Provide a general overview, basic concepts, terms and overall scope of the IT Management Function within business organizations.

1. Mario Navarro
mnavarro.tsi@gmail.com
IT Management Scope
Key factors of managing the IT Function
1

2. Table of Contents
PURPOSE
INTRODUCTION
IT MANAGEMENT
OVERVIEW
CAPABILITIES DIMENSION
MANAGEMENT LEVELS
SKILL MATRIX
FUNCTIONAL FRAMEWORK
DESCRIPTION
SCOPE
IT ORGANIZATION
SUMMARY
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3. Purpose
3
The purpose of this document is to provide a general overview, basic concepts,
terms and overall scope of the IT Management Function within business
organizations.

4. Introduction
4
The Information Technology Function is always in continuous evolution looking on how to satisfy the increasing
business demand. The transition from a purely support and systems development area to a function capable to
delivery value to organizations is the result of both, the demand of the IT Function to be recognized as a key
contributor to enable organization strategy and the demand of the organization to better understand the real
value of the investments in technology.
This situation has generated a kind of bi-directional capabilities development in most of the organizations,
requiring better management skills (without loosing technical expertise) in the case of IT professionals and
enhancing technology awareness in the case of Technology users in Business Units.
Even when the role of the Information Technology Function may vary depending on the Organization
characteristics and how relevant or important is the technology to enable business goals, everyone recognizes
that companies are more dependant on technology day after day, and this will continue growing in the future.
However, different types of industry may need different level of technology capabilities. In example, the
technology needed for a retail industry may not (and is not) equal to the one required in Manufacturing industry
But despite the level of Technology needed by the Organization, the importance of an efficient and effective
Management of the IT Function is clearly the key element to achieve the expected results and beyond. Therefore,
The Management of IT should be clearly focused in achieve the mission of the department that we can simple
mention as:
Contribute to Business Goals through the effective deployment and use of Information
Technology

5. Introduction
5
Nowadays, The IT Manager faces a complex work environment with major challenges, risks and constant
changes that put pressure in the race to succeed,
Customer Satisfaction
IT Resources Optimization
High Performance Team
High Technology Costs
Changes in Economy
Business & Organization Changes
Improve Communication
People Development
Natural Disaster Events
Service Disruptions
Salaries & Benefits
Speed to Answer
Motivate TeamworkStretch Objectives
Personal GrowthSupplier Performance

6. IT Management
Overview
6
In order to achieve the IT mission and overcome the barriers the IT Manager in any organization requires a
set of management capabilities that can help him drive the Function from a current state to the desired one.
The manager should have the capability to understand “Where we are” (The Current State), the
understanding of the current situation in both Business and IT scenarios, “Where we need to go”, (The Desired
State) the understanding of the goals we need to achieve and “How we will do it” (The Path), the actions that
will drive from one point to the other.
Defining the right path to succeed is not only a matter to define a plan from beginning to end, but to
consider the “checkpoints” during the journey that can give us the certainty that we are still in the right path.
Even when the path is properly traced from the beginning, the ability to adapt to new situations is
fundamental to arrive to the desired state, the path will not be as planned and will be full of threats that can
jeopardize the success but at the same time full of opportunities that IT Manager should be able to visualize
and turn them into actions to straighten the way.
Current
State
Desired
StateThe Path
Current
State
Desired
State
Threats
Opportunities
The Plan The Reality

7. IT Management
Capabilities Dimensions
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The IT Management capabilities are not only a set of specific functional competencies, but a conjunction of
abilities in the administration of resources gained through professional studies, continuous training of methods
and best practices, technology tendencies awareness and the knowledge from played roles and projects
participation, either technical or business.
Each organization may have a proper set of management capabilities (ie. Skill Matrix or Competencies Matrix)
for the different positions within each business unit. This Skill Matrix is always defined in conjunction with HR
business unit due to the experience and knowledge in methods that helps to align the required skills to
organization’s goals.
There exist standard definitions for IT Competencies, such as SFIA (Skills Framework for the Information Age)
that can be used and customized into the IT Function. This will help to simplify the process implementation.
As IT Managers, we should be capable to drive the definition of the required competences for the IT Function,
despite the method we select that best fits the specific Organization needs.

8. IT Management
Capabilities Dimensions
8
Leadership
FunctionalBusiness
The capability to understand the
business in terms of strategy and
plans, vision and goals, market
position, Key business process,
Organizational Culture, Industry
challenges & Risks, etc.
The capability to understand the
different business units and their
strategies to achieve expected
business value.
The capability to understand current
and future Technical capacities,
methodologies, trends and
innovations that can bring benefits
to the Organization
The capability to create Technology
strategies, from conception to
implementation aligned to business
expectations.
The capability to create and maintain
solid internal and external relationship,
capacity to influence others, decision
making and positive behavior.
Solid people management capabilities
to drive people to improve
performance through coaching and
development tools
The Following diagram shows an example of a three dimension model to identify the key management
capabilities needed for a professional whom wants to reach higher positions within the IT Organization. This is
an input that can be used to define a Skill Matrix , as we will see in the examples further in this presentation.

