I.T. Management on Demand
Businesses should succeed because of their I.T.
That is why we help to liberate their users from disappointing I.T. delivery.
The I.T. Organization Provides I.T. Management Services.
We recognize management competence as the single biggest determining factor for the success of I.T. service delivery.
I.T. is no longer about the toys and the technologies. People make the difference. Effective management and efficient organization of your I.T. people and technology investments because of great management makes the difference. It makes the difference between being distracted daily by technology that just don’t work, or technology that enables your company’s success.
The Challenge is Organization
The challenge every company faces with their I.T. is knowing how to best organize this costly resource. I.T. people make up the single largest component - between 40% and 60% of day-to-day I.T. overhead. At the I.T. Organization we devote ourselves to better understanding, structuring and managing this important part of your business.
An I.T. department is expensive, complex and risky business. Having a dysfunctional I.T. capability can severely hamper a company’s success. Therefore, it is even more important to entrust it to experts.
Finding Experts is Difficult
Finding expert I.T. Service Management, Program and Project Management, is difficult. Finding expert management that can rapidly improve your company’s I.T. function is even more challenging. Your company can hire good managers. However, good managers can still fail to unlock the value of your I.T. investments. “Good” managers still need a good “system” to be successful in their task.
We believe we, the I.T. Organization has the experts you need. Our managers come armed with a good system and market leading tools to make your I.T. delivery a success. They are all experts with more than 15 years experience in their respective fields.
Leadership is About Knowing “Why”
Your company’s “C” roles have the responsibility for leadership. The C.E.O., C.I.O. and C.F.O. sets the vision, tone and direction for a business. Leadership should never be outsourced. Leaders define “why” things get done.
Management on the other hand - what we do - has responsibility to know “how” to get the job done. Management are responsible for organizing, resourcing, process, budget, performance control and more. This can be entrusted to independent expert providers to free the C.E.O. or C.I.O. to be able to truly lead.
Leadership is Core, Management is Key
Ambitious progressive and innovative companies more and more realizes the value of what we offer. Firstly, they recognize the importance of good I.T. services for their business. Secondly, they recognize that while it is important, it is not core, and can therefore entrusted to experts in the same way they trust a telephone company to provide their telephone services, a courier company to deliver their products, or an accounting firm to provide them with auditing and financial management services.
These are the companies that allow us to drive the delivery of their I.T. Services while they devote their attention to their core business aspects. We help them to transform and grow their businesses with the knowledge that their I.T. will be right up there supporting their endeavours.
Getting the Job Done
For fifteen years we’ve been advising on, and managing I.T. for companies. We’ve done it on three continents and in various industries ranging from financial services, manufacturing, media, utilities, and many more. We’ve done it for companies with staff of 60 to staff of 16,000. Clients who used our systems now commission us to run their I.T. Services, Portfolios, Programs and Projects. They use us to manage their existing I.T.. We then help them evolve their businesses through effective I.T. delivery.
Our core group of Management Professionals are equipped with industry leading tools, skills and experience to rapidly advance your I.T. agenda. We make ongoing investments in the development of our managerial staff. This ensures that you get only the best people working on your business’ I.T. as and when they are needed. It ensures that we get the job done right, and at a reasonable fee.
Start With Knowing Where You Are
We typically start an engagement with a Profiling Assessment: We profile your existing I.T. organization maturity to determine your company’s initial I.T. pain points. We identify areas for immediate attention and stabilization.
Once we engage for day-to-day Service Management we audit your I.T. infrastructure and transitions this information to our ITIL compliant Service Management platform. This allows us to effectively oversee the Operations and Support for all I.T. Services provided by vendors and staff. We stabilize the current state.
The next step is then to evolve the I.T. Services to improve the value it provides to your business. This we do through a Portfolio, of Programs and Projects that delivers on new and improved I.T. services. We manage these through our Portfolio workbench tool. It can include the implementation of improved infrastructure, better software, new vendor offerings, process improvements and more. Each initiative is evaluated and pursued on merit.
Call The I.T. Organization
When should prospective clients call in the expertise of The I.T. Organization?
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•When it is hard to attract and retain top talent for the breadth of management specialities required to manage your I.T.
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•When the I.T. Function is perceived to inhibit the business strategy, growth, and innovation.
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•When you have a department, project or business in trouble due to perceived I.T. non-delivery.
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•When your I.T. is out of control and a risk not worth taking anymore.
Then you should make the I.T. Organization your I.T. organization.
Let us get your I.T. job done for you.
