IT management
IT management is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities. These resources may include tangible investments like computer hardware, software, data, networks and data center facilities, as well as the staff who are hired to maintain them.
Managing this responsibility within a company entails many of the basic management functions, like budgeting, staffing, change management, and organizing and controlling, along with other aspects that are unique to technology, like software design, network planning, tech support etc.
The central aim of IT management is to generate value through the use of technology. To achieve this, business strategies and technology must be aligned. Historically, one set of resources was dedicated to one particular computing technology, business application or line of business, and managed in a silo-like fashion. These resources supported a single set of requirements and processes, and couldn’t easily be optimized or reconfigured to support actual demand.
This led technology providers to build out and complement their product-centric infrastructure and management offerings with Converged Infrastructure environments that converge servers, storage, networking, security, management and facilities. The efficiencies of having this type of integrated and automated management environment allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with simpler manageability and maintenance, and enables IT to adjust IT resources (such as servers, storage and networking) quicker to meet unpredictable business demand.
Technology improves everyday tasks that used to be performed by human employees and is now carried out by computer systems. Telephone answering systems replacing live receptionists is one example of such substitution. It is, however, important to understand that often these changes can lead to issues as well as benefits. Losing personal communication with clients, security issues, etc. may have a heavy impact in company value. Such aspects must be considered before, during and after all decisions and implementations for IT management to be successful.
Even though information technology systems allow businesses to be conducted at a faster pace, that quicker pace is not without its flaws. Information technology systems are extremely vulnerable to security breaches. For the most part information technology systems are most vulnerable when they can be accessed through the Internet. If certain measures are not in place to prevent security breaches, unauthorized individuals could gain access to confidential data. Information can be altered, permanently destroyed or used for unsavory purposes. Additionally, sensitive information being leaked can cause a business to lose money and can permanently damage its reputation in the eyes of potential customers.