Many SMB’s are used to sharing and stretching talent as that is just the way it is. Management cannot allocate the specialized person needed for every project or even long-term goals. That is why it is – as they say – a Win Win situation for ITbriefcase clients – they get the high-level talent needed but without the long-term commitment and resource drag of a FTE with the concomitant benefits package. In fact, for Most of our clients, this is the Only way in which to connect the right talent to the problem and then have it go away when no longer needed.
Without this part-time CIO help, how does the organization do it? let’s look at the Usual Suspects . . .
Usual Suspects
We have a Generalized IT Services Firm – they usually come in and help out on a break/fix basis and lead/execute projects that come up over the course of their engagement. The techs they send out are that indeed – ‘techs’ and their knowledge is contained within a defined circle and usually cannot use/think in the right way to be useful to management at a higher level. Ask a real geek for a Policy paper or to link the technology process to the business strategy and you will be frustrated.
IT vendors – They know their business but what business is that? Yes, their business. Their solutions help you but are you going to get legal/compliance advice from your storage experts? The gurus’ who put in your financial system are very competent but is it their business to weave together your various pieces of technology, people and processes and guide a department?
Developers – Must we even go here??
In-house Managers – the role I’m outlining usually does fall to one of these persons . . . They will have to be high enough to make some global decisions – thus, usually the VP of Operations, the CFO or Controller or sometimes the Office Manager. They know the organization, it’s mission, internal politics and a great understanding of ‘how things get done’ and may have some tech experience. But these are really Borrowed assets and cannot compare to the focus of a firm that has been in this space reading, writing and living technology for 10 years. Couple that with a Financial background and an ability to bridge the gap between generalized managers and the geeky tech team and that is what you want. This is no slam on this position – they are doing the best job they can but just cannot match what is provided by a specialized firm focused on this area. With some possible sub-standard decisions that have to be lived with (i.e. supported) and (attempted) to be integrated with the rest of the infrastructure, thecost of using the manager this way becomes evident.