9. IT Management
Levels
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Technology Expert
Specific technology expert
such as database, Network,
Servers, Security software
expert. Usual roles are
Innovation, Research,
engineering, etc
Operational
High level of technology
knowledge focusing in support
services,, system
development, etc. Usual roles
are System Analysts,
Programmers, Field Services,
Help Desk, etc.
Coordination
The coordination of a specific
service or area within a
management unit. Usual roles
are infrastructure services,
Asset Coordinator, Functional
Project Lead, etc.
Line Management
The administration of IT
resources allocated to serve a
specific or a group of business
unit. Usual roles are IT
Consultancy, Service Delivery,
Project Management.
Specific Operations
The understanding of
specific operation within an
area of a business unit
such as sales operation,
production schedule, etc.
Business Processes
The understanding of a full
business process cycle and
how the process
interrelate to others.
Business Unit
Full understanding of
specific Business Unit, its
strategy, goals and
projects & plans
supporting business
strategy
Company
Understand the CORE
business information, the
goals driving the strategy.
Understand Financial
Management & Market
position, among other.
Function Management
Direct the IT Function
resources, developing
strategy, managing financials,
developing people, etc. Usual
roles are CIO, Head of IT, IT
Manager.
Business Sense
IT Position
LEADERSHIP

10. IT Management
Skill Matrix
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Brief Description of the
scope of the competence
Name of the Dimension
the competence belongs
to
Taking this 3-Dimensional model and the levels within the IT Organization, we can build a detailed IT Skill
Matrix with the description of the competencies needed in each dimension and every level of the
management scale.
Contents of the Skill Matrix may vary depending on organizational characteristics as well as the current state
or situation in the IT Function (ie. Maturity Level). The figure below explains the minimum content of a Skill
Matrix.
Name of the Competence
Description of tangible and non-
tangible abilities that have to be
demonstrated to reach this level

11. IT Management
Skill Matrix
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Taking the model we can set an example, the figure below show one competence for each Dimension.

12. Functional Framework
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The functional framework is the description of the different management units that compose the overall IT
Function and should cover all the Information Technology areas. This definition should be driven by specific
business needs in order to facilitate the enablement of the Company Strategy and goals.
The IT Manager responsible for each Management Unit should be able to understand and easily explain the
value of the unit and how this is helping to achieve goals. It is also very important to consider some essential
elements when establishing a proper Functional Definition, such as:
The Input We Get
Business Strategy & Goals Focus & Priorities
Customer Areas for Improvement
Financial Budgetary constraints
IT Delivery Model In-sourcing or Out-sourcing
In-Housing Development or Packaged Solutions
IT Maturity Level Starter, Beginner, Medium, Mature
Status of Technology, Innovation, Process Oriented, etc.
The diagram in the Next Slide shows an example of a functional framework describing some key management
units with a brief list of sub functions.

13. Functional Framework
13
Business
Demands
Information Technology Management
Strategy Management
People Management
Relationship Management
Financial Management
Demand
Management
IT Consultancy
IT Solutions Planning
Request
Management
Delivery
Management
Project
Management
Systems Develop
Request Develop
Service
Management
Service Desk
Telecommunication
s
Systems Support
Infrastructure
Compliance
Management
IT Security
Audit Management
Risk Management
Technology Management
Technology Delivery
Capacity Planning
IT Architecture
IT Management Functional Scope
Suppliers

14. IT Organization
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The IT Manager is responsible to manage a group of people that are organized to execute some specific
functions and activities. The IT Organizational Structure is the way the Function assigns human resources to
manage and/or operate a set of activities within a specific IT Management Unit
The structure of the IT Organization will depend in different factors, such as Business Strategies, Business
Policies and even the internal way of work called Organizational Cultures. The design of the IT Organization
should follow a structured method that you will be able to see in the Organization Strategic Block.
The result of the organizational design process may become into different forms of Organizational structures,
some examples or these are:
The Horizontal Organization allows major visibility and involvement of
the IT Manager in most of the decisions in the function. This model
allows a better learning process for entering IT Unit Managers in, but
for Senior Managers will be seen as a lack of authority in the decision
making process.
Vertical Organization allows major empowerment to
few IT Unit Managers in the decision making
process.
In this Model IT Manager is less involved in the
details and more time dedicated to strategic
matters.

15. Summary
15
As we mentioned at the beginning of the presentation, the IT Manager faces a complex environment and the
scope of work is quite extensive. The development of the Management abilities is essential to successfully
drive the IT Function. In a very broad perspective the IT Manager is the ultimate responsible to achieve
expectations, understand and manage the whole environment around him.
People Management
Performance Management
Business Understanding Functional IT Management
Management Abilities Development
Relationship Management

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