CIO Blog

Coping with the Motivation Cycle

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:21:00 +0000

Human nature being what it is, we all have needs and desires that want fulfilling. As a manager one of our key roles is to motivate our teams but who motivates the manager? Maybe the manager above, but I feel the downward motivation gets less the higher up the management chain you move. Perhaps there is a view that the more experienced and knowledgeable you are then you should be self motivating.
I think that last statement is true but we also need to recognise that no matter how experienced we are we will have moments when we hit the bottom of the motivation cycle. This is usually due to many things like; moments of doubt, lack of communication, lack of involvement, lack of direction, feeling that your worth is not recognised, a throw away comment from a colleague or just the volume of things to be achieved.
Recognising that it is not unusual and we all suffer in some form from occasional low moments is part of the solution to move back up the motivation cycle.
How long the low point exists will depend on the individual and the circumstances that contributed.
The key is to get out of the low point as soon as possible. To do that we have to recognise that we have to self motivate and can’t wait for external inputs which may never come. No matter how good you are or how well thought of you are, senior management or peer groups are often uncomfortable in telling you, so you have to do it yourself and one way is to seek the positives which may include:-
Personal pride, the desire to achieve, recognising it’s not personal, supporting your team, review your successes, focusing on your goals, breaking down the tasks, seek clarification etc.
Whilst the cycle will always have highs and lows we can reduce the lows by doing something about them. Keep smiling!

The Power of 10

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:21:00 +0000

Half way through the year and time for our half year resolutions or the power of 10. Ten things you can do next week to make a difference.
1. Meet 10 new people in the organisation
2. Set a goal to achieve 10 things from your to do list
3. Set a target to reduce outstanding calls on the service desk by 10%
4. Grow your personal network by 10 people
5. Learn 10 things about the system you are weakest on.
6. Send out one ' how to' tip for users every week for the next 10 weeks
7. Find 10 cost savings
8. Generate 10 new ideas
9. Try and spend 10 minutes with each member of your team during the week
10. Spend 10 minutes a day sorting your desk and that mass of papers

Top things in managing an IT department - part 8 (the end)

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Finally completed this series and here at the last 8 taking us to the magic 50.
The last 8 things are numbers 43-50 and again they are not necessarily in any order of importance. As always please feedback things that I have missed or just let me know your thoughts.
Hope it has stimulated some thought.

43.You need a Quality Plan
Quality should be in everything you do but it is an important subject often taken lightly. Quality is about the use of best practice, adherence to standards and ensuring fitness for purpose. Having a quality plan will help you think about how you are going to deliver quality in all projects. It is effectively the instruction manual for achieving quality.

44. Model the Business
There is some advantage in considering tools that allow you to hold a model of the business. Often known as Case tools these hold company organisation/ structure/process etc. They provide a total picture of the business and can be useful particularly if making change and ensuring you understand the impact of that change (scenario planning). This is a time consuming and detailed piece of work and you should only consider this if you are prepared to invest the manpower not only in doing it but also in maintaining it.

45. Consulting
Become the consultant to the business on technology and process. To do this you need to get closer to the business and get involved in business decision making and client reviews. You need to input your ideas and thoughts in a positive and professional manner to ensure the business leaders recognise the value of your contribution. Eventually you will be called on to contribute as a natural part of the business process.

46. Maturity Models
Maturity models can be useful. They attempt to define different levels of maturity for different processes such as software development, project management etc (in fact I saw an article where somebody said there were over 30 different models!). By answering the questions for each level it determines your position within the model and then you can move up the maturity levels by implementing the missing pieces. A good way to determine where you are and to progress.

47. Remote and Mobile working
Make sure the business can operate externally whether that is from home, internet café, hotel or clients premises. Look at delivering a secure access solution to the business systems. The workforce is becoming more and more mobile and flexible working is becoming popular so this facility is a must in most businesses.

48. Gateway Reviews
Gateway reviews are a key management tool and decision point. They are used a lot by government and local authorities. Use them at various points in a project. They allow a review of the status of the project by peer groups who can question the value and potential success of the project. Because the peer group are not directly involved in the project they can often see things that the project group cant. If used properly they can halt a bad project or help to put it back on track. Beware of the politics.

