INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 1

Information technology management issues

Information technology management is refers to the process through which an

organization tends to control and manage all its issues related tom information technology in

based on what they want most to what they need least the latter being of little concern as much

emphasis is put on what the organization needs first. On the other hand information technology

refers to the different forms of technologies that are used for the purposes of processing,

storing and sending various forms of information in an electronic from. The equipment used to

achieve this includes but not limited to computers, fax machines, communication and network

equipment. Information being a tangible or intangible entity that facilitates the increase in

clarity regarding a particular issue(Ives & Jarvenpaa,1991).Information can come from

different places in an organization, it can come from the various internal operations of a

given enterprise and it can also com e from external factors such as the various suppliers or

clients of a given organization. It is then the work of information systems installed in these

organizations that eventually end up processing these information gathered from either of

these two sources and present it the results to the consumers or users of this particular

information.

In this day and age information technology has surpassed by far the use of computers

for computation, despite being use d for their traditional roles of storing information and

computation, computers today are being used widely as means of communication. Most

computers are now connected through a number of communication lines to bring about the

formation of various networks through which individuals and organizations are linked

resulting to a change in peoples perspectives towards doing business all over the world. The

old boundaries that previously existed between businesses are currently breaking down thanks to
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 2

the electronic methods of communications that are provided by the very many networks that

have been set up across the globe. The sole and main objective of information technology

management is to over the attainment of value and quality through the integration and

implementation of various technologies in a particular business settings by ensuring that both

business strategies and technology are put and placed in one basket.

It comprises of the main basic management functions such as budgeting, control and

0rgnization, However, it is characterized by information technology functions such as software

development, network support and not to mention tech support.( Ives & Jarvenpaa,1991).The

benefits of an organization having an up and running information technology department are so

many that most businesses and enterprises cannot afford to ignore and invest in the information

technology management aspect of a business, most organizations have information technology

as their nerve center of that control the day to day activities of their business. The interpretation

of data is of great significance when it comes to human beings being in a position to

comprehend how an enterprise behaves in respect to the output of a particular system. Two

different managers in the same organization can interpret the same results in two different

ways according to their understanding of the results. A marketing manager for example

might make use of statistical graphs to analyze the various trends and problems in relation to

sales, a financial manager in the same company might point lout a cash flow discrepancy

using the very same sales data.

A chief executive officer of any organization who is not ignorant of the significance of

information technology in an organization is by default incompetent as most companies and

organizations that tend to do well have one thing in common and that is those whom are at the

helm of management have a good understanding of information technology and appreciate

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 3

the impact information technology can have on a modern organization or business. Various

research and studies have shown that the most manages of the modern day organizations and

enterprises t6end to lay more emphasis on information technology and information

management as a way to better their ability to offer excellent services to the various clients

thus maintaining a competitive advantage over the various competitors(Choo,2002) The list

of the various contributions made by information technology in respect to enterprises ids

quite long but just to list a few, these contributions include:

The creation and strengthening of relationships between clients and suppliers

by helping to connect them electronically.

Facilitating electronic commerce which in turn reduces the time spent in

the making of purchases thus making the buying process more convenient

for buyers.

Providing a new means through which managers of various businesses can

initiate face to face communications with fellow employees.

Improving efficacy when it comes the introduction of goods and services

through the use of electronic information interchange to cater for the just- in-

time production of goods and services.

However for one to be in a position to harness the advantages of information technology,

one must t without a doubt be in a position to control and manage it. Over the past century,

different organizations and businesses have made enormous investments in relation to

network and system management solutions; in todays day and age, information technology is

not all about the collection of huge amounts, of information but rather the it has evolved to

seeing that information and data get to be delivered to people in ways in which the time in
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which information is delivered is without a doubt short and stylish. Most organizations tend not

to be in a position to handle the high volume of the new information technology solution and the

various upgrades that the existing technologies undergo as this possesses a huge challenge to

such organizations by virtue of lacking the time necessary to research on how these

information technologies can be assimilated into the operations of these enterprises so as to

increase their efficiency and competitiveness.

