Category Archives: Management

The Hidden Costs of In-House IT, Why Managed Services Might Be Right for You

Posted on by

Running a business requires juggling many hats. IT infrastructure is crucial, but managing it in-house can be a hidden cost nightmare. This blog explores the often-overlooked expenses of an internal IT team and how partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) can be a strategic move for your business.

Beyond Salaries: The True Cost of In-House IT

While salaries and benefits for your IT staff are a significant cost, the hidden expenses of in-house IT can be substantial:

  • Hardware & Software Costs: Acquiring, maintaining, and upgrading IT equipment can be a constant drain on your budget.
  • Training & Certification: Keeping your IT team’s skills current with the ever-evolving technology landscape requires ongoing training and certification.
  • Security Threats & Compliance: Cybersecurity breaches can be devastating. Maintaining robust security measures and ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations can be resource-intensive.
  • Downtime & Lost Productivity: IT outages disrupt workflows and cost your business valuable productivity.
  • Scalability Challenges: Growing businesses need flexible IT infrastructure. Scaling an in-house team to meet fluctuating demands can be difficult and expensive.

Why Managed Services Matter: A Strategic Partnership

Managed service providers (MSPs) offer a compelling alternative to in-house IT. They deliver a variety of IT services, including:

  • Network Management & Monitoring: Proactive monitoring and maintenance to ensure optimal network performance and security.
  • Help Desk & Support: Access to a dedicated team of IT professionals to troubleshoot technical issues and provide user support.
  • Data Backup & Recovery: Comprehensive data backup and disaster recovery solutions to protect your critical data.
  • Security Management: Security software installation, configuration, and ongoing threat monitoring to safeguard your systems.
  • Software Updates & Patch Management: Ensuring your systems are up-to-date with the latest security patches and software versions.

Using Managed Services for Business Success

Here’s how partnering with an MSP can benefit your business:

  • Reduced Costs: Managed services offer predictable monthly fees, eliminating the hidden costs associated with in-house IT.
  • Improved Efficiency: MSPs have the expertise and resources to handle your IT needs efficiently, freeing your internal team to focus on core business functions.
  • Enhanced Security: MSPs offer advanced security solutions and expertise to protect your business from cyber threats.
  • Scalability & Flexibility: MSPs can readily scale their services to meet your evolving IT needs.
  • Expertise & Innovation: Gain access to a team of IT professionals with in-depth knowledge of the latest technologies.

Making the Switch to Managed Services

Considering a switch to managed services? Here are some steps to take:

  • Identify Your Needs: Assess your current IT infrastructure and identify areas where managed services can provide the most value.
  • Research Potential Providers: Evaluate the services offered by different MSPs and their experience in your industry.
  • Get Quotes & Compare: Compare pricing structures and service offerings to find the MSP that best aligns with your needs and budget.
  • Ensure Smooth Transition: Work closely with your chosen MSP to ensure a smooth transition and minimal disruption to your operations.

Partnering with a reputable MSP can free up valuable resources, improve efficiency, and enhance security, ultimately propelling your business towards greater success.

The Role of IT Management in Driving Business Innovation

Posted on by

IT departments play a key role in fostering a culture of innovation and providing the tools and resources needed to turn ideas into reality. This blog post will delve into the multifaceted role of IT management in driving business innovation.

Beyond Keeping the Lights On: IT as a Strategic Partner

Traditionally, IT was viewed as a support function, responsible for maintaining infrastructure and keeping systems operational. However, forward-thinking IT management recognizes the immense potential of technology to drive innovation across all areas of the business.

Here are some ways how IT management can champion innovation:

  • Understanding Business Needs: IT managers that collaborate closely with other departments will understand their challenges and identify opportunities where technology can create a competitive advantage.
  • Embracing Emerging Technologies: IT stays ahead of the curve by evaluating and implementing emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and big data analytics to streamline processes and unlock new possibilities.
  • Investing in the Right Tools: IT procures and manages the necessary hardware, software, and cloud-based solutions that empower employees to be more productive and creative.
  • Promoting Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing: IT facilitates communication and collaboration within and across teams by implementing collaboration platforms and knowledge-sharing tools.
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: IT provides access to data analytics tools that enable data-driven decision making, allowing businesses to make informed choices and adapt to changing market trends.