49. Knowledge
As they say Knowledge is power. Look at your knowledge management strategy.
All businesses have masses of information often locked up in separate systems. This information is extremely valuable if used properly. There are a number of ways of seeking this out from specific products to using enterprise search tools. It could save your business time and also increase your competitiveness particularly if you consider sharing some knowledge with your clients.

50. New Ways of working
Keep up with new ways of working and review if they can benefit your business. Consider pilots/trials. Everything from Hotelling/hot desking to home working but maybe more obscure ideas. Be an innovator!

THE END

The Internal IT Salesman

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:38:00 +0000

One of the hardest things is to tell the world (or at least the internal management) what you have done and what you are doing. Hard in two senses, one in finding time to break away from the 'doing' and secondly putting the story together in 'non IT' or business speak.
We are all doing some good and innovative projects as well as keeping the ‘lights on’ but if nobody knows about them, then it can be in vain. Lack of awareness doesn’t enhance our reputation and there is a danger that we are just seen as a support department rather than a strategic partner.
Of course there is no one solution and it needs many different approaches and constant attention.
One method I am trying is what I call the salesman’s approach (that is pre PowerPoint!)
This is based on an A4 landscape ring binder easel. (This sits on the desk and allows you to flip over A4 sheets.)
Now you need to develop an elevator speech on paper to put into business language what you have done, what you are doing and the road map going forward.
You should be able to talk to this for no more than 15 minutes.
Run it against a friendly non IT manager and if all goes well, set up a series of meetings with senior and middle managers, arrive with your A4 book, flip it open on the desk and go through the pitch.
This should help to ensure people know what is happening and they will all get the same message plus you may get some useful feedback as well.

Top things in managing an IT department - part 7

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:39:00 +0000

I am now pushing on with this series and have just about got to the magic 50 so we are nearly there.
The next 6 things are numbers 37-42 and again they are not necessarily in any order of importance. As always please feedback things that I have missed or just let me know your thoughts.

37. Succession planning
No matter how good you are at looking after your staff people will leave and it is important that you think about who would take over. Sometimes you just have to go external to bring in the right experience but that shouldn’t be the plan. You should plan to have somebody moving towards the ability to take over a position if the current incumbent leaves. Yes there is a danger that you train people and then they leave because the position isn’t available when they feel ready for the next career move but that is better than having no people coming up within the organisation.

38. Production environment
Keep it safe. Build the moat! Make sure your production environment is separated from the test environment and protect it well with technology and process. Also protect it from attack both deliberate and accidental.

39. Testing
Test, test and test again. Testing is the key to a successful implementation. There is a whole career to be made in testing and it is a vast subject with tiers of testing types from ‘unit’ to full ‘integration’ testing and also lots of software to automate the process. Some people will see it as overkill but ignore them and insist on a test plan that is rigorously followed. It will pay off.

40. Innovate
Keep ahead of the game (and the competition). Encourage new ideas from the business and from IT. Create an Ideas bank so it is easy for people to define their thoughts. Link it from the Intranet. Develop a new product development process to make sure that ideas get reviewed and there is feedback to the contributor. Also it is important to identify the need and the value of the idea. Try to get some Research and Development funds in the budget.

41.Push for Data Management
Data is the lifeblood of many organisations but it is not often looked after very well.
Define the data owners and push for the physical stewardship of data to ensure its coherence, availability and accuracy.
Give them the tools to audit and manage the data. Get them involved in system change, data migration, system modifications and the data impact of those events. Build the validation at the gateways and try to keep the rubbish out!

42. Organisational awareness
This is a bit more sophisticated than item 17 where we talked about the customer touch points. That was more specific to the IT service.
Organisational awareness is a bit fluffier but is essential to the well being of what is achieved in IT.
This is about understanding the culture of the organisation so you can swim with the tide. It is about being politically aware of who are the real decision makers and influencers; it is about networking with those people. Create yourself a stakeholder map of the business and use it to your advantage. You and your organisation will be stronger for it.

Digital Rights Management DRM

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:50:00 +0000

Digital Rights Management (DRM)
“A system for protecting the copyright of digital data by enabling secure distribution and/or disabling illegal distribution of the data. Typically, a DRM system protects intellectual property by either enctypting the data so that it can only be accessed by authorized users or marking the content with a watermark or similar method so that the content can not be freely distributed.”

