Nowadays, it is much easier to understand the importance of technology for conducting business. Many magazines and publications dedicated exclusively to the world of finance, for example, already dedicate extensive articles on digital transformation.
However, to add cutting-edge technology to your business properly and reap the rewards, you need to understand the concept of IT management —and how to implement good practices in your business. Thinking about it, we prepared a special post on the subject. Follow us!
What is the importance of optimizing IT management?
The gare IT has to do with how a company organizes its technological infrastructure and the use of the appropriate tools. The concept also involves the relationship of employees, internal and external, with digital solutions.
To facilitate an understanding of the importance of optimizing IT management, we will present two specific reasons. Let’s meet them.
Opportunity to differentiate yourself among competitors
In today’s market, agility in the conduct of processes has become even more essential. There is a great demand for deliveries and results, as well as a large flow of information on the network. No for nothing, the professionals who organize data and extract insights are increasingly valued.
Thus, optimizing IT management also ensures that you can collect and organize all the information produced, in order to produce more and more relevant knowledge to increase business strategies.
Well-conducted management is critical to safeguarding this data, and best: producing information from the entire digital history of the company. Thus, knowledge about volume and frequency of purchases, for example, will help you better understand customer behavior and offer increasingly personalized solutions and services.
In addition, good IT management ensures information about the level of customer satisfaction with your products and what you can do to improve and retain those consumers. Later in the text, we will talk in more detail about the importance of data analysis for the business.
General development of the company
Regardless of the field in which they operate, many managers have experienced the following situation: to note that talented employees have the potential wasted on operational tasks. Who never wanted to eliminate bureaucratic tasks and allocate high-level professionals in business-end activities?
One of the main differentials of IT management is the possibility of automating various tasks. Thus, purely operational activities can be carried out by machines, such as the recording of information and even obligations related to the universe of accounting, such as payroll issues.
This enables workers to focus on more creative activities, generating more and more value and performance for the company. In addition, IT management also helps employees in the registration and protection of valuable files for the company.
This is the case with cloud technology, for example. With proper IT management, your company now has access to several tools to optimize your tasks and even facilitate the consultation of documents.
If a professional just needs to do a quick search on a computer to find a piece of certain information, instead of wasting time digging through folders and more folders, it saves time and produces more and more.
In this sense, we can say that IT management increases the overall productivity of your business. You start to understand more about technology solutions and what they can do to generate more value for the company.
What are the best IT management practices?
Okay, now that we understand the concept and importance of managing IT optimally, it’s time to show some good practices for driving processes.
Establishment of customized software and programs
With software developed according to your specific demands, your company now has a personalized means of meeting your goals. Instead of opting for generic programs, aimed at various types of business, you work with developers who will study their business routines to optimize their IT management.
In this way, your employees don’t waste any more time trying to understand the particularities of non-comprehensive software. With a customized technological solution, your company achieves more performance and differentiates itself in the market.
Machine learning
Machine learning is one of the pillars of artificial intelligence, with applications in various markets and companies of different segments. A lot is said about Netflix’s movie and series referral system, for example, but the truth is that technology also optimizes decision-making more generally.
That’s because machine learning can operate in conjunction with massive databases or as it is most commonly known on the market today: Big Data. In this way, it is possible to organize information and outline consumption patterns among customers already loyal or even by profiling.
In this respect, many insights can be generated and provide the basis for business opportunities, greater accuracy in customer service, and even reduce waste of both raw material and intellectual with the use of data-driven to guide strategic decisions.
Consulting and outsourcing
When companies need more specialized tools and opinions from professionals who study the subject deeply, they can opt for two equally interesting options: consulting and outsourcing.
In the first, the company meets with specialists in various IT fields to optimize the application of technological tools in the business. In addition, they can pick up tips on key market solutions and new trends that promise new opportunities, such as serverless computing.
Outsourcing is outsourcing services, both the most operational activities and little related to the end-activities of the company and the development of software that act directly in the core business.
Thus, it is possible to hire professionals to automate bureaucratic tasks or even to develop custom software to meet the needs of the business. The development of own applications is also provided by the best companies in the industry.