Cultivating a Culture of Innovation: Lighting the Spark

IT management can play a proactive role in fostering a culture of innovation within the organization:

  • Encouraging Experimentation: Create a safe space for employees to experiment with new ideas, even if they don’t always lead to immediate success.
  • Hackathons & Innovation Challenges: Organize hackathons or innovation challenges to encourage employees to think outside the box and develop creative solutions.
  • Recognition & Reward: Recognize and reward employees who contribute to innovation efforts, creating a culture that values creativity and problem-solving.
  • Training & Development: Provide training and development opportunities on emerging technologies to equip employees with the skills needed to innovate.

Modern Tools for Innovation Management

Several modern tools can empower IT to facilitate and manage innovation:

  • Idea Management Platforms: These platforms can provide a central hub for capturing, refining, and collaborating on innovative ideas.
  • Project Management Software: Manage innovation projects effectively with tools that track progress, assign tasks, and facilitate communication.
  • Data Visualization Tools: Make data accessible and understandable with data visualization tools, enabling data-driven innovation efforts.
  • Collaboration Platforms: Promote interaction and knowledge sharing among teams working on innovation projects.

Inspiring Your Team: The Power of Motivation

Motivating your team is essential for sustained innovation. Here are some tips:

  • Lead by Example: Demonstrate your own commitment to innovation and be open to new ideas.
  • Provide Clear Vision & Goals: Articulate a clear vision for how innovation will benefit the organization and set achievable goals.
  • Empower & Trust: Empower your team to take ownership of their ideas and trust them to experiment and solve problems creatively.
  • Celebrate Successes: Recognize and celebrate both big and small wins to keep your team motivated and engaged in innovation efforts.

By embracing a strategic approach to IT management and fostering a culture of innovation, IT departments can become a driving force for business success.

Remember, innovation is not a one-time event; it’s a continuous process that requires ongoing effort and collaboration.

Tips for a New Manager

Posted on by

 

I was approached today by someone that had just been promoted into a new role as a Manager. This person wanted some tips and advice on how to be a good manager and this was the reason for this post.

 

Good Managers have a combination of operational, communication and leadership skills along with a dash of empathy. Managers should not be bullies, they should be enablers and facilitators. As a Manager you need to appreciate that you have to be flexible and will always be learning. Here are some points we covered.

Effective Communication: Always communicate clearly, be an active listener and invite constructive feedback. Encourage one-one meetings and always have an open door. This is a two way street, I take it as a bad sign when team members are not able to speak freely.

Set Clear Expectations: Ensure that expectations are set up front, a bad manager makes it up as they go along. There should be no surprises or feelings of ambush for the team. Now this doesn’t mean expectations cannot be adjusted but it should be obvious to all why tweaks are required.

Don’t make Assumptions: Ask questions, invite feedback so you understand fully before moving forward.

Teamwork: Work to foster collaboration and build trust, as this helps to keep team members motivated which will drive up productivity.

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: It is important to really get to know your team, as each person would function differently and have their own drivers and motivators. You need to know when to give advise, when to let them find the solution themselves and when to just listen.

Highlight Achievements: Celebrating successes helps build moral, boosts confidence and is a great motivational team. However this should be positive and Manager’s should try to ensure that this does not drive a wedge between the team as this will have a negative effect.

Network Building: It helps to interact with other new managers. HR may be able to create a program so they can share knowledge and experiences, remembering to maintain privacy where required when discussing their team members.

Continuous Learning: Managers will be learning continuously and need to adapt to new work and people challenges. They should always be looking for new tools to add to their toolbox.

These are some of the items we covered, I hope you find them helpful…

Are you Integrating Systems with Other Institutions…What to Look Out For.

Posted on by

Are you in a position where you need to integrate your systems and infrastructure with other institutions. Have you thought through all the challenges you may encounter and how to prepare yourself and your team for what is to come.

I have listed a few items to consider as these would help you develop your plan and manage the change.

Company Vision:

  • Are there cultural differences between institutions, and if so how can this be bridged as this could lead to resistance or conflict.
  • Are there any regulatory challenges. Are the goals aligned across the institutions.

Managing Stakeholders:

  • Once identified, determine interest and level of influence within their institution.
  • Maintain regular progress updates with all.
  • Identify the executives that are always willing to help address concerns and challenges as they arise.
  • Ensure the right people (decision makers) are on the steering committee.
  • Always keep all stakeholders in the communication loop (based on the communication matrix).
  • Is management buy-in universal or are some still on the fence.
  • Try to keep all stakeholders engaged, especially if there are some that demonstrate resistance to change.