Interesting subject when you start to go into it.
I had read about it but hadn’t taken much notice until a conversation I had with someone made me dig a bit deeper.
The worry was that someone could send a document with DRM embedded that we would store and it would then be unreadable at a later date due to a deletion or expiry date in the DRM setting.
It may not be quite that bad as yet because I understand that you need to be registered and have to accept the DRM policy.
But there might be a need for some user awareness here as I am not sure that a user couldn’t accept a DRM document by registering their email address and accepting the policy without us knowing about it.
There seems to be 5 players in this market, Microsoft, Adobe, EMC, Oracle and Liquid M/C.
If anybody has any more information or can provide more clarification, would be worth sharing otherwise it is one to watch particularly in the Vista and beyond territory.

Predictions 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:16:00 +0000

My predictions for 2008 are based on the background that companies are looking ahead (and behind them!) in order to ensure they are positioned in an ever competitive and changing market place with still an uncertainty on how some future scenarios may pan out. The Triple Crown of increased profit, improved efficiency and added value remains the goal for a lot of companies.
On that basis I believe that Business Intelligence software will continue to grow in importance as companies try to understand their business in more depth, BPM (business Process Management) software will figure in order to drive efficiency. There is also likely to be more moves towards the less paper office both for efficiency, security and the new mantra of being ‘green’ so we will see increased integrated scanning solutions. Within IT departments, server virtualisation will continue apace with new players such as Microsoft challenging the VMware dominance. Collaboration software such as Microsoft’s Groove will start to be considered as a way to add value with clients and improved mobility for people will be introduced with more services available via handheld or remote devices (Blackberry will still dominate over Microsoft), IP telephony and WiFi. Improved web sites using Web 2.0 will start to emerge as differentiators in the market place.
Customers will increase their demands for efficiency pushing e-billing and electronic communication up the priority list. E-billing will present a major challenge with increased costs due to lack of standardisation at the delivery point.
Sharepoint will still be high on the agenda but the reality will kick in as to what can actually be achieved. Vista will be reviewed but risk adverse sectors will put it back to 2009 except for the brave few! Office 2007 will follow a similar route. Concerns such as DRM (Digital Rights Management) and how that will impact records management and elctronic document sharing will start to be debated.

A-Z of Leadership Behaviours

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 17:49:00 +0000

Attending a recent course on complex projects we discussed the characteristics of a successful leader and came up with an A-Z list (Had to think hard on X and Z!). On returning home I thought I would try to recreate it just for a bit of fun. Some of the key things for me are taking Responsibility, being a Mentor to your team, Honesty (telling it how it is and doing it early (Don’t hide from problems no matter how difficult)), Supportive to the team and individuals and Encouraging (tell them when it’s good).
Here is the list. Am sure you can add a few more!

A - Assertive, Approachable, Accountable
B - Balanced, Brave
C - Creative, Coherent, Curious
D - Decisive, Delegating
E - Enthusiastic, Empowering, Encouraging
F - Focussed, Flexible
G - Goal-Orientated, Governing
H - Honest, Helpful, Happy
I - Intuitive, Intelligent
J - Just
K - Knowledgeable
L - Listener, Lawful
M - Motivational, Mindful, Mentor
N - Nurturing, Noble
O - Objective, Open, Opportunist
P - Perceptive, Progressive, Personable
Q - Questioning
R - Reliable, rational
S - Self motivating, Strategist
T - Trustworthy, Thinker
U - Understanding
V - Versatile, Venerable
W - Willing, Wise
X - Xenophilous
Y - Yearning
Z - Zealous

Business Relationship Managers

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:08:00 +0000

I have mentioned before the need to align to the business. It is very important that IT understands the business that we work for and also for them to understand us. I don’t think IT is very good at this but it is important to a successful relationship and a profitable business.

IT can deliver business benefit, without a doubt, but to help in this we do need to understand what makes the business and its clients tick, their drivers and their issues.
One way of achieving this is the role of a Business Relationship Manager (BRM) assigned to specific areas of the business. Larger companies may have the luxury of being able to fund this as a full time role. They are often called Account Managers and sometimes the role is coupled with project management responsibilities.
But in smaller companies this cannot be justified and certainly not until it has proved a value.

One way around the lack of available headcount is to double the role up with existing ones. By this I mean giving each existing IT Manager/ Senior Team leader or other responsible person the additional role of Business Relationship Manager (BRM) for one or more areas.

The BRM would need to allocate some time, within their assigned area(s), getting to know the people and the work they do.