The need to solve information technology related problems and issues has become so

crucial and a necessity for a n number of information technology companies around the

globe. For these information technology companies to remain competitive in this sector, they

have to formulate an d come up, with special and efficient ways that are flexible and tend

to evolve together with the ever changing dynamics of the information technology industry,

the various approaches that they come up with should be in a position to identify and correct

the various issues and problems that tend to pose a significant threat to these organizations

before they get to a point where they cause the wastage of both time and the resources of

these enterprises. Those with the technical know-how of the various ways to handle

information technology issues should therefore have it within themselves the ability to utilize

their problem solving decision making skills so a s to provide the required solutions to the

various information technology management problems. The revolution and advancement of

computing machines as a management tool, Information technology management has grown and

improved tremendously.

In 1956, UNIVAC I, the first mass produced computer became a management tool at

the East Pittsburgh plant of the Westinghouse Electrical Company and was used in the

preparation of the companys payrolls, sales records and so many other dealings of this
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 5

company (Niederman, Brancheau & Wetherbe,1991); it is at these point that the rise of

information technology management begun and has been an ever spinning wheel up to date

developing and evolving with time. Since the development of the worlds first PC called Simon

in the 1950, information technology departments in various organizations started being

established and the various changes in machines prompted information technology experts to

want to learn more about change management. Todays day and era is popularly referred to as

the information and communication era due to the fact that most of the many studies being

conducted or have been conducted are mostly related to gathering and analyzing of data.

The aspect of planning in any organization is disrupted and hindered by the giving and

receiving of incomplete information at any given chance.

Figure 1.0a

Most critical IT issues

Service management

Cost management

Strategy management

Humna management
Most critical IT issues
Change management

Problem management

Performance management

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 1.0a above shows some of the critical IT issues whose criticality may vary from

one organization to another. These and more IT problems are discussed in details below.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 6

Service management

Service management concentrates mostly on the operational issues and aspects of information

technology management. However, one would be mistaken to go ahead and assume that

information technology management is only related to the aspect of operations as service

management is implemented together with operation systems. So as to ensure that these systems

are fault free and that their efficacy ,levels are beyond reproach, things like order

management, maintenance, performance diagnostics and various support systems should be

brought on board.

Development management

When it comes to software development, the eye should be focused on the creation and

development of software, software development is mostly used to describe the any

undertaking in relation to computer programming where the composition and maintenance of

source code s is undertaken. Software development can include the aspect of researching,

development, modification and reuse or any other undertaking that eventually results in the

production of software. Those that tend to develop software systems as a team should have

and follow a set up processes to facilitate and navigate them in the various stages of software

creation.

Human management

The process of trying to vet and recruit the right candidates to entrust with a particular

assignment can prove to be very tedious and time consuming. Therefore information technology

managers should without a doubt invest heavily in staff coaching so as to boost their skills and

productivity when it comes to the handling and completion of the project in hand. Whenever
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 7

there is a successful implementation of information technology an any given organization

then a very skillful group of people must be doing their jobs to the best of their knowledge

an d experience. Information technology sector requires a variety of skills for a wide range

of information technology roles and responsibilities that are evolving quickly. This field

requires that those in it professionally do get to maintain their ability to design improve and

be innovative enough to come up with new technologies that make a wide array of

differences in the lives of those that are to use such technologies.

This then tend s to dismiss the notion that the ongoing evolution of technical skills is a

new idea. Employees should therefore be able to reinvent their previous roles and

responsibilities by acquiring new skill sets so that they can be in a position to deliver

technology solutions to their respective organizations and at the same time increase their

chances of making future technological advances .The main challenge facing the recruitment

an d hiring of skilled and qualified employees in the information technology departments of

various organizations is the rapid speed at which information technology is changing every

passing minute, in respect to this it is therefore right to tend to assume that some of the

current roles and professions will be a thing of the past in the so near future, as new roles

and professions will spring up to address the change in the delivery of technology. Only a

few number of these employees will be able to adapt to, these changes when that time comes

resulting in a disruption in the normal operations of an organization or enterprises.

Systems management

System management is the area of information technology management that tends to deal mostly

with the installation, configuration, administration and management of computer resources most
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 8

importantly the resources that are related to the network. It involves the undertaking of various

tasks that include but not limited to monitoring the activities of the users, managing anti- viruses

and anti- malware and monitoring the network capacity and how it is being utilized. At a PC

level, hardware is nothing but a means to an end. More emphasis should be placed on the type

of software that is to be used rather than the type of hardware that will be used to run the

software. Managers should therefore be in a position to decide on the type of software that

will be used in an organization in the process of coming up and formulating the various

applications that are to be used in the day to day running of the enterprise, taking into

considerations the type of operating systems that will be used by both the servers and the

respective work stations in the business.