Maintaining Communication:

  • Keeping channels of communication open with all stakeholders can be cumbersome across the institutions but vital for success.
  • The key is to have regular meetings and updates with a centrally accessible document repository.

Technical Challenges:

  • Carry out a full systems assessment documenting overlaps, compatibility and migration challenges.
  • Ensure there is a clear and achievable integration plan.
  • Plan should list all systems, infrastructure, data and their dependencies.
  • Plan should be in phases based on complexity with clearly defined risks from each institution with mitigation strategies.
  • Agree on the validation, migration and testing plan always with security and compliance in mind.
  • Agree on the plan to manage vendors, reviewing and updating contracts if necessary.

Silos of Information:

  • There is often a risk of institutions hoarding information as “information is power”.
  • Silos need to be broken down by promoting the sharing of knowledge and information.

Interpersonal Friction (Politics):

  • Different working styles with conflicting personalities can hinder collaboration.
  • Could the Manager’s struggle for increased visibility and power affect the project.
  • How does ego play out and how will you manage this.
  • Relationships could be more difficult in situations where there are job security concerns post integration.

I have not listed any possible solutions here as it would depend on your circumstances. However I am happy for you to contact me if you would like to discuss or have questions..

How to Build Trust with Remote Team Members

Posted on by

I received a few comments related to my last post about the remote team and decided to do a follow up.

We need to remember that trust is vital to team work especially for effective collaboration and productivity, but we all have to make extra effort when working remotely. Here are a few strategies to consider:

Have multiple communication channels: Emails, instant messaging (Teams), video and voice calls will help compensate for the lack of face to face interaction.

Honest and open communication: Regular communication is essential, share progress, updates and challenges.

Be Responsive and Transparent: If the Manager is open and honest the team will follow suit. Being dependable, responsive and encouraging the team to do the same would help address any feelings of isolation.

Virtual Team Building Activities: Virtual “Water Cooler” moments would help maintain rapport

Lastly be sincere and show that you care. I have had many interactions with Managers where they ask “How are you?” but do not wait for a reply before moving on to the reason they called. Why bother asking then?. This is sad as they don’t seem to realize that people notice and remember.

What is it like Managing an ERP System in a Healthcare Institution

Posted on by

 

Today I had a long discussion with someone that wanted to know all about the ERP System, what it is like managing it and challenges we face. I decided that this was a great idea for the Blog so here it is.

 

What is the ERP System: The Enterprise Resource Planning system is used to manage, automate and maintain various business functions. It is designed to streamline operations, improve efficiency and provide a central information source.

This is a critical business system as it serves a a number of key business areas, like Finance, Billing, HR, Payroll and Supply Chain. What are some key items to be aware of.

System Uptime and Availability: The ERP system in a Healthcare Institution is required 24/7, either by direct user requests or by any number of downstream applications. These applications look to the ERP data as the source of truth so downtime will really affect operations and could affect revenue.

System Maintenance and Upgrades: The ERP system needs to be regularly maintained, with updates and patches applied as necessary to ensure it runs smoothly and is reliable. However work can only be carried out in previously agreed maintenance windows to ensure minimal impact to users and the business.

Data Security and Compliance: Most of the data on the ERP is highly sensitive. It is critical to ensure data accuracy and security, with relevant access controls in place with strict security protocols. Any breaches or data errors could have business and legal ramifications with ethical ramifications.

Integration with Multiple Downstream Systems: The ERP integrates with many systems like the Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Document Management System, Time and Attendance System, Organizational Policy System and many others. All these systems depend on the ERP data for them to function accurately.

Performance and Scalability: Due to the critical nature of the system there are periods when demand and utilization increases. The system needs to be able to meet the increase in load and demand. We always planned ahead and worked with the Infrastructure team to allocate extra backend resources if required.

Customization Requests: The Business users occasionally require customization as part of their improvement plans. These requests are implemented and prioritized based on how they affect the  business. They are agreed and deployed in phases depending on the level of development effort required.

Change Management: The ERP is a closely guarded system. No changes are applied without demonstrating a good business case, getting presented to and approved by the Change Board.