Employee training
Just as consulting and external partnerships are important, having professionals prepared to optimize your management also adds a lot of value to your business. You can look for specific training, according to the end-activities of your business, and deliver operational work to third-party employees, for example.
Thus, it is possible to combine the best of two worlds: operational efficiency and very high productivity, since each professional starts to operate in the fields with which he has the most familiarity.
DataOps
DataOps is a company-specific methodology that prioritizes the culture of data analysis and management (also called data-driven). It combines agile practices, functioning as a kind of bridge between data science, infrastructure, business intelligence (BI), and operations.
DataOps considers communication and integration between data engineers, scientists, and machine learning professionals, for example. In this way, all these employees align their objectives to produce knowledge relevant to the business.
The term is based on the principles applied in DevOps, more focused on agile methods for development teams. DataOps has more emphasis on data, with a methodology focused on information management.
What mistakes should be avoided in IT management?
Low-skilled professionals
Stop and think a little: the main reason to implement a good IT management policy is to provide ways to optimize all the company’s work with the application of technology. However, it is necessary to have efficient manpower to operate the tools and extract good results.
In this way, it is necessary to ensure that your employees are up to the challenge. This applies both to those who are allocated internally and to external consultants. Thus, before starting the management work, you need to make sure that your people will be able to deal with digital transformation and new means of work.
Use of generic digital solutions
Many companies are still in the case of using software designed to serve large-scale businesses. Although they are developed by professionals with broad recognition, they are not always the best solutions —especially for companies that operate in very specific niches.
Thus, a great idea is to seek to implement customized software, which optimizes the company’s internal activities and allows employees to spend less time with bureaucratic and operational work. In addition, it is possible to seek the help of partners for the development of their own applications, which will have a positive impact on consumers.
Leave data management aside
Do you know how to quantify the data circulating on the internet? Well, we’re past the quintillion mark. This means that there is a mountain of information available on the network, which can generate knowledge relevant to companies.
No more relying on mere machismo and intuition. With data management work, it will be possible to develop more specific business strategies, taking into account the company’s digital history and the monitoring of social networks.
What is the importance of data analysis in IT management?
The continued advancement of technology promotes changes in the market in increasingly short periods of time. This can cause problems within companies when they try to align their infrastructure with the demands of their consumers.
However, by having adequate tools for data analysis and verification, managers are able to identify the demands earlier and prepare their company for them. In addition, there is a positive change in the means by which companies relate to customers.
This is because the analysis helps the company identify the habits of consumers, which fosters strategies for launching products and services, for example. Solutions in Big Data and data mining make the company able to extract insights by analyzing purchases for a given period or even by separating information according to a certain region of the country.
With the accurate and reliable information provided by data analysis, both managers and collaborators can act more safely. This also opens space for professionals to detect bottlenecks and necessary expenses, offering cost reduction actions.
Thus, we can say that data analysis provides ways to capture information to optimize IT management, but that’s not all: it increases productivity and efficiency of companies, optimizing profitability and generating new opportunities.
How do I manage IT teams?
Now, we’ll learn the key steps for the proper management of IT teams.
Communication
The ability to communicate properly is important in any industry and its management is no different. It is necessary to be transparent in the transmission of activities and in relation to the results expected by leaders.
This harmony facilitates daily life within the company, especially when we talk about technological solutions. This is because many tools are still quite recent and a lack of instructions can jam your business routine.
In addition, communication also relates to the alignment of expectations and processes, as well as the fulfillment of a well-organized organization chart.
Alignment of objectives
It is extremely important that the overall objectives of the organization are aligned, from specific teams to managers. With everyone aware of the scope of ongoing projects, it becomes easier to work together for encouraging results.
In this sense, communication, mentioned in the previous topic, is fundamental to make employees understand the importance of the work developed and how technological solutions make life easier for everyone.
Attention to deadlines
Having high-level technological tools and an efficient team of developers does not mean, under any circumstances, that employees have more “relaxed” deadlines. Even with the improvement in its infrastructure and in the conduct of activities, initial planning should be taken very seriously.
Thus, IT managers are essential to be able to scale deadlines, as well as the gradual insertion of new technologies within processes. These professionals should be aware of recent changes in the market, always studying ways to generate new opportunities with the help of technology.
