IT Management

IT Management encompasses all activities relating to the governance of IT systems, IT processes, IT personnel and customers. It therefore addresses not only the management of IT hardware but, more importantly, the overall system that deploys information technology (IT) to support business objectives.

In the prevailing understanding of IT management's role, a trend towards “production orientation” has been observable in recent years. This essentially means an approximation of IT service delivery to the industrial production of goods. This modern methodology is justified by the efficiency potential unlocked by the widespread proliferation of information technology.

Core Principles of Modern IT Management

The following aspects characterise this approach and its central guiding principles:

Modern IT management aligns itself with customer requirements. This results in a focus of IT production on the value contributed to the customer by the services delivered — a concept that can be described as a kind of Lean IT Management.

Relationships between IT service providers and recipients are fundamentally viewed solely as customer–supplier relationships. This applies equally to companies and their own internal IT departments. This also highlights the intensified competitive situation between internal and external IT organisations, which leads directly to the topic of IT outsourcing — a field that is growing ever more significant in the context of global value creation networks.

IT is definitively not operated as an end in itself; it must deliver a defined strategic value contribution to corporate objectives (Strategic Alignment). To ensure IT is correctly aligned with corporate objectives, an IT strategy is required — one derived from the overarching corporate strategy.

Furthermore, lifecycle thinking has entered modern IT management. This perspective is of particular relevance given the distribution of IT costs: the initial investment alone can no longer serve as the sole basis for calculation. Operating and maintenance costs must also be factored in, as these can account for up to 80% of total IT costs. Additionally, the stance of many shareholders with respect to environmental and social criteria has shifted, making effective lifecycle management of IT systems (development, production, operation and disposal) indispensable.

Domains of IT Management

IT Governance

Here, the company's overall strategy is translated into IT terms, and the alignment of IT management with corporate objectives is ensured through Strategic Alignment. To achieve this, it is necessary to integrate an IT expert into the upper tier of the corporate hierarchy (e.g. as CIO) who proactively promotes mutual understanding between IT and top management.

An important role is also played here by the function of IT Controlling, which measures IT performance to ensure the sustainable support of business objectives by IT.

A widely used framework for implementing successful IT Governance is CobiT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology). It provides structural foundations for the implementation of IT Governance as well as its monitoring and control.

IT Service Management

This sub-domain of IT management focuses in particular on aligning internal processes with the customer and their requirements. The emphasis is on IT service delivery in terms of generating value or benefit for the customer.

See the further details on IT Service Management.

Service delivery follows a lifecycle orientation in order to also factor in the ongoing costs of IT systems. This equally leads to the inclusion of upstream value creation stages, implemented primarily through IT Procurement Management. Ecological and social aspects are increasingly being taken into account here.

IT Risk Management

Also worth noting is the assessment of risks that can arise in the context of using information technology. In this regard, the security of IT operations plays an essential role. This area can be addressed through appropriate measures within the context of IT Security Management.

What value does this create for your business?

Implementing an IT management framework that is embedded within the overall organisation is a necessary prerequisite for the successful deployment of IT to generate economic value.

In doing so, diverse subject areas (see above) must be addressed and considered in an integrated manner. The described paradigm shift towards the “production of IT” leads to increased competitive pressure on IT management. External competitors are also factored into the evaluation of service delivery, making the optimisation of one's own resources and processes of great importance.

Choose Pröhl Consulting from Berlin for competent IT management consulting.

We are happy to offer you our many years of experience in the field of IT management and the implementation of extensive optimisations across virtually every industry and company size — to increase your efficiency and reduce the risks you face.

Interested in consulting to identify performance potential and optimisation opportunities for your IT management? Don't hesitate to contact us.