Shedding Light On the Black Art of IT Management

Cathy writes "An article by Harvard's Andrew McAfee tells nontechnical managers how not to get overwhelmed by the 'drumbeat' of IT projects. McAfee breaks down IT into three categories — functional, network, and enterprise — and says that this framework 'can also indicate which IT initiatives are going to be relatively easy to implement and on which projects executives should focus. In that light, IT management starts to look less like a black art and more like the work of the executive.'"

Comments

Tunnel Vision

[parvenu74]

The "black" part of the art: the inability of managers to adequately know everything they need to know about the projects for which they are responsible.

Re:Tunnel Vision

[Soko]

The "black" part of the art: the inability of managers to adequately know everything they need to know about the projects for which they are responsible.

Sure about that? My boss answered your post with "Maybe I'm not the greatest technical mind, but I know what I need to - to trust in the people I hired to do these IT projects, that they'll make sure there's enough return on each dollar spent. Pretty simple."

One of the reasons I work here.

Soko

Re:Tunnel Vision

[Anonymous Coward]

Here are the real parts of IT management:

1) Risk aversion: throw amazing amounts of cash at an external vendor to manage "risk". This way, when something goes wrong, you can point your finger outside of your domain.
2) Kickbacks: because you are throwing tremendous amounts of money around in step #1, you'll quickly find that the external vendors are willing to throw some back - strictly off the record. They'll also pay for your prostitutes.
3) Blind decision making: since you've paid external vendors to take on the bulk of the risk, there is little reason for your reward (see: risk/reward). This means that you can NOT delegate decisions to the people who have the knowledge to make them as you would be left to do nothing at all. Instead, subscribe to Gartner. They'll tell you what to do. They'll even tell you what to do after you realize that what they told you before was wrong (see: outsourcing, buy instead of build, etc).

Rinse and repeat. Posting anonymously for obvious reasons.

Re:Tunnel Vision

[Heembo]

Bullshit! Managers need to participate in the design process of IT projects, especially applications that they their departments will be depending on. I hate managers who "iterate with programmers" on an actual application, spiral style - that is SO expensive and less secure (a highly refactored system is less secure that one that was done right the first time) You iterate with design docs, get involved early. Once you (as a manager) have a good design in play, then set your IT people loose. If you do not have at least a minimal understanding of the basics of how the web works, yet you are spending a million on a large enterprise web project, then shame on you or the board that hired you!

Re:Tunnel Vision

[Tim Browse]

"Hello, Meme Police? I'd like to report a spillage."

Not for slashdot audience

[Zo0ok]

I dont think this article says much to the Slashdot audience. It is really targeted at poeple who find IT confusing and needs to get an idea of what it is. It categorises and simplifies - maybe in a useful way for people who need an introduction. But again: not for the slashdot audience. Move on.

Re:Not for slashdot audience

[mritunjai]

It is really targeted at poeple who find IT confusing and needs to get an idea of what it is. It categorises and simplifies - maybe in a useful way for people who need an introduction. But again: not for the slashdot audience. Move on.

Read the article again, it's focussed on the non-technical people managing technical people. Yeah, right - one of the "people who find IT confusing" can be YOUR boss tomorrow !! (Surprize!!!!)

When the sh*t hits the fan, you'd need to know what to point her to, and more-importantly - to know what the hell she's been reading!

When you need to babysit your boss, every bit of knowledge helps :-)

Black Art?

[Anonymous Coward]

Most of the techniques for managing IT Operations have been known for decades. It's just that each generation seems to insist on learning everything the hard way. Believe it or not, the mainframe folks in the 1970s really did know a lot about IT Operations.

Other than thst, the biggest problem I see today is middle managers on up not bothering to talk to their technical people and wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on poorly configured equipment.

Re:Black Art?

[itwerx]

biggest problem I see today is middle managers on up not bothering to talk to their technical people

Indeed, the whole article scores a giant, "DUH!"
      The real problem with IT project management is that very few people can functionally integrate management/business skills with IT skills. They are fundamentally different ways of thinking and not very many folks are that flexible upstairs.
      So you generally end up with one of two types of project managers, those who can manage but don't know enough about IT to read between the lines and translate a programmer's estimate of 1000 hours into a real world 4000 hours, and those who are ridiculously capable behind the keyboard but can't handle personnel issues worth a damn.
      (Speaking as that very rare third type who IS that flexible and has to deal with the other two types on a daily basis. Sometimes I think I should change my title from "Consultant" to "Bi-directional Tech/Management Translator". :)

Re:Black Art?

[asuffield]

It's just that each generation seems to insist on learning everything the hard way.

"Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn at no other"

Each generation has far more fools than the previous one. Population expansion and all that. You can spot these people because they never learn from anything other than their own mistakes. Ironically, many of them think that this is a virtue.

Believe it or not, the mainframe folks in the 1970s really did know a lot about IT Operations.

In the 1970s, mainframes were hard to work with. You had to be good to get anywhere at all. Nowadays, it is far easier for an idiot to use a computer.

Oh, and in recorded history, there are no significant instances of people learning from history. That's why it always repeats.

A heartfelt thank you....

[jaypifer]

Lucky we have commentary Academe to put us people that actually work in IT onto the proper path. Possibly he would be equally open to our suggestions on how universities should operate.

I've already learned...

[gamer4Life]

...everything I need to know about management from Dilbert.

IT Management and Fred Brooks

[callistra.moonshadow]

A friend recommended it (The Mythical Man Month) to me 10 years ago when I was a Sr. C++ developer at a small start-up. I read it, then later re-read it. Years later, after going over to the "dark side" and becoming a manager I often still quote from that same book after going through things like RUP, Agile, MSF, etc. Everyone puts a new spin on the reality that if you have a project with a manager that is not technical they have to have a VERY strong development lead or they are in deep doo doo.

In the past some at some companies people could not fathom a good project manager being a good architect. Where I currently work that is not the case. My strong management skills are important, but my technical knowledge is also valued. I have seen change in the industry in this direction. I hope it continues. At the end of the day what was valid over 40 years ago is still valid today.

Not who I want to get tips from

[L4m3rthanyou]

McAfee breaks down IT into three categories functional, network, and enterprise

Well, clearly, the quality of McAfee's products demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach.

Howbout Engeneering?

[krico]

How long did it take until engineering mgmt was not a black art?