In particular their goal would be to do the following:-
- Relate IT Strategy, direction, projects, and issues to their business area
- Relate the business plan, direction, issues, concerns and needs of their business area back to the IT group.
- Create visibility in the business area
- Identify and meet regularly with key stakeholders in their area. these stakeholders should be a mix of key managers but also influential administration staff.

Hopefully this approach will be a two way benefit with both sides having more knowledge and respect for each other and maybe some new business benefits emerging.

The AKAN Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:54:00 +0000

AKAN who?
The Akan are an ancient African tribe. The Akan calendar is based on what the Akan call 'forty days’. Close examination of the cycle reveals forty-two different days, with the forty-third being the same as the first. (So it has inbuilt contingency!)

The objective of the plan is to manage what is to be achieved over the next 40 working days (basically the next two months) so as to get some focus.
The plan I have devised covers high level project status, Tasks and Strategic items. It details what is going to be delivered, when and by whom. We give the projects a risk rating within 1 to 5 based on likelihood of achieving the delivery.

What and when is committed to by the owner and the plan is shared across the department and reviewed regularly. It doesn't replace detailed programme plan or project reviews but gives a higher level view of what is happening.

It's a sort of I Can AKAN.!

Top things in managing an IT department - Part 6

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:05:00 +0000

After a bit of a lay off due to work pressures I can continue with this series.
The next 6 things are numbers 31-36 and again they are not necessarily in any order of importance. This is part of a series of postings and at the moment will end at 39 unless I think of some more or I get some feedback for things that I have missed so as always please let me know your thoughts.

31. Review alternative methods of working (or else somebody else will)
Outsourcing, co-sourcing and other methods of working are out there, always in the press and the board will read the articles and ask if one of them could save them money. It can be effective for a number of reasons and in some cases not at all suitable. This can change year on year as different business change comes into play. The key thing here is not to ignore it but to review and be in a position to recommend a change or to show why it is not suitable at this stage. I would look at this on a regular basis.

32. Know your support capabilities
It is extremely important to know what your support capabilities are and failure in this area will catch you out at the worst possible time. Make sure you know what you need to support in terms of system and Infrastructure, to what level and over what periods. Then assess your existing capabilities and identify the gaps. Fill the gaps as soon as possible whether that’s internally or using a third party to extend your own capabilities. You will sleep better.

33. Manage the minefield of software licensing
Don’t get into trouble over illegal licences. It is theft after all. Ensure you know what software you are using. Consider a software discover solution. Lock down PC's so people can't install software without approval. Have a policy that the staff are signed up to so it is a disciplinary offence to install software without authority. Record your licences/ invoices so you can prove ownership. Get somebody trained to understand licensing as some suppliers make it complicated and you can find yourself in an illegal situation without realising it.

34. Recruitment plan with structured interviews
When recruiting create a plan. The plan should contains such things as Creating the Job specification and personal specification, Defining the recruitment process (how and who), Considering filter or pre screening of candidates, the interview process (stages/ interviewers/ structured questions etc), Testing (consider technical tests and/or psychometric testing), Background and reference checking, Offer process. This should then lead into an induction programme for the new recruit.

35. Retain your staff
It’s a bit like customers. It’s cheaper to keep your existing staff than recruit new ones. You don’t just have to pay them massive amounts of cash but you do need to treat them well. Some key things to consider are frequent communication (people like to know what is going on), Regular Appraisal (Listen and give feedback on performance), Training (give people the skills and keep them up-to-date), Working environment (make it a great place to work), Fun (bring some fun into work with sports and social type activities), Rewards and Recognition (not necessarily expensive but recognising achievement or going that extra mile is worth a lot to the individual)

36. Audit
Auditing gives the opportunity to check that things are being done as expected. Consider an external audit but if not you could do it internally. Obviously not as good as it is hard to be objective when you are amongst it. Create an Audit plan starting with the scope and objectives. Who is going to do it, what are they going to look at and how. Something’s to consider auditing are the DR plan and tests, Backups, Change control process, Any of your documented processes, SLA compliance and process etc.

Keeping Staff

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:51:00 +0000

Have seen some interesting discussion recently about keeping staff.
As usual salary was not the top motivator.
Some of the views expressed plus my own include:-

Treating people as intelligent adults and empowering them as such

Stretch their capabilities and move them into new spaces or out of their comfort zone (Word of warning here - This would need to be accompanied by good support structures or you will have the opposite effect!)

