science

Information technology management

Information technology management is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Information technology management rather than just read about it. In short: Information technology management (IT management) is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities. Managing the responsibility within a company entails many of the basic management functions, like budgeting, staffing, change management, and organizing and controlling, along with other aspects that are unique to technology, like s…

Key takeaways

Information technology management belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Information technology management to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Information technology management from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Information technology management (IT management) is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities. Managing the responsibility within a company entails many of the basic management functions, like budgeting, staffing, change management, and organizing and controlling, along with other aspects that are unique to technology, like software design, network planning, tech support etc.

Purpose The central aim of IT management is to generate value through the use of technology. To achieve this, business strategies and technology must be aligned. IT Management is different from management information systems. The latter refers to management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making. IT Management refers to IT related management activities in organizations. MIS is focused mainly on the business aspect, with a strong input into the technology phase of the business/organization. A primary focus of IT management is the value creation made possible by technology. This requires the alignment of technology and business strategies. While the value creation for an organization involves a network of relationships between internal and external environments, technology plays an important role in improving the overall value chain of an organization. However, this increase requires business and technology management to work as a creative, synergistic, and collaborative team instead of a purely mechanistic span of control. Historically, one set of resources was dedicated to one particular computing technology, business application or line of business, and managed in a silo-like fashion. These resources supported a single set of requirements and processes, and couldn't easily be optimized or reconfigured to support actual demand. This led technology providers to build out and complement their product-centric infrastructure and management offerings with Converged Infrastructure environments that converge servers, storage, networking, security, management and facilities. The efficiencies of having this type of integrated and automated management environment allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with simpler manageability and maintenance, and enables IT to adjust IT resources (such as servers, storage and networking) quicker to meet unpredictable business demand.

IT management disciplines The below concepts are commonly listed or investigated under the broad term IT Management:

Business/IT alignment IT governance IT financial management IT service management Information Systems Information security Sourcing IT configuration management IT infrastructure

IT managers IT managers have a lot in common with project managers but their main difference is one of focus: an IT manager is responsible and accountable for an ongoing program of IT services while the project manager's responsibility and accountability are both limited to a project with a clear start and end date. Most IT management programs are designed to educate and develop managers who can effectively manage the planning, design, selection, implementation, use, and administration of emerging and converging information and communications technologies. The program curriculum provides students with the technical knowledge and management knowledge and skills needed to effectively integrate people, information and communication technologies, and business processes in support of organizational strategic goals. IT Managers need to know predominantly Technical and Managerial skills such as analyst of computer systems, information security analyst, compute, planning, communication technologies, and business processes. Graduates should be able:

to explain the important terminology, facts, concepts, principles, analytic techniques, and theories used in IT management. to apply important terminology, facts, concepts, principles, analytic techniques, and theories in IT management when analyzing complex factual situations. to integrate (or synthesize) important facts, concepts, principles, and theories in IT management when developing solutions to IT management multifaceted problems in complex situations.

Consequences of IT management deficiencies In 2013, hackers managed to install malware with the intent of stealing Target's customers' information. The malware targeted “40 million credit card numbers—and 70 million addresses, phone numbers, and other pieces of personal information”. About six months before this happened, Target invested 1.6 million dollars to install the malware detection tool made by FireEye, whose security product is also used by the CIA. The software spotted the malware, and alert was sent out as intended. However, nothing was done beyond that point. The hackers successfully got away with one third of US Consumers’ confidential information. Target's security system’s unresponsiveness led to 90 lawsuits being filed against Target, which went on top of another approximate $61 million USD spent just responding to the breach,

See also Information Resources Management Journal Information infrastructure

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Information technology management

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Information technology management claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Information technology management before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Information technology management ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Information technology management

In research: Information technology management appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Information technology management in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Information technology management is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Information technology management, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Information technology management outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Information technology management in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Information technology management means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Information technology management out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Information technology management in simple terms?

Why does Information technology management matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Information technology management?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Information technology management.