ICT Management > Staffing Issues, Making Policies & Best Practice

The Lasa Managing ICT Model

By Lasa Information Systems Team

In past issues of our publication Computanews we've carried a number of articles based on our developing work on Managing ICT. Through this work we have developed a model of the various elements of ICT support that most organisations seem to need.

The Components

These are all roles that have to be carried out. In larger organisations they may correspond to particular posts; in smaller organisations one or two people may do them all.

The IT Coordinator

This combines several activities, the central one being that of coordinating/administering the IT system. The IT coordinator is also the link to external support - the 'link person'. The role doesn't necessarily require great technical knowledge. More important is the ability to administer the system, to do things like keeping an inventory of all equipment and software, logging problems and communicating with external support. A degree of technical confidence obviously helps but the role isn't about fixing a broken PC, rather ensuring that the problem can be described and steps taken to get others to fix it. Most of us don't do our own plumbing, but we can describe a leaking tap and phone up a plumber.

External Support

Even the largest organisations will depend on external consultants or maintenance engineers to support their IT systems. The high level of expertise required, and the unpredictable and periodic nature of most problems means that it isn't cost effective to keep a sufficiently skilled person on staff. It's important to recognise that you will need a number of different support services: network support, support for specialist applications like a database or anti-virus software, and support for popular applications like word processing. Some organisations get by with informal support arrangements from personal contacts or management committee members, but as dependency on IT increases, particularly when a network is installed, a proper support contract with a reliable organisation becomes a necessity.

The Super User

Super users are those staff members who have developed skills with the software they use. Typically this will be an admin worker who does a lot of word processing and has developed good Word skills. This person's skills are probably already recognised by colleagues who will ask him or her for help with things like mail merge, footers or styles. The super user idea builds on this expertise, recognising its value to the organisation, providing extra training and enhanced job description. Ideally you want a super user for each software application you have and preferably someone in every department.

The IT Team

The IT Team is a different component from the others in this model in that it is a vehicle for driving the process of managing IT, bringing key people together, providing a focus for decision making and implementation. Having the right skills and role definitions in the team is only part of the story, you need to decide on a process that will enable you to bring your IT plans to life. The specifics of this will depend on the particular resources of your organisation but it is likely to require a bringing together of the roles of manager, IT coordinator, super-users and periodically your external adviser. Like any 'team' the idea is that putting the different elements together brings a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The specific jobs that this team might deal with are likely to alter over time but its basic role might be something like:

• Drafting strategy and objectives around developing IT thatgo to the appropriate management level for agreement
• Recommending spending on IT and managing the budget
• Setting up and managing systems to respond to problems including liasing with external support
• Identifying and responding to staff development needs

There is a key leadership role for the manager in this group to ensure that IT activity is properly contained within organisational goals and priorities.

Management

Managers have to take control of IT if they are to improve and develop their services through the use of technology. Many managers aren't technically minded and can feel uncomfortable with IT, but it is a resource that should be managed like any other. If managers don't provide the lead there is a danger that organisation could fail to take advantage of opportunities, or that IT decisions will be made by technical staff who have only a partial view of the direction of the organisation. Managers must play a leading role in the IT steering group to ensure its goals are in line with the goals of the organisation as a whole.

Advice and Consultancy

The difficulty with a rapidly developing area like IT is hard for non-specialists to envisage what's possible. This can be particularly important for developments like the Internet, which have major implications for voluntary organisations. The answer is to ask for advice, but this can be problematic as many IT enthusiasts can be unreliably partisan and have difficulty distinguishing between exciting possibilities for IT and practical solutions. It helps to develop some knowledge of the issues and to try to build up a network of 'experts' who can provide sensible advice.