Where to take my shop next? 2

[wmichael]

Howdy;

I am the IT director for a large-ish petroleum company in the New England area. We currently have approximately 1,100 employees, 150 remote locations (mixed connectivity; mostly dial-up, the WAN, then a few scattered VPNs), a corporate office of 70+ users, WIN2K3 / SCO network, blah blah.

My staff consists of 7 people; 3 help desk who share in road trips for break/fix needs, 1 programmer who also is our Cisco engineer, 1 network administrator who doubles as a hardware tech when the occasion calls for it, 1 network administrator/security admin who has been unfortunately resourced to spend most of his time on the road, and 1 Swiss army knife who can step in anywhere and get things done (but has little in the way of depth). My background is in software development, HCI and engineering, both on the front lines and in a supervisory capacity.

One of the challenges I am running into are a number of poor decisions made over the last 3-5 years that I inherited when I took this position 8 months ago. Examples of this vary, but generally point back to the following root causes;

- Planning IT projects without resourcing them adequately. By this I mean we have committed to a number of large-scale projects affecting our remote locations and robbing resources from corporate (our security admin is a great example).
- Uneducated and technically unaware executive staff (8 year old NT servers should last a few more years, right?)
- Poor client training programs when implementing new software solutions (IT can handle that at the help desk, right?)

While I have made some long strides on stabilizing the infrastructure, I now must tackle the ongoing process of keeping remote locations in good technical shape, while simultaneously moving forward on some major technical/operational implementations.

With the above as a brief thumbnail sketch, might I get some thoughts on the following;

- Given the scope of responsibility (anything that beeps and spits out a report), what level should my position be? Middle manager? Executive?
- Any thoughts from others in terms of educating executives on the fact that we are essentially married to technology and must treat it more seriously?
- Lastly, for now, how to reign in projects that are being (mis)managed by folks who honestly cannot run a project.

Share your wisdom! I'm in need of a head check...

Thanks in advance for your feedback. I hope you will consider this post on-topic for this forum.


~wmichael

"small change can often be found under seat cushions

 

[chiph]

I can't help you define your position -- Is it a CTO level job? Or is it a VP of Information Technology level? It's probably what you can convince others what it is.

But in the case of fixing some of the problems, the best thing to do would be to get a 3rd party to do a systems & needs analysis. Being an outsider, they've got no political agenda, and you're likely to get more traction from the board. You probably can't afford to replace all your systems (that would be a hard sell in any case), but maybe you can start with the most important and/or most fragile servers. At 8 years old, the CMOS battery in most of them is probably about dead, and after a reboot will probably lose their BIOS config info (Hard drive? What hard drive?)

Regarding the mis-management of projects -- Was there a risk analysis done? What's the cost to the business if one or more of them fail, or drag on interminably? That's something I would ask for. If they're really bad, would it be possible to get them promoted elsewhere?

At a previous company, one of our customers was a petroleum distributor in Georgia (the state, not the country), and the thing that made IT valuable to the execs there was excellent reporting, allowing them to know the state of their business on a daily basis, and to a certain extent, predict product consumption.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[spamly]

Sounds like you're a Corperate Director or CIO. It really all depends on how technology is incorperated in your company. If you work with systems that aid the day to day operations, you'd probably be a director. If you systems are complex and are critical to the day to day operations, your a CIO.

I'd get in a technical project lead. Somebody with a skillset that includes analyzing current systems and creating thorough roadmaps for upgrading/maintaining/obsoleting existing systems.

Your staff sounds stretched thin as it is and although they may be technically able to provide maintenance on existing systems, I'm guessing you're getting close to hitting critical mass.

 

[willir]

Michael

I have pondered for a few days on how to respond to your queries...

Your situation sounds so familiar, except at the other end of management.

Title:
I guess this is important, and the sign of a good manager is knowing how much they get invovled with the day-to-day stuff and procedures (operations manager) and the high end over-arching policy and relations (Director, Exec Director and VP) with IT Manager / Infrastructure Manager in between.

Educating Executives:
Too many times, I have seen good projects turned into disasters, and serious maintenance issues because of some fundemental short-comings...

- Technical decisions made by non-technical people. You hire consultants, and pay technical staff for dealing with technical issues. Making technical decisions by non-technical people, and then demanding technical staff to deal with issues is kind of backwards in thinking. I start to get rumbling in my tummy when a non-tech persons "I want this app to do this", instead "I need to be able to get this task done / this information - what is the best way to do it / get it?"

- Under resourcing, cutting corners. "You can pay me now or pay me later". Projects, Change Management items have been well documented. In addition to objectives, they should include resources, short and long term plans, backout plans. And measurement of outcomes. (Big failure all too often - implement a project and after it is done, no measurement to see if the expected outcomes were obtained, and lessons learned)

And then the cost of what happens if the project is not done.

There is more on this topic, but managers controlling the purse strings need to realize the consequences if they decide not to provide resources, or approve the project, or change feet part way through.

- Finger pointing and teflon suits instead of working together. This is often a survival tactic to survive a purge, or move up the ladder with less risk. You know the guys / gals - take credit for accomplishments that are not theirs, and blame others if something fails. This approach succeeds when the decision maker / manager does not understand the technical details to see the lie or misdirection.

This is why I find that a technical person with management and people skills gets things done - faster, better and more effeciently.

both on the front lines and in a supervisory capacity.

... supports this with ...

long strides on stabilizing the infrastructure

- Ownership, authority and Responsibility. Clarity on ownership is always important. Then if one is responsible for a service / task, etc, they must have the authority to decide and act.

So how does this answer your second question on educating managers on IT.

First, you may wish to politely point out that you have been hired to lead the technical. So, instead of telling you how to do your job, they should be telling what they need.

