Getting to grips with ICT
How to learn what you need to know.
Your background is in the finance area, but you have had quite an involvement with ICT as the business representative on the steering committee for a number of recent ICT projects. The last project was the implementation of a new HR system and the management team were impressed with the way in which you represented them in this complex project. As a result you now have the newly-created position of CIO/IT decision-maker.
It’s now day two in your new job and you are having a discussion with your systems administrator about complaints regarding the telephone service at the Hamilton branch. She tells you the solution is quite simple: all you need to do is buy some new equipment and a bigger pipe for the branch. Knowing that money is very tight, you probe further and receive an explanation that the problem is caused by poor QoS due to high latency, jitter and packet discard rate and that installing a new router and getting your telco to replace the currentrelay link with one of the new ethernet ones will fix the problems...
But what do all these terms mean and do you really need to understand them?The answer is both no and yes. No you don’t need to know what they mean but, if you are going to adequately represent your team at the management table (and vice versa), then you need to understand their significance and whether it is worthwhile fighting for the extra budget required to address this problem.
Like all management roles, that of the CIO demands a wide range of skills. Traditionally CIOs have been appointed from within the ICT or related areas and the appointees already have the technical background necessary for their job.
Increasingly, however, appointees are coming from other areas of the business. These appointees will have a good grounding in the business as a whole (and are likely to also have specific skills in finance, HR, marketing, etc.) but may have little experience of the ICT area except as users of the systems it provides. The same can be said of those working in related areas, such as selling an IT product, working in procurement or signing off equipment purchases.In the same way that technical staff moving into management roles may need to complement their existing skill base by attending courses such as ‘Accounting for Non-accountants’, ‘Law for Non-lawyers’ and ‘Managing Teams’, new CIOs, or other ICT staff members without experience in the area, are likely to need to complement their existing skills with ICT-specific knowledge. The question is: how do you acquire it?
One potential source is within your own organisation. You may be lucky to have inherited a team that is both knowledgeable and able to communicate ICT in terms that you understand. Some years ago I was working for a large management consultancy where there was a varied talent pool, so we arranged regular informal get-togethers, wine included, at which individual consultants gave presentations on their area of expertise. Some of these presentations were of a general nature while others presented on specific tools and techniques related to our business at that time.
Another potential source of information is ICT industry networking events. Most of the ICT vendors run such events and while the content tends to be biased towards their own products, if well run they also provide good background information on the topic. Industry associations, such as the New Zealand Computer Society and TUANZ, also run events and these can be very useful in getting an understanding of the current ‘state of the art topics’ and offer the opportunity to network with your peers.
A third source of such information is purpose-designed courses. Many industry bodies and private training providers are offering courses specifically aimed at bringing non-technical people up to speed in the ICT area. These types of courses are particularly valuable for those with no ICT experience, as they do not assume any prior knowledge or experience in this area.
Which of these three sources is best? It depends on your current knowledge and the capabilities your organisation has to support you. If your knowledge of the ICT area is primarily as a user, and there is no-one in your organisation who can provide the basics, I recommend attending an ‘ICT for Dummies’ or similar course. This should give you a basic understanding of the topic area upon which you can build by attending more specific courses and/or industry networking events. Conversely, if you already have a basic knowledge of the area, or your own organisation is equipped to bring you up to speed, skip this step and move straight to industry networking events and more specific courses.