Time management

Involves the organization and budgeting of time so as to enhance the efficacy and the output

of any form of work done, it entails an array of processes such as coming up with the goals

that are to be accomplished, seeing the outcome of these goals be they positive or negative and

being well prepared to face any form of challenges that might arise in the course of trying to

accomplish these set out goals and devising ways and techniques to overcome them without

losing sight and focus.

Performance management

It is there to make sure that the set out goals and objectives are in a position of being met in

effectively and in a productive kind of way. It is therefore described as the process of tracking

and evaluating the performance of all the various information technology resources. Performance

management can be used both in an enterprise and an information technology operations context.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 9

In reference to an enterprise context, information technology performance management is used

to determine the human resource capital in information technology projects so as to find out

how it betters the operational aspect of a business when it comes to the production of various

products and services that guarantee excellent consumer satisfaction and competitiveness in

the market (Luftman & Zadeh,2011).However, when it comes to an operational context its

dynamics of usage evolve to that of gathering and evaluating various aspects so as to tell the

information technology experts whether a particular component of a system is working

properly.

For performance management to be in a position to work an d achieve its set

objectives in a lean and efficient way, one must without any compromise whatsoever be

integrated as one of the most significant and crucial part the day to day operations of any

information technology organization or enterprise. At this point, it should be the sole

responsibility of the manager to see to it that any employee in any given information

technology friendly organization is fully aware of t the full advantages that comes along with

hen existence of an enjoyable place of work as it is so common to find that most employees

are ignorant of the various benefits that they are entitled to receiving from the

organizations that they work in.

Data management

Various methods of handling information are composed and developed with the sole purpose

of protecting and taking charge of and enabling the access to information, this is important as

it give the consumers of a particular information a chance and opportunity to get hold of the

information in a timely and a more convenient manner.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 10

Problem management

The ultimate objective is to see the reduction of the harmful effects that are brought about by

the various challenges in any business setting as a result of mistakes and faults within the

enclosed setting of any information technology infrastructure. Upon the reduction of such

prevalent faults and errors, a point should also be made to see to it that the chances of such

mistakes and errors recurring are prevented and minimized also by getting to understand the

predisposing factors to such faults and devising effective methods of tackling such factors.

Scientific management

The vast and commonly used traditional management practices that were widely depended

upon in the nineteenth century have proven to be ineffective when it comes meeting the

expectations and requirements of this modern day and fast changing technological

environment where the effective functioning of a business is the topmost priority of any

enterprise (Luftman & Zadeh,2011).Scientific management therefore seeks to find the

functional inadequacy of a particular business and develop effective techniques through which

firms can be ran by making use of scientific methods of research.

Release management

Is a new discipline that is gaining popularity amongst software engineers when it comes to the

release of various softwares, it facilitates and guarantees that the various business units work

together as one unit for software products or updates to be delivered in a timely manner and

most importantly it develops the various processes that are responsible for ensuring that the

release of code is managed and conducted in a productive way.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 11

Business process management

Business processes are the various aspects of an operation that are conducted by software

systems that contain the data and the business rules that govern the effective running of a

particular system. Business objectives are direct results of the implementation of various

business processes(Ives & Jarvenpaa,1991).Detailed business process management venues give

an organization the ability to genuinely curve out their unique business process and use such

processes as tools that can be accessed through the software systems that are already put in

place. There is a great need for information technology managers to continue getting a better

understanding of information technology and how technology together with the various

information technology departments add to the value of a business or enterprise. Information

technology adds value to an enterprise by developing the enterprises core products and

services, for example the platform that online opportunities create would not be in existence

in the absence of technologies that are brought to life and facilitated by information

technology firms and developers. To avoid the creation of an impression that the benefits of

information technology is only limited to a number of simple aspects of efficacy and

automation, information technology professionals must take it upon themselves to also carefully

stress on the much larger benefits that information technology plays in the generation of

revenue for an enterprise.

