Quiz 3 Flashcards
Core Functions of IT Department: Operations and Tech Support
- Manage the IT Infrastructure (servers, networks, operating systems, databases, workstations)
- Troubleshoot and repair infrastructure
- Install new technology
- Update existing software
- Perform backups
- Respond to user problems.
Core Functions of IT Department: Applications Management
- Manage the process of acquiring new systems
- Developing and implementing new systems
- Ongoing Enhancement
- Troubleshooting
- Working with application vendors
Core Functions of IT Department: Specialized Groups
Dependent on the organization, for example:
- Support of research community in academic medical centers
- Process redesign groups
- Decision-support groups
Core Functions of IT Department: IT Administration
- Oversee the development of the IT strategic plan
- Manages contracts with vendors
- Handles the IT budget
- Provides HR support for IT staff
- Manages the space occupied by the IT department
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
An Executive who can successfully lead the organization in its effort to apply IT in its strategic advancement
-Manages the IT department
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
- Defines technology standards
- Ensures currency of the IT infrastructure
- Ensures the fitness of IT solutions
-Tracks emerging technologies and identifies those which may prove useful to the organization
Chief Security Officer (CSO)
- Ensures the organization has a effective information security plan
- Ensures appropriate procedures are in place to safeguard the system from tampering and misuse
- Disaster recovery protocols are established
Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO)
A role, typically filled part-time by a physician,that ensures the adoption of appropriate clinical information systems.
Key Attributes of a High-Performing CIO
1) Set vision and strategy
2) Integrates IT for business success
3) Makes changes happen
4) Builds technological confidence
5) Partners with customers
6) Ensures IT talent
7) Builds networks and community
IT Staff Roles: Project Leader
Manages IT projects, such as: implementations and deployment of infrastructure.
IT Staff Roles: System Analyst
Works closely with end users and their managers to:
- Identify IT system needs and problems
- Evaluate workflow
- Determine strategies for optimization
Also, prepares cost-benefit and ROI analyses.
IT Staff Roles: Programmer
Writes, tests and maintains the programs within a system; conceives, designs, and tests logical structures for solving problems via technology.
Two main types:
- Applications
- Systems
IT Staff Roles: Applications Programmer
- Writes programs to handle specific user tasks
- Revises existing packaged software
- Customizes generic applications
IT Staff Roles: Systems Programmer
Writes programs that control the infrastructure’s software.
IT Staff Roles: Database Administrator
Works with database management systems to determine ways to organize and store data, while ensuring optimal performance.
-Plans and coordinates security measures
IT Staff Roles: Network Administrator
Designs, tests, and evaluates data communication systems. (e.g. Internet or LAN networks)
-Performs network modeling: researching related products in order to provide hardware or software recommendations.
Key Attributes of High-Quality IT Staff
- They execute well
- They are good consultants
- They provide world-class support
- They stay current in their field of expertise
Centralization of IT Services: Benefits
- Enforcement of hardware and software Standards
- Efficient Administration of Resources
- Better Staffing
- Easier Training
- Effective Planning of Shared Systems
- Easier Strategic IT Planning
- Tighter Control by Senior Management
Decentralization of IT Services: Benefits
- Better fit of IT-to-Business needs
- Quick response times
- Encouragement of end user development of applications
- Innovative use of information systems.
Core IT Competencies
- A small number of areas are identified by the organization as Core Competencies.
- Affects the formation and focus of an IT department
Departmental Attributes: Agility
The ability to form and disband teams quickly (~3mo) as staff move from project to project.
- Requires flexibility in an organization’s structural and reporting relationships
- Project managers are temporary bosses for IT staff during projects.
Organizations should be project-centered, not job function-centered.
-Allows for team members to assume different roles in each project
Departmental Attributes: Innovative
- Reward systems that encourage new ideas and successful implementation of innovative applications
- Create dedicated research and development groups.
- Permit IT staff to take sabbaticals or work in other departments within the organization to expand their awareness of organizational operations, cultures, and issues.
Outsourced IT
An organization asks a third party to provide IT staff members and be responsible for the management of IT.
Reasons for Outsourcing
- Organizations may not have in-house staff with the skills, time or resources to take on new projects or provide sufficient support
- Organizations may delegate help desk services or website development so that internal staff can focus on implementing and supporting applications.
- May be cost-controlling
- May serve as a solution to mismanaged IT staff
Evaluating IT Effectiveness: Governance
Are IT strategies aligned with the overall strategic goals?
Evaluating IT Effectiveness: Budget Development and Resource Allocation
Benchmark: Are we spending too much or too little on IT?
Evaluating IT Effectiveness: System Acquisition and Implementation
How effective are the system’s acquired?
Are new applications delivered on time, within budget, and according to specifications?
How do participants in the implementation view the IT staff?
Evaluating IT Effectiveness: IT Service Levels
What is the quality of everyday IT service?
IT Service Levels: Infrastructure
Are the information systems reliable?
Are response times fast?
IT Service Levels: Day-to-Day Support
Does the help desk quickly, patiently, and effectively resolve my problems?
Do technological requests get answered in a reasonable time frame?
IT Service Levels: Consultation
Does the IT staff help me think through my IT needs?
Is IT capable of making people understand what technology will and will not do for them?
Evaluating IT Effectiveness: Infrastructure Metrics
Benchmarks for the quality of IT infrastructure and day-to-day support.
Infrastructure Metrics: Reliability
Percentage of time that systems experience downtime
Infrastructure Metrics: Response Time
How quickly an application moves from one screen tot he next.
Infrastructure Metrics: Resiliency
How quickly a system can recover once it has gone down.
Infrastructure Metrics: Software bugs
The number of bugs detected in an application per line or per hour of use.
Core IT Processes for Effective IT Department: Human Capital Management
The development of IT staff skills and the attraction/retention of talent
Core IT Processes for Effective IT Department: Platform Management
A series of activities that designs the IT architecture and constructs and manages the resulting infrastructure.
Core IT Processes for Effective IT Department: Relationship Management
Developing and maintaining relations between the IT function and the rest of the organization
Also, partnerships with IT vendors.