the IT manager to not only help them to understand how they fit in to the business, but also to help explain why certain aspects of IT may not be as high a priority for the organization as a whole, as it seems for that individual or in the broader scope of IT. These people skills have to be strong and flexible enough to work effectively with IT employees, but also when interacting with the business side of the organization, both to understand the perspective and requirements of the business, but also to help the business side understand the needs and viewpoint of IT.