It is therefore inevitable that information technology solutions developers do make a

point of taking some time to come up with clear information regarding the kind of products

and services that they provide to the consumers of these information technology solutions

and also enlighten consumers on the value of such these information technology solutions.

Businesses are everyday going global making good use of information technology as tool to
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enable them evolve and transform into international enterprises. The fall of tariffs has mad e it

necessary for companies and organizations to rapidly move their operations to other parts of

the world with their sole objective being to be in a position to capitalize on the varying

wage rates in various parts of the world. This then result in some form of uncertainty in the

course of an enterprise conducting its business in these new markets and therefore

necessitates that such an enterprise formulates and develops faster and efficient

communication and information processing mechanisms through the use of information

technology so as to be in a position to manage and run the organization effectively.

Cost management

Figure 1.0a below illustrates how the aspect of cost and that of profit an organization tend to

relate within two different circumstances. As illustrated in scenario A the cost of an information

technology solution if not managed properly, can result in a sharp decline in terms of the

profits that the solution will bring to the organization as most of the profits will be spend in

recovering of the expensive initial cost. However if the cost of a quality IT solution is

managed properly and procured at a sensible price, more profits will be realized by the

enterprise as it will not take a substantial amount to recover the initial cost of the solution.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 13

Figure 1.0b

Profit
Cost
Scenario B

Scenario A

0 1 2 3 4 5

The creation of funding models that will eventually result to the long term sustainability of

information technology operations in an organization, necessitates those whom work in the

information technology departments of various enterprises to convince the people at the

helm of managing these enterprises on the strategic significance of incorporating information

technology in the day to day operations of an organization. The funding of information

technology projects should done in a way that those that can secure funding easily are given

preference and priority over the others. Securing the initial amount to fund information

technology projects is somewhat easy , however the challenge comes in when ten need to

acquire extra operational funding arises. Majority of capital projects tend to have a

particular operational effect and as such the inability to secure funding might end up causing a

great deal of problems to any information technology manager in any organization. In order to

remain competitive and be in a position to meet demand, information technology managers will
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 14

therefore have to set aside the necessary funds required to cover the cost of establishing new

information technology infrastructures. This being the case , information technology manager

however, rarely include the budgets requi5ed to fund the operational costs of ongoing capital

projects.

This results to a huge and ugly discrepancy in relation to the total cost of an information

technology solution. For the purpose of being in a position to comprehend and facilitate the

funding of the actual cost of an information technology solution, information technology

managers should appreciate the need to come up with scenarios of total cost of ownership

and scrutinize them properly with the relevant groups prior to the funding of a particular

project.

Paying information technology solution consumers should be in a position to understand the

various information technology factors that determine the cost of a given information

technology solution and what actions they can take to manage and control these factors. The

justification of funding in scenarios where there are variable costs tends to be easy when

information technology managers are in a position to provide detailed information with regards

to both the associated cost and the amount of growth. On the other hand, the justification of

funding in scenarios where there are fixed costs becomes easy if the information regarding

the increase in cost and a justification of the risks to be reduced can be made available by

the information technology manager of an organization upon request. This very technique

tends to create a platform where talks about tradeoffs can occur thus coming up with

various ways to promote the growth of information technology solutions without having to

necessarily increase their cost.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 15

Change management

The sole responsibility of change management in relation to information technology is to

ensure and oversee the implementation and use of quality techniques and procedures so as to

facilitate the effective handling of all changes that might have an impact on any form of

controlled information technology infrastructure. Such changes can be brought about by

problems such as legislative changes and programs. Change management is put into use to

ensure that a uniform array of techniques , processes and procedures are used when it come to

the handling of the different types of changes in the information technology sector thus

balancing the two aspects of the necessity for change and the possible consequences that

might arise from allowing such changes to take place. Change management oversees the

various change processes all software systems, hardware and every process that plays a role

when it come to the smooth running and maintenance of any live system(Ives &

Jarvenpaa,1991) As mentioned before, the information technology industry is not a rigid

sector as it keeps on changing and evolving with time. Information technology solutions should

therefore be able to change an d meet the changing needs of their consumers as what the

consumers of such solutions might have been required a year ago for instant might not be

what they will require in the present day. The needs of the consumers change and

information technology should be flexible and innovative to manage the and adapt to the

new need s o f its consumers. Information technology developers and experts should have a

vision and a sound judgment to educate and sensitize their target markets or recipients of

their services on the any upcoming changes and how to maintain their ongoing operations.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 16

