The time has come for IT departments to think
strategically aboutsystems management, and how it can be
used in a co-ordinated and effective manner to deliver real
business benefits, says analyst Butler Group.
According to Butler Group report "IT Systems Management
(Technology Comparison)", as organisations demand that IT
infrastructure delivers increased levels of availability and
quality of service, the focus for IT managers is shifting towards a
business-service perspective.
"Organisational IT structures are often characterised by many
different siloed teams of technical specialists," said Butler Group
analyst Roy Illsley.
"These silos often drive the technology selection process in
organisations, which to a large extent is governed by the existing
skills within the IT department. This approach has created tension
between the requirements of the business users and the capability
to manage the technology of the IT department," he said.
The result of this siloed approach, said Illsley, is that IT
resources are locked into technologies, and organisations face
expensive retraining or new hiring costs if technologies new to the
organisation are selected.
But Butler says systems management tools can change IT from
being mainly reactive in its response, to being more proactive and
business focused.
The new, more holistic approach to systems management allows the
IT department to manage the technology stack at a higher level, and
therefore enable it to manage a wider range of technologies more
efficiently.
As IT becomes ever more ingrained in the organisation the need
to be responsive to business demand in a controlled approach has
increased in significance.
Butler Group believes that the approach to this demand, using
systems management strategically, will differentiate the good IT
departments from the average ones.