To operate more effectively, large IT departments should
review their complex structure and prioritise projects, Forrester
Research has recommended.
Forrester examined the advantages and disadvantages of large IT
departments (defined as those having more than 800 staff),
outlining their typical weaknesses and how their performance could
be improved.
Advantages of large IT departments include having a
well-established management structure and specialist skills.
Disadvantages include a geographically scattered business and
having to manage complex links between business units and IT
systems.
Forrester examined three large IT departments: at an insurance
company, an international media company and a government
agency.
The media firm's IT department had no properly integrated IT
systems following company acquisitions stretching back 10 years.
Another problem was that the chief information officer had too many
managers to oversee.
"The corporate CIO has 17 direct reports - managing both
subordinates and business leaders was too much," said Marc Cecere,
author of the Forrester report, The Structure of IT: Large Shop
Case Studies. "So this CIO took a hands-off attitude to managing
his direct reports and focused more on managing peers and
superiors.
"But this limited his ability to make dramatic changes,
particularly those that would be threatening to powerful and savvy
divisional CIOs."
To improve the performance of the IT department Forrester
recommended the media company clarified the IT responsibilities of
the CIO and business unit heads. Typically business unit heads are
responsible for funding and prioritising IT projects and CIOs are
responsible for executing them. Forrester added that the number of
people reporting directly to the CIO should fall to between six and
10.