Allow Creativity

Create an environment where people can flourish

Make work fun whilst working hard

Provide rewards but not necessarily pay.

Acknowledge success

Look at the culture and ensure it is blame free.

Create a training plan to give people a road map for growth

Be honest and open

Trust people

Give feedback

Mentor

Provide an appraisal process that is not just an annual tick in the box but a living document frequently used. Consider 360 (views of your peers) assessment where applicable.

Tackle problems as they occur and dont leave them to fester

Team working

Let me know if you disagree or haver any others

Peter

Top things in managing an IT department - Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:18:00 +0000

The next 6 things to address in the series 'managing an IT department'. We are now at numbers 25-30 and again they are not necessarily in any order of importance. This will be a series of postings until I have completed the total, which stands at about 36 at the moment. Please feed back any comments.

25. PR (Public Relations to us)
Consider proactive PR. Consider how you can communicate your successes and plans to the wider community. This could be very key in a major business transformation project. Think outside the box on this, from posters to videos, from t-shirts to mouse mats, from pod casting to the Intranet. When you have completed projects with suppliers consider a press release. Maybe enter some technology or business awards. No matter what - tell them!

26. Supplier relationships
This is worth putting some effort into. A good relationship with a supplier can pay back handsomely. You should treat suppliers fairly, recognise that they also need to make a profit and have a business to run and look for a win-win situation. If you ‘screw’ your supplier then maybe you get some credit up front but when the chips are down that supplier is not going to have you high on his list of buddies and he will look after those customers that are of more value to him. Spend time exchanging information so you understand the supplier and they understand your business. Have regular review meetings and create supplier records so you and your team know who to contact, where the contracts are held, types of services provided etc.

27. Supplier contracts
Don’t just accept the contract no matter how good the company that is offering it seems. Contracts only come into their own when things go wrong and in most cases that won’t happen but when it does you will wish you had spent some time on the contract. So assume the worst and get your lawyer to go through the contract and ensure it’s fair and balanced.

28. Get to understand the clients (the value chain)
The customer is king was an old saying that still remains true today. In IT we have two customers internal and external. All things that we do should consider the external customer and ensure that we are adding value to the customer process. In order to do that we need to understand what makes the customer tick. We can understand our internal process in some detail but we also need to understand the ‘touch’ points where the customer process interacts with our process. It would be even better if we could go beyond that and get information on the customer’s internal process. Understanding that may provide an opportunity to add extra value and get ahead of the competition.

29. Check out the competition
Find out what your competitors are up to. Attend industry conferences and special interest groups. Exchange information with peers. Check industry web sites and magazines. Just be aware don’t necessarily keep up with the joneses! But make sure you are not missing a trick!

30. Change management is king
Protect the production environment at all costs. Remember issues and errors are often caused by change so don’t let any changes into that environment without scrutiny. Consider a Change advisory board CAB to review and agree changes. Make sure changes have a back out plan and make sure they have been tested.

The A-Z of Chief Officer Job Titles for IT

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:06:00 +0000

Everything seems to be Chief XX Officer today so thought maybe we could structure the whole of IT into CxO job titles.Here is my attempt at an A-Z of Chief Officer Titles for IT:-
Chief Application Officer
Chief Bandwidth Officer
Chief Development Officer
Chief Environment Officer
Chief Frameworking Officer
Chief Gaming Officer
Chief Hardware Officer
Chief Information Officer
Chief Java Officer
Chief Knowledge Officer
Chief Learning Officer
Chief Mobile Officer
Chief Normalisation Officer
Chief Operations Officer
Chief Process Officer
Chief Quality Officer
Chief Return on Investment Officer
Chief Systems Officer
Chief Technology Officer
Chief User Friendly Officer
Chief Virtualisation Officer
Chief Wireless Officer
Chief Xpert Systems Oficer
Chief Yesman Officer
Chief Zipping Officer

Top things in managing an IT department- Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:47:00 +0000

The next 6 things to address in managing an IT department. We are now at numbers 19-24 and again they are not necessarily in any order of importance. This will be a series of postings until I have completed the total, which stands at about 36 at the moment. Please feed back any comments.

19. Define the architecture
Define your IT architecture. This is the hardware and software platforms that you use to support the business. Make sure they are consistent and complimentary in order to achieve efficiencies and future positioning.