Next, projects need to include realistic plans, time tables, resources, etc, AND consequences if not carried out or under funded. It probably would not hurt, if you get the opportunity, to point the cause of past failures. I live your quote...

Poor client training programs when implementing new software solutions (IT can handle that at the help desk, right?)

Simple math here. 1,100 end users with improper training = 660 calls per day (3 calls per wk) = 30+ Techs on the helpdesk. Versus 2 calls per month for trained end users.

Instill team work instead of fractured groups. And ensure those with the responsibility have the confidence and the authority to accomplish their tasks. A well organized and fuctional team is noted and admired, and is a reflection upon their management.

Demonstrate a track record of successes. Your projects will include expected outcomes, timelines and post completions reviews. You have apparently already accomplished this with the infrastrcture. And you have already identified your next priorities. (And since the projects, etc have indicated resources and outcomes if not sourced properly or approved, then you have documentaiton supporting your side of the story...)

Although you have an impressive track records from your past, you are still the "new kid". You still have to bend current "culture" to a more professional standard, and instill confidence in your management. As you continue to lead a successful team, each new challenge will be accepted more easily by managment.

By the way, you write very well, so I expect you are a pretty good communicator - this will help tremendously.


Reign-in mis-managed projects.
Tough one. You may have a person with great technical skills but poor time management or management skills.

As part of the policies / procedures you impose, you may consider including measurable milestones to be included with project reports. (You may even want to re-visit all projects anyway, especially those started before your time)

It will become obvious to you and to the project lead that a project is not meeting expectations. This will give you ammunition to - advise the lead to take course or two on management / time management, or re-assign the project.

Good luck on this. A tough job, but you will "shine" if you can be successful.

 

[AnanthaP]

70+ corporate users, 150 remote locations and 7 staff. It looked like overload and stretched.

For example"
"Only 1 programmer who is also OUR cisco engineer. How does the programmer get to balance priorities? Even if both assignments are part-time (ie not full time) activities, it isn't possible.

If a simple solution is possible from a single read, I would attempt to give it. Well, here goes. Based on what you said, I would try a "way forward" (slogans help).

(1) Are you sure that "we are essentially married to technology"?
(2)Will new technology (just replacing 8 year old NTs) really help you?

Your problems are (in your order)
- Planning IT projects .. Robbed resources are a by product of your quandry (not sure how dilema is spelt)
- Uneducated and technically unaware executive staff (8 year old NT servers should last a few more years, right?) Why not? Unlless you added features, services or volumes. If so, tell them.
- Poor client training programs when implementing new software solutions.

What about:
(1) A survey of users - including trying to get their time wasters?
(2) Match your available skill sets and time spends with the above.
(3) Outsource what you don't have (eg. software assignments and their management).

End

 

[screwloose]

I started in IT with a company that had 500+ employees in 3 states and distribution centers in 3 in-state cities, and operated in 7 states; and an IT staff of four. So it doesn’t necessarily mean the IT staff that was noted is under-staffed. Having the programmer doing networking doesn’t mean that one or both jobs is being neglected. It is possible there isn’t a lot of programming that needs to be done on a daily basis. At my former company the programmer was on contract for 3 days per week. Maybe that is the amount of time needed at the company mentioned initially. The programmer is the Cisco Engineer, not the networking admin, so it is probable there isn’t full-time work like programming, hence the combined job of both functions.

As for the question, “What should my title be?” That can only be answered by the company you work for and what they expect from the position and you. You ask, “middle manager? Executive?” Again, that is for your company to answer. But I think it could be taken that you are NOT an Executive. If you had an executive position you certainly would not be asking if you are.

How do you reign in projects that you assume are being mismanaged by others? First, if the projects are not under you then you should let the project manager’s boss determine if it is being mismanaged. Secondly, how do you know it is being mismanaged? Are you on the project? If not, then how do you know what is in the project? If you can bother yourself with projects not assigned to you, you seem to have time on your hands.

And for the “married to technology” comment and educating executives to take it more seriously, just because the technology may be dated doesn’t make it obsolete for the organization using it. There are many banks that are still using DOS and many companies that still use OS/2. Two products that had their development and support ended years ago. If you think there is new hardware or software that could replace the current hw/sw being used, then you should study it and write up a report and give it to your boss who can decide whether it is something worth pursuing. You would have to determine the cost of the new hw/sw, the cost of training, the cost/time of migration, how the testing and cut-over to the new system would happen, how long you will run concurrently with the new system/old system, what will be done with the old system, etc.

It isn’t easy to migrate to new systems, either. At my first company we migrated from an I-SAM database-System/36 to RDBMS/Unix and had to have hundreds of programs. The new software also caused the purchase of a new communications program and hardware used by remote employees. There were multiple systems that had to be interfaced with the new software. It took over 18 months to complete and the old system was kept around “just in case” for around 6 months after that.

 

[wmichael]

Most excellent thoughts, all.

willir, your thoughts on reigning in creeping projects, as well as providing user training are right on the money. One of the items I was not prepared for has been the total and utter lack of support from Executive.

Perhaps support is not a great word. Again, back to education.

And we are certainly married to technology. Server outages = company not working. Email outages = company not working with current information. PC/POS system outages in the field = company not selling.

And so it goes.

As I wonder about the next step, and take in all of your great advice, it does seem that training / education needs to start at the top. Getting to the users in the field must start with getting to the decision-makers back here in coporate.

Interesting.

Lots more to ponder. I'll continue to read responses and use this great advice to assist.

I'm willing to bet I am not the only one in this type of situation ;-)

Cheers!

~wmichael

"small change can often be found under seat cushions