The Manage IT Newsletter - Key Elements for the 21st Century IT Manager's Winning Strategy:
This issues focuses on how you can adapt your strategies as an IT manager within an enterprise or as a job seeker to the new demands of business for greater success.
Welcome to the August 2004 issue of the "Manage IT Newsletter." This monthly
publication is a part mentoring and part coaching tool dedicated to helping IT managers
enjoy a richer career experience so they can reach their full potential.
In this issue we will look at the how you can adapt your strategies as an IT manager
with an enterprise or as a job seeker to the new demands of business for greater success.
I trust you will find the advice in this issue valuable to both your personal life and
your career. Please do share this newsletter with your network, friends and colleagues. If
you are an IT executive or HR professional, pass a copy of this newsletter on to your IT
managers. A FREE subscription is available by sending a blank email to:
ManageITNewsletter-on@zines.webvalence.com
If, at any time, you wish to be removed from this list, simply send a blank email to:
ManageITNewsletter-off@zines.webvalence.com
With warmest regards,
Joe Santana,
Co-author Manage IT
www.joesantana.com
***************************In this Issue ****************************
* Focus Topic: Key Elements for the 21st Century IT Manager's Winning Strategy
* IT Management News & Trends: Focus on how effective companies address the need to
change strategies mid-stream and the state of the IT job market
* Tip Sheet: Models you can use to prepare you for IT career success in the 21st Century
* Closing Comments and Announcements
*********************************************************************
--------------------------- Focus Topic -----------------------------
Key Elements for the 21st Century IT Manager's Winning Strategy
I recently read an article in MIS Asia that tells us something we all instinctively know .
. . that the annual corporate strategic planning events simply don't matter anymore. The
reason for this is simple. Business today is changing so quickly that CEOs are often
forced to abandon the results of these long yearly sessions almost as soon as the meeting
is concluded to effectively respond to shifts in the marketplace. The implications for
executives and managers in the IT profession who seek to align technology investments for
their employers or to package their skills if they are seeking a new job are clear. As the
business marketplace for IT services rapidly changes, IT professionals and managers that
serve those markets have their own plans or job campaigns constantly thrown out of
alignment.
It's no surprise that IT executives and managers working for companies that are in a
this perpetual state of re-organization, re-focusing and shifting priorities find
themselves often out of synch with the business. According to one META Group study more
than 70% of the enterprise IT organizations lack a healthy relationship with business
management. Other symptoms of this IT challenge can be seen in the number of projects that
are enthusiastically started and swiftly aborted, as well as the amount of money IT
organizations spend buying IT products and services that are destined to gather dust in a
closet and never reach implementation. (According to Morgan Stanley between 2000 and 2002,
US IT organizations bought 130 billion dollars of products that they ultimately determined
they did not need. According to Gartner, this figure jumps to 540 billion worldwide for
the same period of time).
It's equally not surprising, although a first a bit of a conundrum, to understand how
according to a recent study the demand for IT managers has grown nearly 60% between 2000
and 2004, while many IT managers found it difficult to land a job within that same time
period. The answer to the puzzle is that many of the competencies and experiences needed
to fill the jobs that are boosting the IT manager demand numbers are different from the
traditional skills and background needed years ago when business activity was less
volatile. Companies expect different results from traditional job roles, such as the CIO
who was once expected to save money, but is now expected to make money. New IT manager
categories with competencies that were formally not thought of as being key requirements
for an IT organization, suddenly appear as well. A good example is the new IT/HR role. The
IT/HR manager is a direct report to the CIO with a combination of IT and HR experience who
supports the IT organizations ability to maintain the right quality and quantity of the
ever-changing skills and competencies needed to meet the needs of the enterprise. Other
roles are going away as certain types of work are sent offshore. Some of these newer roles
may still evolve and change. Others may go away totally after a short
"shelf-life" and give way to still newer roles. In summary, what's hot and
what's not, rapidly changes as businesses revise their strategies from quarter to quarter
or in some cases month to month and the demand for IT competencies also changes. For
someone planning a search campaign the traditional way, this can be quite disconcerting.