Helpdesk management

Mostly end up being the one to extended a helping hand to the various users of information

technology systems, the main objective of helpdesk management is to enhance and

encourage the usage of technology in all business settings. It is mostly followed up by on site

help and various training programs. Its main purpose id tom ensure an organization ends up

getting the maximum possible benefits after it has invested in any particular technology

services or systems. Only the helpdesks that are available, measurable, flexible and learnable

tend to be successful at achieving their objectives (Luftman, & Zadeh, 2011).

Application management

It involves a series of methods and techniques that facilitate the proper management of the

different crucial aspects of an application. It enables information technology to be able and well

equipped to control various applications based on the requirements of a given enterprise thus

resulting in a better and effective utilization of resources when it comes to the production

of satisfying business results. Only enterprises that manage their software applications in a

wise and prudent manner tend to be competitive as businesses are impacted negatively by

the failure of a business application to function as it ought to.

Rights management

This information technology management issues is what makes it possible for those who are

entitled to use a particular information technology services get to use it at the same time

locking and keeping out unpermitted access by those who do not have the right to use that

particular service.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 17

Patch management

Unpatched systems are prone and vulnerable to attacks from various forms of worms and

malicious codes thus the need for organizations to focus on patch management as it is an aspect

of significant importance. Patch management aims to establish an environment that is safe and

secure from the various effects that come about as a result of known weaknesses in the

operating systems and application softwares. As is with the case of all technology based

problems, there can never be a lasting solution to such attacks due to the constantly evolution

of information technology. Therefore, for this kind of management to be able to be effective

and useful, all the issues regarding the security and patch release must be collected and

studied carefully. Doing this will enable on to determine what kind of security issues and

software updates will be of great help to his or her niche. A well-functioning patch

management program should have specific guidelines that controls and directs the normal

patch application and the system updates, it should not be focused solely on security but also

on the facilitation of updates and quality patch release application.

Strategy management

One of the major role of top managers in any given business enterprise is the formulation of the

various corporate strategies. In doing so they tend to take into considerations things like

what new directions can the organization take, what are hen direct competitors of such an

organization doing to maintain an advantage and in this respect come up try to come up

with efficient counter measures. Information technology plays a vital role when it comes to the

formulation of various strategies in most business enterprises. Using a case study of Merrill

Lynch, which is one of the largest stockbrokerage firms in the United States of America at
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 18

the moment with ambitious plans of dominating the financial sector in the world. Funds

deposited into the clients brokerage accounts tended to earn little to no interest at all twenty

years ago, then account lack cash as a result of stocks being sold or the firm holding for the

clients the dividends earned from the stocks. This necessitated the firm to go back to its

drawing board and come up with ways in which it can generate money for its clients, as a

consequent the firm came up with a new financial solution referred to as the cash

management account(Clemons &Row, 1988).

At the time of when this financial solution was being launched, interest rates were sky

high which made most of the small investors to stash most of their funds in liquid asset

accounts where the funds maintained the value of ownership units at one American dollar by

purchasing short term-securities and varying the profits of the shareholders.

In todays day and age, most financial institutions are in a position to offer money market

accounts which were not available by the time the firm developed its new account. A s a

result small investor are empowered in the sense that they are no longer confined to savings

and loans account as was the case in the past a s they can now make use of higher interest

rates which were previously preserves for only those who had large amounts to invest. The

firm come up with a strategy where an account would automatically invest a clients idle

cash in the firms liquid assets which will eventually result into huge profits and end up

making their clients happy, satisfied and willing to continue engage in any future businesses

with the firm. The cash management account being more like a bank account and a

brokerage account at the same time enabled the various clients of the firm to draw cheques

against the account and go to an extent of being able to receive a bank charge card.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 19

At the clients of Merrill Lynch were slow to accept and embrace this new account

but today the firm boasts of having more than one million cash ,management account

customers(Clemons &Row, 1988).Seeing the benefits that the cash management account has

brought to Merrill Lynch, other brokerage firms have tried to secure the services of

Merrill Lynch employees in order to help them develop similar products, this necessitated