Employee motivation
With proper IT management, it’s easier to motivate employees. After all, everyone wants to work in a company that invests in the modernization of its processes and offers efficient means of optimizing activities.
However, to keep them motivated, it is very important to invest in team training and consulting with external professionals who specialize in technology.
Adoption of immediate feedback
Feedback is a great way to optimize IT management. However, many managers end up sinful by “archiving” feedback and not implementing immediate changes in the way companies conduct business.
Thus, good feedbacks should be immediately welcomed and transformed into practical actions. This is especially important when opinions are issued by technology professionals, who know a lot about various digital tools and solutions.
Likewise, do not disregard feedback from your own employees. They are directly involved with internal processes and this knowledge should not be overlooked, even to keep the motivation of these workers on the rise.
Encouraging general participation
Another fundamental initiative is to encourage the participation of all employees, even those who are still in training. In addition, because many professionals tend to read about technology in their spare time, it is possible that these people have important insights and suggestions to collaborate with the business.
This style of management favors creativity and entrepreneurship since employees will not feel ashamed when it comes to saying what they think. To avoid a stagnant company without innovations, it is essential to rely on the opinions of people who are directly involved with it.
How to manage IT demands?
The management of IT demands is a set of processes that has as main objective the identification and prioritization of requests, requests, and general initiatives of the technology department.
This work is especially strategic since it helps to direct the decisions of managers to anticipate failures and errors in the processes. This helps reduce losses and eliminate waste by adopting postures that make all management easier. Now, we will know the main steps.
Get to know the business objectives in depth
The first step to successful management of demands is to know the real needs of the company and the results it wants to achieve. Thus, it is essential to make a survey of the main business requests related to the IT area.
For example, does your company want to automate more tasks? Employ data analysis more intensively? With the answers in hand, it will be easier to define the methodologies, those responsible, and the technological solutions to act.
Maintain process consistency
Now, it is essential to develop a standard for meeting the demands. This action will directly influence team performance and ensure more efficiency for your processes. The main goal here is to establish a workflow that facilitates communication and collaboration.
In this way, managers can determine more accurate performance indicators and obtain a reliable history of the main demands and solutions to the problems encountered.
Review processes continuously
It is not enough just to implement a change and expect it to become a part of the organizational culture. To perform demand management in a deep way, it is necessary to periodically review the processes adopted.
This makes it easier to increase the level of accuracy of estimates, increase team performance, and achieve more overall efficiency. Ideally, companies always have continuous improvement as a guide, even as a means of raising revenue subtly.
This review can be done annually, but it is important to monitor processes to find faults and fix them on time. If a particular technology tool is not providing the expected results, you can meet with consultants and look for new options.
Study what influences the demands
What makes one demand more urgent than others? It is an obligation of managers to understand which factors influence this oscillation and anticipate problems.
It is important to mention that these demands do not encompass only the needs of customers, but also internal factors of the organization. Among some of them, we can mention:
- seasonality, when specific demands tend to focus on specific periods of the year;
- the need to implement new digital solutions;
- training of employees.
Apply metrics and indicators
The metrics and performance indicators provide managers with the evaluation of the overall performance of the work performed. So-called KPIs are used to point out existing failures, possible causes, and strategies needed to correct errors.
KPIs can be used both to evaluate the collective effort of a given team and that of a collaborator, individually, for example. They are also efficient in monitoring the performance of equipment, such as machines and software.
How can good IT management contribute to the customer experience?
IT management leads to the optimization of all activities and the company’s production flow. This enables the company more productive, reflecting directly on the quality of the goods and services provided.
Thus, the customer experience improves considerably. The relationship between the company and the consumer itself becomes more productive, since the company now has direct contact channels —through applications and improvements in technological infrastructure, for example.
As we could see in the article, IT management is a complete cycle of changes designed to increase productivity and digitally transform a company. As if that were not enough, managers now have better-trained employees and specialized consulting from external professionals.
We can say, therefore, that IT management combines good management practices, cutting-edge technology, and investment in the expertise of employees and partners. Through digital solutions and efficient use of tools, the company acquires a competitive advantage and provides increasingly qualified products for its consumers.
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