Managerial Issues Associated with Managing an Organization’s Is Infrastructure

This article makes up Chapter 1 of the free, open access book titled, Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology, by John Gallaugher. Please ensure that you read the entire Chapter 1 of the book consisting of 3 parts (Part 1 Introduction; Part 2 Don’t Guess, Gather Data; and Part 3 Moving Forward).

In the world of business, information technology strategy has been overlooked by owners for they are so focused on marketing strategies. Keeping up with the use of information technology is in just about all types of industrial process and just as important. It has been a proven fact that it contributes to the development of strategies and tactics when developing a product or service. During the twentieth century the accelerated progress in information technology has developed a large variety of technologies for the collecting and storage of information such as the Internet, software companies, and personal computers.

Valacich, J., & Schneider, C. (2012).Information systems today: Managing in the digital world(5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Training methods varies as per the, time constraint, existing skills of the user, availability of the instructor, system complexity and many more organizational factors. Few common training methods are:

No matter the business to goal is to profit with little cost of attaining the profit. Technology has the most dramatic effect on business. A newer faster operating system can improve the efficiency to the company. New technology almost always offers way to make things run smoother with less chance or error and stay ahead of the competition. Not being caught up the newest technology can lead the competitor to have the upper hand. Employees will feel more confident and less likely to question the progress of the company if technology is something that isn’t lacking. The first step of the four function of management is planning. Planning cannot be done if there is not technology, much less up to date technology. Planning is a never ending step in the process, it is necessary for a company to sustain. Organizing the next step. Management must organize the structure of the business and evenly distribute the resources. Technology helps setting up and distributing the right information to the right departments. Directing, step number three requires never ending communication. This allows managers to allocate tasks to fix areas of weakness to improve and strengthen a company. Controlling is the last of the four functions. Technology helps companies establish standards, and help show ones job performance. Having this as a tool helps with areas of improvement for lower level members of a company as well as on up to the big dogs. Controlling is

The current business world is continually integrating technology into daily processes at a rapidly growing rate. The integration is having a major impact on the way that people within corporations accomplish their jobs and as such it is of significant interest as an area of study. The focus that was chosen was to attempt to gain an understanding of the issues and affects that new technology is having on a larger business via an interview with someone in either middle of upper management.

The work entitled "Challenges and Reflections on Knowledge Society & Sociotechnical Systems" reports that information technology (IT) is redefining the business basis" and that "customer attendance, operations, product strategies, marketing and distribution and even the society of knowledge depend sometimes even totally on Information System (IS)." (Balloni, 2010, p.21) The implementation of a new technology has been associated with problems that are "often linked to resistance by the work force and failure to achieve the expected benefits." (Balloni, 2010, p.21) Balloni (2010) reports that there must be a fit between the 'technical' and 'social' system, which form the organization. This means that business strategy, rules and processes determine the type of software and subsequently the type of hardware, database, and telecommunications system needed by the organization. The social system is comprised by the organization's

Configuration Management is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) product of the nuclear arms race of the 1950s. [16] During this time, developments were documented or not documented; therefore, the nuclear arms race did not lead to significant advancements in technology standards. [16] Items and protocols were duplicated which resulted in “high costs and mixed success” for the DoD. [16] In turn, the DoD mandated configuration management for the hardware in the military. [16] They issued “Bulletin Number 390 and 390A to the Army, Navy and Air Force and coined the term “engineering change proposal.” [16] Fast forward to today, configuration management is a common practice across the industry and the new standards are found in the NIST-series

Over the past few years technology has caused significant changes in the way enterprises conduct business.

Over the years, technology has become a major part for a business and for an individual as well. Technology has become so advance that it has made a major effect for the staff as well as for the customers. New technology has helped in many areas such as data and information storage, advertising, transportation and communication.

The emerging IT developments make big changes not only possible, but also increasingly necessary. IT has become a driving force for change, new innovation and new opportunities by offering powerful tools for furthering digitization of our work processes, services we offer, as well as creation of information products such as grey and other literature. The emerging new digital environment has the potential to impact all aspects of the way we do business, and the way we relate to our customers and the world around us. In order to meet expectations and benefit from this challenging opportunity, information managers need to be cognizant of new IT trends and the possibilities they offer in order to define the best strategies and action plans for their successful implementation in future.

It is generally accepted that information is a vital commodity for the successful operation of today’s organizations. Nowadays modern business organizations are using computerized information systems in order to obtain such information. However as the technology advances rapidly the main issue is how can an organization should effectively use such an information system - which its management sometimes can be unpredictable - in order to effectively help the whole organization structure to improve and take the most out of it.

CHANGE is the only constant in the relationship between information systems and organizations. As technology evolves and changes, its introduction into organizations requires changes in the firm 's infrastructure and the services it can provide to its employees, customers, and suppliers.

This paper will discuss the processes and pitfalls faced by Information Technology managers in today’s world of business. Today’s IT managers need not only be savvy about existing equipment and upcoming technology; but must also understand the budget issues they face and how to properly address them. The IT manager is asked to look into a crystal ball and predict what products will be beneficial and which requirements can be cut from the budget. They must be able to differentiate between the new shiny fad and products that will be a true asset to the company’s visions and goals. An IT budget can no longer be a static number on the company’s finance sheet; it must be a clear vision of the department’s future spending while falling in line with the goals and expectations of the company.

Management is one of the most important human activities and has critical impact on life, growth, development or destruction of an organisation. In an organisation, managers with any rank or status should understand their basic duties i.e. maintaining a sustainable conductive environment where people can fulfil their commitments and objectives through collaborative approach. (Akhtar, 2011) A manager is responsible to achieve the business’s goals, visions and objectives by planning, organising, leading and controlling. Dubrin (1994) stated that in every organisation each member of staff must plan, organise, make decisions, and control the resources they need to accomplish the results expected