IT ORGANIZATIONS An IT organization (information technology organization) is the department within a company that is charged with establishing, monitoring and maintaining information technology systems and services. In a large organization, the IT organization may also be charged with strategic planning to ensure that all IT initiatives support business goals. IT organizational structures vary and can be centralized or decentralized depending upon the needs of the company. In a large enterprise, the IT organization is typically managed by a Chief Information Officer (CIO). Smaller IT organizations might report up to an IT director or operations manager. Continue Reading About IT organization (information technology organization)
University CIO conquers inefficiencies with centralized IT
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Harvard Business Review on avoiding a schizophrenic IT organizationHawley is CIO at the Utah State University, a public university in Logan, Utah, where Hawley said the IT departments serving various schools and entities were siloed and plagued by inefficiencies until he insisted on pursuing an efficient and effective unification, bringing together the various departmental operations and turning decentralized IT into centralized IT. The university employs more than 800 faculty members and 1,600 full- and part-time staff members, and including its regional campuses and distance education center, the total student enrollment approaches 30,000.
That's a lot of end users to please, so the university's centralization journey began by asking users one simple question about IT: "How are we doing?"
"I think the most important thing anyone in the CIO position can do is figure out if people hate your organization," Hawley said with a cheerful laugh.The answers, collected from faculty, staff and students by an outside consultant (to help ensure honesty), were not especially positive. One professor described his dealings with IT at the school as "years of pain."Hawley said the negative responses were not entirely unexpected. Before becoming the university's CIO, Hawley had worked in one of the decentralized IT silos. He had firsthand knowledge of where the central IT organization was failing users, hindering them rather than helping them do their work.The feedback "was wonderful to hear, honestly, because the information was real," Hawley said. "Frankly, the most exciting IT organizations to move into are the ones that have problems. There are so many opportunities to make change in broken organizations. I love walking into broken organizations."When an IT organization has problems, Hawley said, there are most likely inefficiencies that can be addressed -- smaller but no less important wins that help a CIO gain trust without having to come up with new money.
IT JOBS Information technology (IT) professionals are responsible for helping organizations maintain their digital infrastructure and providing troubleshooting assistance to technology consumers. IT employees are in demand to help others keep up with technological advances and security procedures.If you are interested in developing skills in programming and problem-solving, you may consider a career in IT. In this article, we provide examples of IT jobs to help you find the right career path that suits your interests, skills and goals.
Types of information technology jobs
Here are several different types of IT jobs—including their average salaries, typical duties and requirements—to consider if you're interested in working in this field:
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1. Support specialist
National average salary: $30,540 per year
Primary duties: Support specialists are responsible for reviewing and solving computer network and hardware problems for a business. They can work in a variety of industries to provide general support to a company's employees, or they can work at a technology or software as a service (SaaS) company and provide technical support on user experience issues that require technical assistance. Requirements: Support specialists typically obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Information Technology. Having a certificate or an associate degree paired with relevant professional experience may also be acceptable.
2. Computer programmer
National average salary: $58,343 per year
Primary duties: A computer programmer is someone who writes new computer software using coding languages like HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Video game software can be updated to improve online gameplay, which is an opportunity for programmers to troubleshoot problems experienced by gamers after the game is released to the general public. Requirements: A programmer typically completes a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and an internship to build their skills. Certifications are also strongly encouraged, and there are many coding academies to choose from.
3. Quality assurance tester
National average salary: $70,000 per year
Primary duties: Quality assurance testers are technicians or engineers who check software products to see if they're up to industry standards and free of any issues. This role is common for gaming systems, mobile applications and other technology that needs further testing and maintenance when recommended. Requirements: Many quality assurance testers have a Bachelor's Degree in Software Design, Engineering or Computer Science.