20. Use business analysis
This is about bridging the gap between business and IT. Understand the requirements and benefits from a business point of view and then interpret those into an IT solution. Business analysis should get you closer to the business and an understanding of how they operate their processes and business rules.

21. Training and developing people
The IT people must be trained to the level you expect for the products they are using or supporting. I would suggest that you create a skills matrix which shows the people in one column and the skills (i.e. Excel) they need in the other. Using a score of 1 to 5 assess where each person is against the specific skill. The skills should be defined against each job function. The areas of weakness can then be identified and appropriate training planned.

22. BPI (Business Process Improvement)
Seriously consider business process improvement methodologies. This is about gaining efficiency and improving quality both internally and more importantly for customers. This involves studying specific areas of the business. They should involve a small number of processes as large studies can be difficult to manage and deliver benefit. The areas chosen should be able to demonstrate a number of issues that need addressing and the study be supported by a senior executive. The methodology will consist of an ‘As-is’ phase (how do we do it now) and a ‘to be’ phase (how we want it to be).
It is about seeking the inefficiencies, the rework, the issues etc. and designing an improved process.

23. Research
Research your marketplace and find out what is happening. Read the magazines and newspapers as well as subscribing to Blogs and web pages that are relevant. It can be time consuming but you can scan them to get an idea of what's what and then home in on interesting areas. You need to be informed.

24. Communication – every which way
This is such a key area and covers internal within your department, external within the business and external with Clients, suppliers and peer groups. If you don’t do this then no matte how good a job you are doing people wont necessarily know about it and could talk your department down. Your clients wont think you are technology savvy and if your own people don’t know what's going on then you will get duplication or complacency.

That's all for part 4. Comments always welcome

Green IT

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Thu, 24 May 2007 14:54:00 +0000

This is a very topical subject and recently I did a 'My take' section in Computer Weekly magazine and there was a story about IBM publishing green metrics for data Centres. My comment was that this was great but wouldnt it be good if a neutral body such as the British Computer Society (BCS) or similiar could publish some best practices. There are a lot of ideas around, some good and some not so practical but if somebody could co-ordinate them then we may have something to aim at?
What do you think? or is there something already out there?

2007 Diary- Weeks 16-19

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:44:00 +0000

When you are new to blogging and you come up with an idea like a weekly diary you eventually realise that there is not enough time in the day and so like this one you have to play catch up. Also where did those weeks go!
One key event was a Gartner conference on IT services in London which was useful both from content and also networking.
Participated in a special interest group from one of our suppliers that is looking to build a new product and was looking for feedback and input. Useful meeting both from seeing what they are up to and getting an early insight. It was also interesting in hearing feedback from your peers in other companies.
Had a review with a supplier regarding a product they are building for us and hopefully resolved some issues as a result.
Went to a meeting of peers in the same industry and which are held about 4 times a year. Very useful both from networking and finding out what your competitors are up to (we are all very open and honest!)but also we work on joint issue to the benefit of all. These might be guidelines or best practice and although they can take time due to time vailability they are normally very useful.

Top things to address in managing an IT Department- Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:09:00 +0000

The next 6 things to address in managing an IT department. We are now at numbers 13-18 and again they are not necessarily in any order of importance. This will be a series of postings until I have completed the total, which stands at about 36 at the moment. Please feed back any comments.

13. Ensure new projects go through an approval process and are tied to business benefits
Usually the demand is greater than the capability so it is important that resources are used wisely to the benefit of the organisation. Create an approval process for new projects where the need is clearly defined, the business benefits, cost and risks are stated plus any return on investment projections. The project should fit into the overall strategy of the business and ideally be in the budget. You may need a senior business executive or committee to review and agree these demands as well as prioritising them.

14. Use project driven methodologies
Consider using dedicated project managers or people trained in a project management methodology to lead the projects. Use a project methodology like Prince2 or PMI but don’t be afraid to adjust them for the size of the organisation, as some can be a bit top heavy. Think the word is Agile. Following this approach will help towards success because they bring some key disciplines to the process.

15. Put projects under a programme plan
With many projects running across an IT department it can be difficult to keep track. Consider using a programme plan approach to ensure visibility of all projects. Use a traffic light (red, amber and green) system to highlight whether the project is under control or not. Depending on size of the organisation consider setting up a project Management office (PMO).

