The Executive's Guide to Information Technology: What Every Senior Management Consultant Should Know About Managing Effective IT Departments

The Executive's Guide to Information Technology is a sophisticated and comprehensive guide to running a cost-effective, efficient, and business delivery-focused corporate Information Technology (IT) unit. Eschewing the theoretical for the practical, the book gives managers the guidance they need to handle any problem effectively. It provides specific policies, approaches, and tools for each critical IT management functiono from application management to vendor management. IT management experts John Baschab and Jon Piot provide the techniques IT managers and executives need to accurately assess their current operations. Further, they offer a step-by-step improvement plan designed to raise productivity and service levels while reducing costs significantly. The authors begin by examining the symptoms and causes of waste, inefficiency and underperformance in typical IT departments before offering in-depth analysis of each operational area of IT management. They present current and emergent best practices for transforming the department into a world-class service organization. Packed with prescriptive advice and hard-earned insight, this comprehensive resource is organized into stand-alone chapters that provide quick access to important information when managers need it. In addition, spreadsheets, documents, and checklists are designed to aid in planning and decision-making and can be easily accessed on the included CD-ROM. Designed to help IT managers and top executives get the most out of their departments, their budget and themselves, the book covers such topics as: managing the department, establishing leadership roles, assessing the organization, cost management, project demand management, operations management, infrastructure planning, vendor selection and management, technical standards setting, investment evaluation, and productivity and quality measurement programs. With The Executive's Guide to Information Technology, IT managers will understand the main sources of waste in their departments, identify major management issues, learn and implement critical steps toward improvement, and manage more effectively. The book will help managers improve their performance and stature within their organizations by providing the tips and tools to overcome typical areas of friction and miscommunication between IT departments and other business functions. Executives will understand how to work effectively with the CIO or IT director, as well as provide constructive management input to the IT function, achieving the best return on their IT assets.

Table of Contents:
PART I: The Effective IT Organization. 1. The IT Dilemma. 2. Sources and Causes of IT Ineffectiveness. 3. Information Technology Costs. PART II: Managing the IT Department. 4. The IT Organization. 5. The IT Director. 6. IT Direction and Standard Setting. 7. IT Operations. 8. Application Management. 9. IT Human Resource Practices. 10. Vendor Selection. 11. Vendor Management. PART III: Senior Executive IT Management. 12. Working with the Business. 13. IT Budgeting and Cost Management. 14. Effective Decision Making and Risk Management. 15. IT Demand Management and Project Prioritization. 16. IT Performance Measurement. 17. IT Steering Committee. APPENDIX. IT Toolkit. Index.

About the Author :
JOHN BASCHAB is Senior Vice President of Solutions at Impact Innovations Group, a rapidly growing technology consulting company with 600 consultants and offices in Dallas, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. He formerly worked at management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton providing technology advice to Fortune 500 companies. He received his MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Alabama. JON PIOT is a cofounder of Impact Innovations Group and has served in multiple capacities including Chief Operating Officer and IT Optimization practice leader. Formerly, he consulted to many Fortune 500 companies on IT strategy and systems development while at Booz Allen Hamilton and, prior to that, at Andersen Consulting. He holds a master's degree from Harvard Business School and a bachelor of science in computer science from Southern Methodist University. He lives with his wife and three children in Dallas, Texas.