Part  1  |  Part 2

III. Thou shalt build and cultivate relationships inside and outside the  enterprise.

Good relationships are critical for good partnerships. Relationships need to be continually nurtured, and to become institutionalized. Relationships need to grow, beyond individual relationships, to departmental relationships, and it must be viewed as value-added. Within the relationship, each partner's perspective and needs must be anticipated; a good partner answers a question before it is asked.

Relationships, while strongly encouraged on an individual level, need to be understood on a group level. For example, if a particularly difficult partner has been unable to form a relationship with technology staff, the technology department must recognize this and take steps to forge the right relationships. Senior technology managers may have to identify the sources of the relationship problem and proactively correct them. This may involve issues of competence, mutual respect, credibility, business knowledge and perspective, or communications, and so on. Relationships are not built overnight, and require patience and consistency.

IV. Thou shalt design the appropriate infrastructure.

IT will need to design a methodology similar to the time-tested SDLC methodology, which focuses primarily on software development activities. However, this new methodology focuses on addressing infrastructure-related issues. I refer to it as Infrastructure Development Life Cycle (IDLC^TM). The phases are similar to SDLC, but its focus is on the  infrastructure:

• Planning
• Analysis
• Design
• Construction (Test & QA)
• Deployment
• Ongoing operations

But there's more; IDLC^TM resolves the lack of effective communication practices between Applications Development and Operations. It integrates both groups to meet a common objective for every mission-critical application. Before IT can be a viable business partner, there must be alignment within IT first via the IDLC^TM.

Focus on mission critical

Structuring the infrastructure organization is to focus on mission-critical systems, not the technology. The first step is to define the scope of production. Split your infrastructure support organization into two parts: mission critical and non-mission critical. It's up to you and your customers to determine what's mission critical and what's not. How much revenue will be lost if that system is down for N number of minutes? But don't proclaim everything as mission critical; be frugal. If you try to take on the world, you will surely fail.

So many companies structure their organization to support a particular technology. Whether you run your business on NT, UNIX, or other, never structure to focus on a particular technology. This is one of the most common mistakes in IT. IT should always structure to support RAS (Reliable, Available, Serviceable) while focusing on customer service. RAS was, and still should be, synonymous with mission critical. With RAS and customer service as the focus of your organization, the entire computing environment will flourish.

V. Thou shalt honor time-tested disciplines (standards, processes).

Whether your company has a mainframe environment or not, it is crucial to understand the importance of mainframe disciplines, processes, procedures, standards, and guidelines. In the age of network computing, disciplines are more important than ever. But you cannot simply impose mainframe disciplines on network computing technology. You need to:

• Customize and streamline these disciplines
• Implement the minimum, yet sufficient, set of disciplines
• Maintain centralized control of enterprise-wide system management processes  (disciplines)

By necessity, the mainframe environment was large, complex, and enjoyed the luxury of timely planning. Today's computing environments need the same type of structure and discipline, with more streamlining.

There are many system management processes to implement, but please don't attempt to take on all of them unless you have an unlimited resource pool. Implement the handful that is most critical to your environment. From the companies I've assessed, very few have the most critical set of processes, and if they do, they're not very effective. Three of the most critical set of processes in my opinion are:

• Release Management
• Change Management
• Problem Management

Develop minimum, yet sufficient, enterprise-wide standards, architectures, documentation, and so on, for each area of IT (e.g., the network, data center, desktops, development tools, nomadic computers, servers). You need standards for today, and clear statements of direction for your standards, environments, platforms, paradigms, or architectures (you pick the buzzword) for the future.

Centralized control means controlling costs by developing architectures, and deploying standards from a central location; for example:

• Global Standard Network
• Global Standard Desktop Hardware
• Global Standard Desktop Operating System
• Global Standard Desktop Application Suite
• Global Standard Virus Scanning
• Global Standard Server Hardware
• Global Standard Server Operating System
• Global Standard Data Backup
• Global Standard Messaging and Collaboration Platform
• Global Standard Monitoring
• Global Standard Remote Access
• Global Standard Development Database
• Global Standard Application Distribution Platform
• Global Standard Development Methods and Tools

Without standards and centralized control of key enterprise-wide processes, it will be futile to attempt to build a cost-effective world-class organization.

VI. Thou shalt identify, measure, and benchmark your services  portfolio.

The first step is the easiest: Identify your services. To market those services and demonstrate the value of IT to the enterprise will be more challenging. And the key success factor is measurement; IT performance needs to be measured, so there is a benchmark to improve against. Metrics by themselves provide little value -- it's how the metrics are implemented, reported, and acted on that differentiates successful measurement programs from failures. In the latter case, measures are used that imply value, whether that value is expressed in reducing the cost of doing business or in new revenue streams that are the direct result of an investment in information technology. All services should be measurable and have a positive impact on revenues, customer satisfaction, productivity, and so on. Services should also be responsive, available, relevant, and closely aligned with business outcomes.