Vendor Management: We maintain a close relationship with our vendors for visibility of product roadmaps (new features or improvements). Also for managing support or development requests.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery: We had a robust plan in place which was reviewed annually and tested to ensure it met the needs of the Institution.

The ERP is critical to the business as it helps manage operations effectively, improve productivity, adapt to changes and remain competitive.

 

Challenges with Managing Remote Teams

Posted on by

 

With Covid still lingering we still have organizations allowing staff to work from home. I started thinking about challenges Managers face with managing remote teams, ensuring targets are met and maintaining a healthy balance.

There are some obvious challenges however how can we overcome them?

Challenges

In-Person Interaction (Lack of):  When you have been used to working a few feet apart on a day to day basis, not being in the same physical location tends to hinder spontaneous conversations and could affect relationships.

Communication and Collaboration issues: Physical distance can make this difficult and the absence of spontaneous conversations could lead to delays.

Team Cohesion: It could be harder to maintain rapport and trust with the team without the face to face interaction.

Company Work Life Balance: Some managers have stepped up team delivery expectations feeling that this is needed to ensure the team isn’t slacking off. On the other side of the coin some team members blur the lines between work and personal life balance which could lead to burnout.

How to overcome these challenges

  • Regular online meetings (video preferably) allowing time for informal discussions rather than straight “business chat”
  • Encourage virtual team building activities.
  • Set clear expectations but remind teams that it is okay to take breaks.

Remember that we have lives outside work and productivity increases when people enjoy what they do. Be pleasant and show them you care.

What are some Challenges with Managing over 25 Applications for an Institution

Posted on by

Have you ever stopped to think about what it would be like to manage over 25 Business Systems for an Institution. How would you manage applications that are accessed 24/7. What are the day to day challenges. How do you manage the different Business areas each with their own set of requests and goals. How do you manage uptime, upgrades, performance etc.

I hope this post will provide an insight into what it was like and how to juggle the various challenges.

Communication:

  • We had weekly meetings with each of the business areas. This would allow them to share any new requests, receive updates on work in pipeline and also to raise any concerns they may have.
  • Real-time dashboards for some applications.
  • Internal status reports updated and shared in a central location for all concerned to have access.
  • Monthly status meetings with Senior Leadership.
  • Weekly reports to Middle Managers.

Security:

  • It was crucial to have secure systems, with real-time monitoring.
  • Encryption and access controls in place with regular audits.
  • Requirements to apply vendor patches and updates needed to be carefully managed with Change Board visibility. Especially if they would require downtime.
  • Changes tied in with Backups with clear roll-back plans in case we encountered issues.

Application Performance:

  • Each application required monitoring, ensuring visibility of bottlenecks, performance issues and optimizations as required.
  • Access to real-time reports with clear routes for escalations as required.
  • Regular performance optimization reviews.

Support and Training:

  • Communication with IT Helpdesk to provide updates.
  • Provide day to day application support to end users
  • Provide training for new staff, new features to existing staff (normally part of upgrade project but delivered by the team)

Change Management:

  • Weekly meetings with the Change Board
    • To provide progress updates.
    • Get approvals for new changes
    • To have visibility of changes in other systems that could impact our applications.

Vendor Management:

  • Working with various vendors has its own set of challenges.
  • Working with them to resolve bugs or issues.
  • Maintaining communication with Support, Accounts, Contracts and their Leadership to always ensure smooth services and deliveries.

Resource Allocation and Management:

  • We had Technical Resources from the team allocated to each of the Applications
  • In some cases a person would be allocated to multiple applications.

Emergency Preparedness & Business Continuity Plan

  • Some areas of the organization required 24/7 access to applications so we had an agreed plan that would be activated in emergencies.
  • Business had a manual work around if required. This was always a short term plan.
  • Each System had a plan and was listed in the BCP.

We had a daily session at the start of the day where we reviewed the progress of all pipeline activities for each business area across all the applications. Ensuring deliveries were on track as previously communicated to the business. This allowed me to have full visibility of all the areas.

In the event of any failures, we all joined a call (regardless of time or day) to identify cause and agree a resolution plan. Any affected Business areas were made aware of the issues so they could initiate the previously agreed back-up plan as defined in the Business Continuity Plan.

No two days were the same and we always needed to have “enough fuel in the tank” as in Operations there was always a possibility that the next call could change the direction and plan for the day. Yes some days were tough but with the right team the days were always fun…