16. Do post project reviews
A lot of the time this is forgotten about. Project delivered so lets move on. However you are missing a trick if you don’t take the time to review the project after completion. Did it complete on time (improved estimating), did we achieve the costs and benefits (improved costing/ budget amendments required etc), What went well/ what didn’t go well (lessons learnt for future projects).

17. Define customer touch points and manage them (don’t be afraid of complaints)IT is a service organisation and your customers are important. Find out who they are. Not just the Department heads but also some of the key people are the next levels down. Set up regular meetings to review IT issues. Don’t be afraid of complaints, tackle then head on. Find out why there was a complaint, sort it out and communicate to the person who complained. They will appreciate that they are being listened to.

18. Put in cost controls
You have a budget but you need to control your costs. Get Finance to send you monthly statements of actual against budget. Drill down to detail if needed. Review the invoice approval process and make sure correct coding and sign off. Get rid of surprises and come in on/under budget.

Top things to address in managing an IT department - part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:46:00 +0000

Here are my next 6 things to address in managing an IT department. Again they are not necessarily in any order of importance. This will be a series of postings until I have completed the total, which stands at about 36 at the moment. Please feed back any comments.

7.Define the department structure
Document the department structure and communicate it. Look at structuring on functional needs and look at the number of reports to each person. Somewhere I heard it should be no more than 7 but also worry of it is one to one.

8. Create job descriptions
This means make sure everybody knows what they are supposed to be doing. Create a job description for each person and look at using sensible industry standard job titles. Job descriptions should be updated regularly and reviewed at appraisal time.

9. Establish an appraisal structure and object setting
Regular appraisals are essential and not just the once a year 'tick in the box' kind. Consider object setting and roll this down from the IT Director so that there is some cohesion across the department. Make time for appraisals and do them properly.

10. Set up a skills matrix
Find out what everybody's skills and skill levels are. Create a matrix of required skills and get people to mark themselves against that using a scoring system to reflect level of skill (i.e. 5 equals expert) Review that with their supervisor to ensure accuracy. Use in conjunction with appraisal, project resourcing and training programmes to bring skill levels up and assign the right people to tasks.

11. Define measurements
They say you can't manage what you can't measure. Determine the measurements needed to ensure IT is delivering value, meeting key performance indicators and service levels. Consider using a balanced score card approach. Measurements may be at monthly and other intervals such as quarterly and annual. Communicate them to your team and within the business.

12. Create a budget and budget process
You need a budget to manage IT and act as a guideline to the business on likely costs. A budget is not an authority to spend and you will still need an approval process to acquire the items within the budget. The budget is the framework and each year a key task is to define recurring and new project costs. New project costs should be referenced against the strategy. The budget process within a business will normally be defined, as it is not IT specific. It will include an approval process where you may need to justify what you have included.

2007 Diary - week 15

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:55:00 +0000

The second 4 day week in a row. Really hard to get back to work after 4 days off.
But once at work then the holiday seems ages ago, even after a couple of hours! How often do you find hardware failures after a holiday? We had a Network switch failing on a remote site so had to despatch an engineer and replacement. All worked out well with minor outage for some people. Diagnostic software now tells us what is happening or about to happen so often you can preempt the problem before it occurs.
Sat in on a post project review meeting which was very good. Even though the project was successful there were some lessons to be learnt and hopefully these will be fed into future projects. It is easy to forget post project reviews but these are really useful not just for lessons learnt but also to confirm delivery of the benefits.

striving for satisfaction

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:36:00 +0000

Read somewhere in the last week, that an IT Director was not ever happy because he never achieved the ultimate goal, as there was always something else needed doing.
You can have some sympathy with that view as managing IT never seems to be finished and by that I mean you never can reach utopia. Its a bit like climbing a mountain, you get to what you think is the top only to find there is another climb ahead. The only difference is with a mountain you do eventually get to the peak although you then find that somebody has been there before you and left a pile of rocks!
We have a strategy, goals and plans and we are working through those and every now and then we achieve a milestone, we review and complete goals and from those we derive satisfaction. There is no end because we are dealing with a moving target, certainly in a dynamic business environment where the only certainty is change.
Personally I think it would be boring if we got to a point where we said, "well that's it, all done" lets just keep it going. Call me a masochist but I would be off to climb that mountain...

