When the Editors of Toolkit Café asked me to provide a list of the Top Ten IT manager tools every IT manager should have, three things happened: • First, I never had really thought about “must have tools” for every IT manager. I had always just focused on individual tools or my entire IT Manager ToolKit. […]
I remember joining a new company as a new CIO early in my career. It was a small company and my first CIO position. I discovered quickly I had a lot to learn. One day soon after my start we experienced a problem with one of our key business applications and needed vendor support to […]
Have you ever tried to get an infrastructure project funded only to discover that it is like “pulling teeth” to get your senior manager’s approval? If so, it is probably because your senior manager is having major difficulty understanding what you are talking about. All he hears is that you are asking for lots of […]
Let’s face it, friends. Budgeting can be a real pain! I’ve seen IT managers spend hours upon hours developing what they think is a concise budget and proudly deliver it to their manager thinking it is “accurate” and “what their manager wants” only to have it summarily rejected and sent back for a re-work. In […]
Here is a no brainer about the role of IT support : Our job is to keep the business “up and running.” That’s right, most of us in IT have a 24 X 7, 365-day obligation to keep our technologies running and our business clients positioned to use them. So who has time to move […]
In my last post, I showed you how a simple Project Schedule Template can save time and headaches for IT managers. If you are in IT, sooner or later you are going to need to convert some technology, install new hardware and software to replace some old equipment and software, or maybe install new equipment […]
What do you think of when you hear the word “management tools?” Soft skills like “ability to listen well?” Software tools like compilers and debuggers? In this column, I’ll tell you about one of the management tools I have used the most in my long career: a simple project scheduling template. Background: Project Management 101 […]
Have you ever had another manager in your company come running to you requesting a PC for a newly-hired employee who just started with the company? This manager may not even have a place for their new employee to sit, but the employee won’t be productive until he or she has a working PC. Even […]
If you’re the new IT manager or consultant on the block, one of the first things you should do in your IT organization is conduct an IT skills assessment. A key component of this discovery process, determining the capability and capacity of your IT staff, will tell you what your organization can do and how […]
Experience tells us that training and education are two of the most powerful motivators for IT employees. “Training and Education” always rank in the top reasons why IT people stay with their company, while money usually ranks 7th or lower. What does this mean to you and the way you manage your IT shop? You […]