Merrill Lynch to patent the cash management account and requested other brokerage firms

to pay for a licensing fees in the event they used Made use of this ingenious product that

was now then property of Merrill Lynch by law. The firm has managed to acquire a valuable

competitive advantage over its competitors since the rolling out of the cash management

account system. This system could without a doubt not have been in a position to be

developed in the first place were it not for the trust that its developers had on information

technology. A scenario where the various computer systems that run the this cash

management account were to fails is very disturbing to imagine as the level of damage

that this would bring to the one million plus accounts that it supports would be without a

doubt enormous. The cash management account as a product cannot be of any use in the

absence of computer technology as the volume and speed of updating that it operates upon can

prove too much a work load to be done on any manual system. This case study illustrates

how the incorporation of information technology into the formulation and implementation of

an organizations or enterprise strategies can expand or limit the opportunities of a given business

the latter being n as a result of a business failure to embrace information technology in its day

to day operations.

An organizational strategic plan should be derived from the enterprises vision for the

various activities it plans to engage in in the near future. It should act a s the blue print or the
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 20

road map upon which the vision of a firm is brought to life, therefore instead of being

used or be seen to be a different plan for information technology, IT should be embraced as

an important aspect when it comes to the formulation of an organizations strategic plan as

this would in turn enable the information technology managers in a given corporation come

up with a more elaborate information technology plan that will push the corporation to greater

heights. Most organizations tend to appreciate the need for a plan for any organization to be

able to move forward but ironically they end up not formulating and implementing such

plans. These above discussed information technology management issues tend to face various

challenges in the course of their implementation in any information technology department of

any organization. These can be due to the stress brought about by the competition between

application management and the ability of any business information technology to the various

platforms upon which very same applications run. The fact that the budget for information

technology is always short tends to make their availability a problem as a number of

applications are not that important.

Without a detailed account of all ones information technology assets, one cannot say to

have complete control over them. It is therefore important for one to be in a position to know the

kind of assets they are engaging with at all times so that they can be in control of such assets

always. The modern day society suffers from two major weaknesses that are mainly brought

about by the development and advancement of the information technology sector all over the

world, namely the overload of options in the various computer programs that most people

engage with in their everyday lives and the explosion of information. Information explosion

itself has been brought about by a variety of factors that include but not limited to the

following; digital coverage, an increase in the possession of personal computers and

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 21

advancements in the communication and networking sectors of information technology

industry. For example, most people have come to depend heavily upon the internet as a source

of data on various subject matters that affect the human life both directly and indirectly.

Ironically, the availability of different types of information has come to pose a

challenge to the very same users that it was supposed to assist, this is true as it has now

been somewhat difficult for people who use information technology as a source of information

to find such information in the first place as people struggle to locate exactly what they

require. The phrase information explosion should not be mistaken to refer to a scenario where

there is too much data to be use d by people. It is highly likely that most of the information

that is stored in a computer program might not be accessed fully by the program itself and in

the case that these programs do eventually access these type of information, it ends up not

being what the people required. In most cases, websites that have not been indexed by the

various type of search engines are very difficult when it comes to people using and accessing

them, however there exists a wide range of solutions to such a problem that include but not

limited to enterprise reducing planning and application integration. The above listed solutions

tend to look into both the issue of performance and application development through the

bringing together of all important information from the various information sources.

The efficiency and the usability of computer programs is in most cases hampered by the

problem of options overload, where there exists a wide range of information categories,

functions and presentational modes to the different users of information technology solutions.

It is of significant importance that each and every organization be in a position to control and

look after its very own technology as if at all this is not done then such organizations are

bound to experience overwhelming loses which could prove to be a determining factor as to

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 22

whether they remain in a particular market or they shut down their operations as a result (Ives

& Jarvenpaa,1991). Failure by an organization to properly set up guidelines with regards to the

usage of a particular technology could result into the loss of critical information and in most

cases the misuse of the technology itself by the staff. Proper management of information

technology brings about the improvement and reduction of a n organizations operations costs

and through this both the organization and its customers end up satisfied leading to the

growth of the business.

Technical development related investments are improved through proper information

technology management; these in turn result in an increase in the system and data security.

