Contents

Each chapter in the book is modular and stands on its own. Therefore, some minor overlap of content from chapter to chapter occurs. We work to be prescriptive and specific instead of conceptual and theoretical. We attempt to show not just the what to do but also why to do it. We also try to follow each should with a because.

The book is arranged into four parts, with a total of 18 chapters.

Part I: The Effective IT Organization

This part examines the ongoing dilemma that effective management of the IT function has presented for both technical and nontechnical managers. IT management is consistently considered a "neither fish-nor-fowl" business area. Few of the constraints or management considerations that apply to a normal business functional area, such as finance or human resources, apply to IT, but neither do the natural efficiencies and incentives that affect the practices of a P&L-driven business unit.

This situation has been exacerbated by the fact that nontechnical managers are confounded by the combination of business and technical skills required to manage IT, and many IT managers lack the business training and experience to bring the P&L mind-set to the function. The result is long-term dissatisfaction from all concerned — senior managers, business users, and the IT department. In many cases, businesses have an ongoing dysfunctional, mildly hostile relationship with their IT departments, and, in the worst cases, IT departments spin out of control, damaging the business with inappropriate spending, squandered opportunities, and other forms of waste.

Part II: Managing the IT Department

This part explains in detail the key practices, policies, and strategies for managing the effective IT department across all activities. Unlike many other treatments of this topic, we focus on the "business" of managing an IT shop, rather than focusing on a specific technology area or a niche topic such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or e-business. This section is geared to the IT manager, director, or CIO who wants to understand how to get the best out of their people, vendors, systems, and budget. This comprehensive, detailed guide provides concrete, specific approaches for all aspects of managing IT, as well as real-world “war stories” from a variety of organizations.

Part III: Senior Executive IT Management

This part covers executive decision-making tools and processes for senior executives and IT managers. The traditional difficulties managing the relationship between IT and the business users can be overcome. Similarly difficulties setting company-wide priorities and ensuring that IT is executing against these priorities is critical to the executive team’s success. In this part these topics are discussed including working with the business, IT budgeting and cost management, risk management, IT demand management, effective IT benchmarking systems, and the IT steering committee. The topics and processes described in this part will assist the executive in managing those areas that are critical to IT success and it’s alignment with the company both financially and strategically.

Part IV: Appendix/Toolkit

The final part lists the tools discussed in Parts I through III. These tools include project prioritization matrices and project estimating tools, as well as IT steering committee charters, hiring checklists, project charters, and other documents mentioned throughout the previous sections of the book.

Table of Contents

Part I: The Effective IT Organization
      Chapter 1: The IT Dilemma
      Chapter 2: Sources and Causes of IT Ineffectiveness
      Chapter 3: Information Technology Costs

Part II: Managing the IT Department
      Chapter 4: The IT Organization
      Chapter 5: The IT Director
      Chapter 6: IT Direction and Standard Setting
      Chapter 7: IT Operations
      Chapter 8: Application Management
      Chapter 9: IT Human Resource Practices
      Chapter 10: Vendor Selection
      Chapter 11: Vendor Management

Part III: Senior Executive IT Management
      Chapter 12: Working with the Business
      Chapter 13: IT Budgeting and Cost Management
      Chapter 14: Effective Decision Making and Risk Management
      Chapter 15: IT Demand Management and Project Prioritization
      Chapter 16: IT Performance Measurement
      Chapter 17: IT Steering Committee

Part IV: Appendix/Toolkit
      Chapter 18: IT Toolkit