What, then, can you do as an enterprise IT executive or manager or someone in
transition seeking a new position in IT? One approach I highly recommend is to follow the
advice given to businesses today, which is to replace long-term (annual) strategic
planning with strategic decision-making.
For an enterprise IT executive or manager that means to replace alignment as an annual
event that ties them to the results of the annual business strategy session and management
of the IT budget with a focus on cost savings with a more flexible and responsive model.
For example:
* The development of an IT organization that is so integrated to the various components
of the business that it can at best anticipate and at worse respond to changes in
direction and demand that call for adjustments in IT focus, and
* An approach to managing IT dollars as an investment for optimum ROI relative to
changing business strategy
In essence, move away from alignment as an annual event and budget management to
alignment as a fluid on-going process and total continuous investment management.
For the IT executive or manager in transition, it means doing more than the up front
study of industry and target companies, which results in resumes and cover letters that
may be dated before they are mailed. You need to continuously pay attention and respond to
strategic issues that shift the needs of target companies and impact your value. For
example, if you are seeking a position within one of the many financial service
institutions that has a major focus on outsourcing to local tier one providers and the
industry shifts toward offshore outsourcing your emphasis on relationships with the major
tier one local providers loses value. On the other hand, if you adjust your message to
focus on your success in managing multi-cultural remote teams, your message will continue
to resonate strongly with your target market.
The bottom line is this. In today's fast-changing market, long-term strategies need to
be coupled with a focus on continuously identifying and responding to strategic issues
that require you to change in order to maintain and build your value. As the sage Eric
Hoffer put it "In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the
learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer
exists," (Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition, 1973).
I invite you to go to this months tip sheet for three suggestions that you can put to work
right away. http://www.joesantana.com/tip19.htm
-------------------- IT Management News and Trends -------------------
This month, we offer you three select articles. The first looks at the way effective
companies address strategic issues a topic that has huge implications for IT managers. The
other two examine the state of the IT job market.
An article that shows why annual strategic planning sessions are being replaced with a
more fluid and timely approach to managing the enterprise
http://www.misweb.com/magarticle.asp?doc_id=23563&rgid=5&listed_months=0
An analysis of where the IT job market is heading based on an InformationWeek study of
information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=26100484
Another article that focuses on skills that are hot and skills that are not in today's IT
job market
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=26101016
--------------------------- Tip Sheet --------------------------------
For three approaches that you can adopt to increase your ability to maintain your value in
today's fast pace world, go to August04 tip sheet at
http://www.joesantana.com/freenewsandtips.htm
----------------- Closing Thoughts and Announcements -----------------
WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT PROS AROUND THE WORLD THINK?
Join to the IT Professional World Wide network at http://itpww1-network.ryze.com
(Membership continues to grow at a phenomenal rate and it is still free). Many members are
using this network to find mentors, discover job opportunities, and find candidates for
open positions and much more.
WANT TO LEARN WHAT TO OUTSOURCE FOR TOP RETURN ON INVESTMENT?
Get your copy of the audio program titled "Doing more with less through IT
Outsourcing," at http://store.mixonic.com/joesantana
WANT TO HELP YOUR FRIENDS LOOKING FOR ADVICE ON HOW TO FIGHT BURNOUT AND ACHIEVE PEAK
PERFORMANCE
Have them visit www.joesantana.com and sign up for the free TIPS DRIVING PEAK PERFORMANCE
EMAIL SEMINAR. Delivered over seven days, this program is packed with advice that can
immediately be put to use by a rookie or a veteran IT manager. (HR pros will also find it
a rich source of ideas they can use to coach IT managers).
NEED HELP QUICKLY BUILDING A PIPELINE OF CANDIDATES.
Contact EmployeeROI www.employeeroi.com/1-888-654-8845
I hope you enjoyed this issue of the IT Managers Newsletter. As always, your feedback
on topics that interest you is always appreciated.
JS
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