PROACTIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AUTOMATION™

It goes without saying that being Proactive is always better than being Reactive when it comes to Information Technology management.  However, I am venturing to say that the majority of IT operational time is still being spent on being reactive. 

No one will argue that IT operational personnel are busy all day and every day, including Saturdays and some Sundays. And yet, the work just never seems to end.

According to new research by the network management software specialist Chevin, “Some 80 percent of businesses still use retrospective or reactive methods as their main tool for measuring and monitoring network performance.” The study was published by ComputerWeekly.com in December 2004.

The same study also found that “there is still a significant lack of understanding about the benefits of pro-active network management techniques.”

Even today, most businesses look at IT as a cost center rather than an essential part of the organization. This seemingly never-ending struggle to react to one crisis after another is partly to blame for this. At the same time, companies are witnessing ever-increasing budgets for the purchase of new hardware, software and other services.

Most organizations look at the money spent on IT during the last 10 years, along with the funding for numerous IT projects with fancy names, and conclude that their money has gone to waste.  No wonder IT operations are seen as nothing but cost centers. And this rings true in both the public and private sectors.

The issue is so complicated that we would never have enough space in this paper for it. We can, however, start with something simpler and hopefully easier to understand and measure.   

IT should be viewed and used as a competitive advantage to any organization, whether it is in the public or private sector.

Wal-Mart is one of the very few shining examples of how IT can become a real competitive advantage to business.  Wal-Mart was the first to implement many advanced technologies before others saw the need for them in business.

The lesson: Don’t wait for the needs to arise or for your competitors to reach the doors of proactive management before you do. Be the proactive one, so your competitors are forced to play catch-up with you.

The most costly part of the IT operational management life cycle is maintaining the systems, not building one. To increase IT competitiveness, one area to start with is designing a Proactive Information Technology Management Automation™ (PITMA™) life cycle.

If we can build the system up correctly and keep it maintained as automatically and proactively as possible, we can easily cut the IT operational cost by two-thirds. 

TNS has done just that for our clients since 1991.  Time and again, we have turned around expensively run IT operations for businesses.  Instead of being cost centers, IT became a competitive advantage.

And through out the years, we have developed methods and procedures to help accomplish what we call Proactive Information Technology Management Automation™ (PITMA™).

To cover the PITMA™ life cycle, we have developed the following matrix:

Proactive Information Technology Management Automation™ Solution Matrix

PITMA™ Life Cycle	One Time	On Going
Document Management	ü	ü
Provision Management	ü	û
Change Management	ü	ü
Configuration Management	ü	ü
Test Management	ü	ü
Patch Management	ü	ü
Upgrade Management	ü	ü
Security & Policy Compliance Management	ü	ü
Monitor & Audit Management	ü	ü
Optimization Management	ü	ü
Report Management	ü	ü

We focus on automating every part of this matrix. Not all technologies are available for us to do it all, but by just getting started on some of them, we produce big cost savings for our clients.

To find out how we do it, please visit the following pages on our web site:

The Frameworks: http://www.tns.com/technology.asp

The Methods: http://www.tns.com/remote.asp

The Results: http://www.tns.com/outsourcing_service.asp

By Benson Yeung, Senior Partner

Since 1991, Mr. Yeung has consulted on IT and business related issues to over 300 small, medium, and large Bay Area organizations. He also contributes articles to the Loral Computer Special Interest Group, Microsoft Project, Silicon Valley Computer Society monthly newsletter and other nation-wide publications. During the past 20 years, he has spent a significant amount of time in IT security fields and has a deep understanding of the state of IT security issues and has developed frameworks and best practice methodologies for the field.

Mr. Yeung’s client list includes Flextronics, HP, Levis-Strauss, Loral, NeXT Computer, New York Life, Stanford University, Symantec and many other companies. Mr. Yeung also works closely with various VC firms and startups in the Bay Area as a Technology Advisor, IT & Operations Consultant. Mr. Yeung has a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Arkansas State University. He is also a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) & System Engineer (MCSE).

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