Operational Excellence In IT Management

Companies that employ operationally excellent information technology services have a distinct advantage over their competitors, even when market demand is down and credit is tight.

The downturn for these companies will be shorter and less severe, and they will be well-positioned to move forward quickly when the recovery begins. Applying the discipline of operational excellence across all aspects of a company's business activities is the key to survival, and nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of internal IT services.

It is critical to focus on “doing the right things”, and “doing things right”, as far as IT services are concerned. Operational Excellence in Information Technology management requires a relentless commitment to best practices in areas such as - business alignment, strategic planning, governance, IT architecture, security services, managing IT systems as services, project management, organization design, and vendor management.

Despite all the marketing hype from computer vendors, the true and lasting competitive advantage from IT does not result from implementing the latest gee whiz technology or a “better mousetrap” – instead, it is achieved by a disciplined commitment to Operational Excellence In IT management. By applying a strict management discipline and following proven best practices, the IT function can be transformed from a difficult-to-manage cost center into a value-added service to the corporation.

This approach has been proven to be a winning strategy throughout the highs and lows of business cycles and is an even more important discipline for companies weathering the storms of a severe recession. The approach applies across all industries since IT management challenges are largely generic and common to all sectors, regardless of the particular applications that might be installed.

Having said that, it is also worth noting that the author’s practical experience is based on the application of the principles of operational excellence within a major integrated oil and gas corporation where IT services are an integral part of the operations in exploration, production, distribution, pipelines, refining and marketing.

After many years of leading and managing virtually all aspects of information technology in the corporate world, I have witnessed an enormous amount of change, both in the rapidly evolving technology itself, but also in the approach to effective management of these very necessary but complex systems. The good news is that IT has been a huge enabler of productivity and, with the powerful networks, computing platforms and sophisticated application environments available today, enterprises can do so much more (and do it much more rapidly and economically) than ever before.

With the advent of the PC, the Internet and other portable and wireless personal devices, businesses and consumers can employ an impressive array of capabilities such as information access, information sharing, knowledge acquisition, decision making, automation and market development that were not possible even just a few years ago.

However, while much has changed, many of the challenges experienced by business leaders – as they try to make sense of the complexities, opportunities, risks and costs associated with IT – remain the same. Moreover, many companies, as they struggle with these challenges, are missing out on opportunities that go well beyond the immediate internal efficiencies that directly result from an operationally excellent IT function.