Hendrik van Wyk
The Approach
The IT Organization recommends the following approach:
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•Profiling Assessment: We profile your existing I.T. organization to assess its I.T. organizational maturity. This is typically a 1 month engagement with a detailed report providing options for improvement and recommending a course of action. The fee for this engagement is dependent on the size and complexity of your operation.
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•Transition and Deploy: The IT Organization initiates a coordinated engagement to move your I.T. organization towards a more mature practice through the rollout of the The IT Organization Generation 2 or 3 Service Delivery Framework (SDF®). This is typically a 3 - 6 month engagement depending on the size and complexity of your operation. This includes:
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•Functional alignment of staff according to The IT Organization’s Service Operating Framework® and Profile-I.T. Role Competency Framework®.
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•Standardize processes, deployment and compiling of compliance documentation. Migrating into our Service Management tool and our Project Management Workbench.
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•Continuous innovation process deployment.
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•Assimilating your existing I.T. management into The IT Organization for development and training, and discerning and deploying the necessary management personnel for the assignment from these managers or other Profiled IT People staff if necessary.
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•Strategic Sourcing: The IT Organization will assist you to make decisions on sourcing staff, outsourcing and procurement of products and service to address your business needs for improved solutions, lower cost and mature service execution. We broker relationships with key outsourcing providers as needed and where required, and as it is needed by the Generational model.
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•Provision of Management Services: The IT Organization engage with you on an ongoing basis to manage and improve your service execution; effectively managing the business transformation and the Operate & Support services (Outsource Management). By assimilating the most competent of your existing management into our organization for training and development you retain their knowledge of your organization where you wish to and we infuse that understanding with ours of the task and execution at hand. By deploying highly competent management professionals, we provide the following at an agreed monthly contract fee:
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•Portfolio Management.
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•Program/Project Management.
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•Operations Management (Software and Infrastructure).
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•Support Management.
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•Capability Sourcing and Management.
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•Vendor (Outsource) Service Management.
Project Life-Cycle
IT Service Management Objectives
Ten Questions for Your Current I.T. Management
If your I.T. Management can answer the following without problems, then you probably don’t need our services. If you do have trouble in these areas, we can help through our competency upgrade and management services.
Questions About Managing Today's I.T.
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1.Service Asset Management: What I.T. services and assets are you using in our company? What is it, where is it, who is using it, how much is it costing? Who supplied it? When was it procured, and when it is due for refresh, renewal or replacement?
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2.Incident and Problem Management: How many and what type of incidents and problems do you have with each one of these I.T. items and service you use? When did it occur, who was impacted by the issue, what was the impact, the cost, and what was done to resolve it and eliminate it for good?
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3.Financial Management: How much is your company’s I.T. budget? How are you tracking against your I.T. budget, and how does it relate to your business performance:? Considering your business' performance, should you expect to spend more or less on your I.T., to make you even more successful?
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4.Process Management: Can your staff request I.T. services online? Can it be done from a standard list of services, that is underlined by existing supplier contracts, and tracked against existing budget allocations. Can you see who requesting what, and also see where in the process the request is, and when it is due to be completed?
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5.Resource Management: What is the level of competency of your technical staff and contractors you employ? How are they performing. How much do they cost, and how can they be better utilized?
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6.Change Management: What changes have been made to your services, who made them, what was the impact on your users, and what did it cost? Was it worthwhile making the changes?
Questions About Managing Tomorrow's I.T.
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7.Strategy: What is your strategy with our information technology and services? Are you going to approach it as you do currently or change your approach in the near future? How are you planning to make use of, and apply the latest advances in Client Computing (bring your own - BYO), Cloud Services (work anywhere), ubiquitous networking, and managed services to benefit our business? Is our I.T. advancement in line with your business strategy, and will it enable or curtail it's success? How do you accommodate your legacy I.T. investments, should you, and will it curtail you from future opportunities?
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8.Portfolio Management: Which business and I.T. improvement initiatives have been requested? Which Programs and Projects are currently in-flight, and how are they doing in relation to your expectation for business value, expenditure, and timeline? Are you making the best use of your resources? Which resources are utilized? Is your Portfolio of Programs and Projects supporting your business strategy, and to what degree are you succeeding in meeting these strategic demands?
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9.Program and Project Management: What is the status of each Program and Project in relation to work performed, costs incurred and timelines met? What is the likelihood of success given past performance and current state of each project? What issues are in play, and what has been done to mitigate or address each to ensure success?
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10.Resource Management: What resources do you have at our disposal to implement the future state the company's I.T. services? What are the skills, budget, vendor relationships, your capacity for change, and what needs to be done to improve these resources and maximize their contribution?
These are probably more than 10 questions. However, it illustrates the most important aspects that should occupy your management’s time. If you don’t have readily available answers to the above, we may be of assistance.