2007 Diary - week 14

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:42:00 +0000

The first of two Four day weeks with Easter holidays approaching which also means staff shortages as the schools break up and people book holidays. This week has seen the usual round of meetings plus 'discussion' with suppliers on the usual issues of why is this not working or why is this taking longer than planned. We have a couple of areas where we are having to keep a close eye on events to ensure delivery to our satisfaction (without getting the contracts out!) but hopefully after the discussions we will be seeing a little more focus and the subsequent results. Nothing to disastrous, so for now it is Easter break and forget everything until next week. (Will take the mobile email machine just in case I get withdrawal symptoms!)

TOP things to address in managing an IT department – part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:33:00 +0000

Here are my first 6 things to address in managing an IT department, not necessarily in order of importance.
So far I have come up with 36 in total but that may grow as the weeks pass and hopefully I will get some feed back if I have missed anything or anybody disagrees. 50 sounds a nice number to achieve.

1. Ensure you have a data backup plan
Essential that you create a backup plan. This needs to identify all key data and how it is backed up with frequency (daily, weekly), cycles and retention periods (eg.7 years) as a minimum. Also where the backups are stored and how the data would be restored. The backups and restores should be tested. Can't sleep at night without this.

2. Create a disaster recovery plan and test it regularly
Create a fully documented disaster recovery plan linked in with the organisations Business continuity plan. Defines how the IT systems will be recovered in the event of a disaster. Includes detailed instructions including provision of third party services. Must be tested at least annually if not twice a year. Sometimes the test is done unannounced to create a 'real as possible' situation. Links in with the data backup plan.

3. Develop an IT strategy aligned to the business
Review the business plans of the organisation, understand the issues and directions. Review the existing IT capabilities and then create a 3-year plan with the first year in some depth. Get the strategy agreed with the business executives. See earlier post on this subject.

4. Define the IT policies
Ensure that you define what policies are required for your organisation that are IT related and work with Human Resource department to get these written, approved and communicated to all staff. Will include things like Data Protection, Use of Email and Internet, Security, Data destruction and Disposal, Portable equipment, Firewall, Software licences, Home working etc. etc.

5. Create a security plan and test it.
It is important in this technological age that the IT resources are secure. Apart from the IT security policy, a plan on securing the IT environment should be established and implemented. Consider using external organisation to audit the security and carry out penetration testing on the external boundaries of your networks. Also consider complying with security standards (iso/iec 7799 - ISO17799) that now exist to gain accreditation.

6. Establish governance principles and methodologies
Establish the principles upon which you are going to govern the IT function. In some cases these may be forced upon you by the industry that you are in. i.e. Sarbanes-Oxley. There are a number of established methodologies around from COBIT, VAL IT, ITIL, to specifics for Development such as DSDM and for Projects such as Prince2 or PMI. Why develop your own when all these 'best practices' are around.

2007 Diary - week 13

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:24:00 +0000

Week 13 but not superstitious!
A lot of internal stuff this week including a department meeting.
Like to get everybody together to ensure we are communicating and therefore deliver a programme update plus usually get somebody to do an overview of a specific area/technology. Was going to do them monthly but that was too ambitious (the days go by so quickly, hope that is not age!) so they are now quarterly.
Went over to one of our other offices and being 'green' caught the train which was its usual wonderful experience! Obviously a lot of people have caught onto the environment issues as it was difficult getting a seat. The train company also helped the environment by cutting down on the number of carriages. Wish I had taken the car and planted a tree!
Ended the week with a supplier meeting and a good opportunity to see what else is happening with them and the rest of the marketplace.

2007 Diary - week 12

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Birley) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:58:00 +0000

This week I have been on a course for 3 days and also managed to get to an industry meeting one evening, which included an interesting talk and a chance for some networking. These can be useful if you find somebody who is ahead in a particular field and is prepared to share some of the experiences as I did that night, so need to follow that up.
The downside of being away a few days is that you have a backlog of issues to deal with on your return but these are minimised these days thanks to the mobile email device which allows a level of 'finger on the pulse' when out of the office. I have learnt that you do need discipline to know when to use it or you can be 'fiddling' all night!
'Volunteered' to do a CIO pick of the week on silicon.com where I had to pick 5 stories from a massive list of stories that had been reported during the week and comment on them from a business or personal point of view. Took the list home to work on over the weekend and final results is now published here
Had a little bit of fun with it in the end. One of our large rollouts is continuing next week with the next group of users so here's hoping!