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Managing the IT-IT-business relationship

Grab a coffee and have a look at our poll

icon Jon Collins
Mon 15 Dec 2008 // 13:02 UTC

Last week, we broached the subject of whether there was a gap between development and operations in IT. It’s a difficult one, not least because its very easy to make generalizations (but we have garnered some great feedback).

Indeed, a general position is that any such gap is an unhealthy thing to have. However, in reality there will be circumstances where a more formal relationship would be preferable, if it were properly defined and stuck to. One school of thought would have dev and ops (for example) playing football on a Sunday morning, while another might prefer to see the careful vetting of any communication between the two, to ensure it meets contractual or policy requirements.

In the spirit of bottoming out questions such as these, we’ve drawn up the following poll which delves into the different kinds of relations that may exist. Do please let us know what you think, and we’ll feed back the results sharpish.

Reader Poll

1. In which of the following areas do you work?

Development of IT systems and applications
Operational IT management and support
IT project or programme management
Line of business, as staff or management
Central support function such as a quality group
Other - please state

2. In an ideal world, what kind of relationship would you like with...

  Very close collaboration Ad-hoc as-and-when Formal interface only Minimal
Your direct peers or reports in the same team
Peers in the same role or at the same level as yourself
Other roles within the IT department
Business staff who make use of the capabilities you are involved with
Customers of the organization you work in

3. In reality, what kind of relationship do you have with...

  Very close collaboration Ad-hoc as-and-when Formal interface only Minimal
Your direct peers or reports in the same team
Peers in the same role or at the same level as yourself
Other roles within the IT department
Business staff who make use of the capabilities you are involved with
Customers of the organization you work in

4. And how effective would you say are these relationships? (1 = Not effective, 5 = Very effective)

  Not effective
1		  
2		  
3		  
4		 Very effective
5
Your direct peers or reports in the same team
Peers in the same role or at the same level as yourself
Other roles within the IT department
Business staff who make use of the capabilities you are involved with
Customers of the organization you work in

5. Specifically, how good is the level of co-ordination between the development and operations teams in your organisation? (1 = Very poor, 5 = Very good)

  Very poor
1		  
2		  
3		  
4		 Very good
5
 

6. Do you work for directly for an organization or as a subcontractor/outsourced function?

Direct
Subcontract / Outsourced

BEFORE YOU GO

Which of the following best describes the organisation you work in?

Educational establishment
Public Sector (non education)
IT products or services vendor
Company with more than 5000 employees
Company with 250 to 4999 employees
Company with 50 to 249 employees
Company with 10 to 49 employees
Company with less than 10 employees
None of the above - please specify

Which of the following best describes your role?

Business management
Business professional
General IT management
Management of development/integration
Management of operations function
Systems architect or designer
Developer
Operations specialist
Other - please specify

Which of the following best sums up the attitude to IT in your organisation?

An important contributor of business value
A positive enabler of operational efficiency
A necessary but burdensome cost
A complete waste of money

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