– Todd Merrill, Spokesperson for Network System Architects (www.nsai.net), says:
There are always several points of contention between the Business and IT. But IT needs to remember that the reason they are there is to support and enable the Business. The Business wants things done quickly, IT sees a need to test and “get it right” first.
There are several courses of action that IT should follow to better align themselves with Business needs:
Training: With the constant stream of new and changing technology, a well trained IT staff is critically important.
Keep the environment current: Test and install patches and new releases on at least a monthly basis.
Governance: IT and the business must sit down once a month and review the results of the past 30 days, review any incidents and their resolutions, chart time to repair, and compare results to the documented goals or SLAs. The motive for these meetings is not punishment or rationalization, but rather constant improvement.
Consider Managed Services: Many SMB’s would do well to consider out sourcing to a good Managed Services organization (such as NSAi). They receive 24X7 monitoring and support from highly certified and experienced staff, and all of the previous 5 points, for a fraction of the cost of employing and maintaining in-house resources.