VII. Thou shalt demonstrate and convey the value of IT throughout the  enterprise.

Today, IT professionals need to walk with the great unwashed and communicate with customers. We need to schmooze, sell, and otherwise promote its services. IT organizations need to sell to their business colleagues the fact that IT can, and should, be leveraged for business value and growth. True commitment requires educated understanding, and it is the job of the CIO to demonstrate the relationship between the understanding of strategic technology initiatives and the long-term success of the firm. If executive management fails to see the value of their involvement, it is the CIO's role to change that perception or to think about his next career move.

Value should be quantifiable and measurable. It is best to communicate value  in its simplest recognizable form. For example:

Value is best communicated to the enterprise by IT's business partners. The right relationship and recognition of value leads to the ideal situation of business partners becoming evangelists. At a fundamental level, IT needs to be understood (without having to say so) that underpinning the entire process of value creation is the partnering relationship. All members of IT need to be educated to recognize their business contributions. All need to understand their business partner's concerns and address them both formally and informally.

VIII. Thou shalt establish and uphold a common set of shared values.

Values are guiding principles, basic beliefs that are the fundamental assumptions upon which all subsequent actions are based. Quality of life leads to success. As a whole, values define the personality and character of an individual or a group. Values are the essence of an individual or group and provide guidelines by which to make consistent decisions. In reality, values are ideals that are indicative of one's vision of how the world should work. These values form a contract between the individuals and the group.

• If all staff members are making decisions based upon the same values, it is more likely that delegation of responsibility and authority will function effectively.
• If all staff members are making decisions based upon the same values, it is more likely that thousands of individual decisions will converge in a consistent strategy.
• If all staff members are making decisions based upon the same values, it is  more likely that synergies will be realized.
• If all staff members are making decisions based upon the same values, it is  more likely that partnerships will prosper.
• If all staff members are making decisions based upon the same values, it is  more likely that productivity will accelerate.
• If all staff members are making decisions based upon the same values, it is  more likely that retention will never be a problem.
• If all staff members are making decisions based upon the same values, it is  more likely that the firm will reap large profits.

Appropriate values inexorably lead to principled actions and a high quality of life. Such values guide hiring decisions, establish a common culture, foster strategic decision-making (even short-term tactical decisions made by guiding principles are strategic), and they lay the groundwork for internal consistency.

IX. Thou shalt know and manage your vendors.

Vendors should be aligned with your services, processes, assets, and staff. Many IT organizations that have to deal with numerous assets and dozens, if not hundreds, of vendors are establishing a Vendor Management Office (VMO). The VMO has better control of your technology buying process, seeks higher levels of services, and achieves cost savings. The VMO assists executives in making educated decisions about which vendor can offer the best service at the lowest cost for any given project. The VMO also helps executives manage relationships with various vendors, track metrics and performance on these vendors, and negotiate the appropriate discounts for projects, products, and services.

X. Thou shalt continuously gauge effectiveness of the organization.

As stated throughout this article, IT is a different beast. IT executives need to be proactive and gauge the temperature of the total environment, not just the technology aspect. I recommend that IT hold quarterly organization checkups, or what I formally refer to as an organization planning and development workshop, to address the evolving and growing list of issues.

The workshop should not be one of those typical offsite management-planning sessions. This program should be designed to bring key contributors, both technical and management, from all areas of the organization,  into one room to brainstorm the issues, prioritize the issues, and develop a  playbook to resolve the issues. This is an action plan with associated milestones; responsibilities clearly noted with due dates that everyone, including the CIO, has bought into -- one plan that the entire  organization has bought into! And when I say buy-in, I mean  commitment to execute on the plan on behalf of the entire organization. One-hundred-percent support and approval must come from the CIO to the technical staff if massive improvements are to take place. The primary objectives of the workshop are to:

• Highlight, categorize, and prioritize the top three to five IT-related  issues.
• Develop an action plan to address the top issues.
• Get buy-in and commitment from all IT (staff, management,  executive management).
• Improve communication between the groups (team  building).

This ensures that IT focuses with the same intensity on people, the organization structure, and process components as they do on technology and development!

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Harris Kern is a renowned American author, publisher, lecturer, and IT consultant, who focuses his considerable talents on simplifying IT -- and making it work. Through the Harris Kern Enterprise Computing Institute (www.harriskern.com), he has developed a powerful resource for building competitive IT organizations. Under the umbrella of the Institute, IT professionals from many of the world's leading companies come together to take advantage of leading edge disciplines and strategies for improving the IT industry.