Information technology functions become effective and any technical problems are seen and

amended even before they occur. The amount of mistakes and the continuity when it comes to

the usage of the different types of softwares is reduced by a huge margin. These full benefits of

information technology management can only be experienced if the providers of such services

are without a doubt competitive. It is therefore important to have a preview of then kind of

system management services that hey offer before one can decided to engage them in any form

of a long term contract. At present, knowledge and understanding of the various information

technology management issues is very critical as it is only through this that information

technology departments in various organizations can be run effectively (Niederman, Brancheau

& Wetherbe,1991). For the best decisions regarding the next direction that a particular

business is to take in relation to information technology, the information technology manager

of any organization must appreciate these issues and use them in to make sound judgments

and decisions. When an information technology program comes with a reasonable number of

functions, it becomes easy and encouraging for people to use, However, when such programs
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 23

come with so many functions, they become complicated and too complex for use by the

ordinary person.

In order to solve these issues and problems related to the management of information

technology there are a few measures that can be taken in order to solve and manage the above

discussed issues. It should be the outmost priority of each and every organization to develop

an d nature the culture of using computers in their day to day operations. Those at the helm of

management in these institutions should take it upon themselves to see to it that each and

every member of that organization takes part in quality computer and information technology

training courses that the management formulates(Choo,2002). Participation and holding of

beneficial exhibitions and conferences can go a long way in the development of an information

system culture in any organization. Research shoe that an change in the attitude of those at the

managerial helm of any organization towards the incorporation of information technology in

the running of their organization can greatly reduce the information technology issues an d

problem that such an organization is likely to face. When these information technology

solutions are being developed, it is without a doubt important to bring on board the all the

employees who work in these organizations and put into consideration their behaviors so as to

determine how they are going to assimilate these new information technology systems.

The organization should be in a position to come up with well thought of incentives

that will see to it that the existing staff in an organization are motivated and willing to learn

and adapt to the use of new and efficient information technology solutions. Organizations

should hire staff not only on the basis of their technical knowhow of the job but also put a

consideration on the emotional, levels of these would be employees so as to gauge their

ability to shape into the organizations vision, mission and culture with respect to information
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 24

technology. The work force should be one that is diverse and shares in the same principles of

when it comes to information technology solutions. Employees on the other hand work with the

organizations management team to come up with various career directions from the roles and

responsibilities in the central and distributed in formation technology units; It is important to

understand that careers should not be confined within the information technology sector alone

as it is advisable that one chooses other paths that tend to expand and broaden once horizons

with regards to experience especially in business managerial skills. Figure 1.0c shows a

summary of some of the various IT issues and how they affect an organization.

Figure 1.0c

Issue/Problem Effect

Strategic management having and maintaining a competitive

advantage over fellow competitors

Business process management Impacts the organization and its staff thus

hampering success.

Application management Better decision making thus improving

efficiency.

System management Helps to connect two or more organizations.

Also it is important for there to be some sort of initiative to develop a strategy for

the information technology enterprise through the pointing out of the many desired skills

and the sort of expertise that the enterprise will re quire and let go for a period loft the

next two to three years for example. This will help the organization to come up with a clear
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 25

and distinct blue print of where it need to be in a couple of years and begin making the

necessary set s toward getting there with as little disruptions as possible with regards to the

normal operations of the organization and the relevant employees. The respective

governments in which these organizations operate should make a point of seeking advice

from both the public and private consulting companies and help them to come up with

better and efficient information systems so as to reduce the very predominant information

technology management issues and problems that these companies and organizations face.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 26

References

Ives, B., & Jarvenpaa, S. L. (1991). Applications of global information technology: key issues

for management. Mis Quarterly, 33-49.

Niederman, F., Brancheau, J. C., & Wetherbe, J. C. (1991). Information systems management

issues for the 1990s. MIS quarterly, 475-500.

Luftman, J., & Zadeh, H. S. (2011). Key information technology and management issues 2010

11: an international study. Journal of Information Technology, 26(3), 193-204.

Choo, C. W. (2002). Information management for the intelligent organization: the art of

scanning the environment. Information Today, Inc..

Clemons, E. K., & Row, M. C. (1988, January). The Merrill Lynch cash management account

financial service: A case study in strategic information systems. In System Sciences,

1988. Vol. IV. Applications Track., Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Hawaii

International Conference on (Vol. 4, pp. 131-140). IEEE.