Effective IT Administration and Management Strategies
IT Administration and Management
Administration: The process of creating, designing, and maintaining an environment where staff can work efficiently to achieve selected goals.
Management Functions: Planning, organizing, integrating, directing, and controlling.
Risk and Security
Risk: The proximity or possibility of harm or danger.
Security: A guarantee given to someone regarding the fulfillment of something.
Computer Administration
Administering Computers: The process of creating, designing, and maintaining an IT environment where personnel can work effectively in groups to achieve selected goals.
Three-Tier Architecture
User interface, business logic, and database transactional management.
Managing the Transition to a New Environment
- Review the business model based on defined rules.
- Set a technology vision that meets organizational functions and processes.
- Consider people as part of any technology upgrade strategy.
- Identify opportunities for streamlining and reorganization.
- Use accelerators to port existing applications.
- Adopt remote backup services.
Delegation of Responsibilities
The administrator cannot and should not do everything themselves; they must designate roles to each person and help them excel.
In Computer Science: It is crucial for computer administrators to learn to delegate technology use and understand that they should not delegate their own technology (e.g., not everyone should have access to all programs and systems).
Total Quality Management in IT
A concept that focuses on overall organizational management to provide quality customer service.
- Employee participation
- Customer focus
- Benchmarking
- Continuous improvement
New Computer Management Responsibilities
Objective Analysis and Job Description: The basis of all processes. Clearly and simply define the tasks to be performed in a certain position and the factors necessary for successful execution (essential for any organization).
Responsibilities for the Director of the Organization
- Manage and supervise assigned technical and administrative facilities.
- Organize functions, responsibilities, and activities of assigned technical and administrative facilities, keeping the organization updated and informed.
- Carry out any addition or development of new technologies or resources, whether acquired from third parties or developed internally.
- Safeguard and enhance the structural capital acquired by the organization, developing departmental activities and maintaining that purpose through technologies and resources.
- Manage, maintain, and preserve tools, hardware, and software installed on the premises where the department works, and ensure the physical space accommodating computer and communications equipment is available for users.
- Prepare an annual report of the department’s activities, in addition to any necessary periodic reports as requested.
- Convene regular departmental meetings and document discussions.
Organizational Structures
Organizations: Human groups that pursue common objectives rationally and consistently, subject to certain restrictions and based on certain resources.
Objective Determination: Provides a guide for organizational actions.
Mission of an Organization: The expression of its reason for existence, which precedes any particular purpose (the precise definition of the organization’s core business).
Starting Point for Structural Design: Consideration of the organization’s mission, as it shapes objectives, strategies, plans, and activities.
Entrepreneurial Organization
Entrepreneur: Innovative, flexible, dynamic, risk-taking, creative, and growth-oriented.
Main Management Idea: Activities revolve around the general director, who maintains personal control.
Bureaucratic Machine (Functional Organization)
This organizational model originated during the industrial revolution, emphasizing work standardization and production efficiency.
Where It’s Found:
- Consumer product manufacturing
- Public administration organizations
- Government revenue organizations
- Control organizations
- Safety organizations
- Airlines and banks
Original Objectives: Efficiency and functionality.
Original Bureaucratic Model: A structure based on highly professional roles, with individuals compensated accordingly.
Bureaucratic Machine: An organization with predetermined or predictable, standardized behavior.
Routine and Repetitive Work: Emphasizes horizontal and vertical division of labor and specialization.
Divisionalized Bureaucratic Organizations
Coordination is achieved by standardizing products from different production units. The middle management of each unit has significant autonomy.
Professional Bureaucratic Organization
A highly standardized structure in both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Individuals often work directly with clients, subject only to peer group control.
Adhoc Organizations
This structure requires well-coordinated action, but an organizational chart is often difficult to define.
Adhocracy: A structure characterized by low complexity, formality, and centralization.