Professional view: All or nothing

Ask any IT manager what their top priority is, and the chances are that it will be something different from last week.

Sometimes it is to get on top of some new technology, to evaluate it within the enterprise and make a value judgement; other times it is a business issue like creating partnerships with suppliers and customers which improve the organisation?s bottom line.

Few IT courses provide the broad combination of skills which are required for today?s IT manager. The transition of IT manager from techie to IT-astute business person has not been properly reflected in the training that many IT managers receive. Even the best degree courses, where four years are dedicated to producing an IT manager able to deal with all challenges, are not delivering the full range of skills which are needed in the real world.

The shift has been subtle but definite. Once the IT manager had to concentrate on acquiring systems that would improve productivity and competitiveness. Now they have to deliver marketing incentives and the infrastructure to support them which will improve profitability and staff motivation.

Once they had to deliver an IT response to a businessperson?s requirements; now they have to provide the business arguments, explain return on investment in boardroom terms and generally hold their own alongside managers from a variety of other departments and disciplines.

Organisations which fail to recognise that the role of IT manager has changed to embrace business acumen will find itself severely disadvantaged.

Not only have the IT manager?s responsibilities changed and widened, they now encompass challenges such as making sure that company-wide procurement strategies are exploited so that best economies-of-scale are achieved. They have to keep an eye on their competitors and judge how their own IT and processes can stay one step ahead.

Some training organisations are broadening courses pitched at IT managers to include topics such as supply chain management, marketing, customer service and partnership management. However, many board members fail to see the need for a humble IT manager to undertake such courses.

Because there are few training courses which deliver the skills necessary to produce a well-rounded IT manager in today?s environment, organisations have to educate their IT managers themselves.

The first step is a change in attitude towards training which sees learning as a never-ending process of change, observation and reaction. Only from that environment can the modern IT manager ? a fully-fledged hybrid of business and technology skills ? emerge.

We can expect training organisations to gradually turn towards the new objectives. But a shortcut which many boards are already adopting is to put IT managers through a wide range of disparate training courses and experiences, on an ongoing basis. This is much better than having IT which responds belatedly to market conditions.