Session 5 - IT costs of IT strategy

This week I learned that one of the most important changes in the use of information technology in the workplace is the way that people think about information technology. This sounds simple, but is in fact quite complex. Twenty-five years ago, computers were Star-Trek style miracle machines, and IT staff (then-called Data-processing staff) were viewed as geniuses who could unravel the mysteries of the magic ball and make wonderful things happen.

Now, computers have largely lost their mystique. Computers run mundane household items like microwaves and toaster ovens. Computers are a fixture in every office, and some workers even have more than one computer at their desk. More than one computer! Imagine describing the proliferation of computing technology to your average worker a quarter decade ago. Try to explain that people “program” settings on their Tivo, or download free-ware from the Internet, or carry cell phone computers in their pockets. It’s unbelievable. People today, are in contact with computers nearly every waking moment, while workers of the past saw computers at specialized work facilities or not at all.

The wide dissemination of computing technology, however, has shifted the balance of power in IT strategy from IT managers to executives. Twenty-five years ago, the IT staff were in charge of computers. They worked with executives and paid attention to their ideas, but they held the ultimate trump cards. After all, they reigned supreme over a black box regime that executives and general workers could not infiltrate. It’s not as if executives could hop on the internet and perform their own research on new technologies, feasibility or costs. IT managers dominated in the IT arena, because they were the only people with access to knowledge about IT, and they were experts in their field.

As a result of IT department dominance, key IT components like maintenance load and application backlog were incorporated into companies’ IT strategies. Of course, the executives never cared about application backlog or maintenance load; they were more worried about user satisfaction and tangible returns to the company. The IT gurus, however, kept these core IT concepts in mind during collaboration with executives, and at least attempted to temper executives’ demands accordingly.

Now, there are many more executives and workers using computers, and the concepts of tangible benefits and user satisfaction overwhelm application backlog and maintenance load in any collaborative setting. Computer end-users feel make demands of their machines (and the associated IT departments) without recognizing that machines don’t work without people – there are thousands of machines and only dozens of IT staff tasked to program and maintain them. Computer end-users expect satisfaction from their work applications, because they receive satisfaction from the computer applications at their homes, on their cell phones or in their kitchens. They are a deluge of demands, and they are ill-informed of the actual work needed to maintain their office systems.

After this week’s research, I have a better understanding of the concepts that underlie IT strategy planning from an IT perspective. I have a better idea of how to estimate the IT costs and workload that come from implementing these strategies. Upgrading a team’s cell phones to Blackberries may only cost $2 per month per handset. However, the additions to the maintenance load may be significant and drain company resources that would be better expended elsewhere.