Enterprise and Global Management of Information Technology

Chapter14

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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• Identify each of the three components of information technology management and use examples to illustrate how they might be implemented in a business.

• Explain how failures in IT management can be reduced by the involvement of business managers in IT planning and management.

• Identify several cultural, political, and geo-economic challenges that confront managers in the management of global information technologies.

Learning Objectives

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• Explain the effect on global business/IT strategy of the trend toward a transnational business strategy by international business organizations

• Identify several considerations that affect the choice of IT applications, IT platforms, data access policies, and systems development methods by a global business enterprise

• Understand the fundamental concepts of outsourcing and offshoring, as well as the primary reasons for selecting such an approach to IS/IT management

Learning Objectives

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Organizing IT

• Early Years– Centralization of computing with large

mainframes

• Next– Downsizing and moving back to decentralization– Proliferation of mid-range and mini-computers

• Current– Hybrid of centralized and decentralized

components– IS Subsidiaries– Outsourcing

• Systems integrators

• Application service providers

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IT Staff Planning

• Recruiting, training and retaining• Evaluating employee job performance• Rewarding outstanding performance• Setting salary and wage levels• Designing career paths

– Chief Information Officer (CIO)– Chief Technology Officer (CTO)– E-commerce architect– Technical team leader– Practice manager– Systems analyst

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Technology Management

• Platform for integrating business applications– Both internally or externally focused

• Technologies– Internet, intranets, e-commerce and

collaboration, CRM, ERP, and SCM software

• Responsibility of Chief Technology Officer

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Global Teams – Best Practices

• Obtain local HR expertise• Create job grade consistency across

regions• Manage dispersed staff as portfolio teams• Make the work meaningful• Clearly defining the roles of remote groups• Bring remote staff to headquarters• Foster communication across regional

boundaries

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Global Business Drivers

• Competitive or environmental forces drive business requirements

• Examples of global drivers:– Customers

– Products

– Operations

– Resources

– Collaboration

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Global IT Platforms

• Hardware Difficulties– High prices– High tariffs– Import restrictions– Long lead times for government approvals– Lack of local service or spare parts– Lack of documentation tailored to local

conditions• Software Difficulties

– Incompatibility of software• Europe vs Asia vs US

– Publisher reluctance• May refuse to supply markets that disregard

software licensing and copyright agreements

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The Internet as a Global IT Platform

• The Internet– An interconnected matrix that reaches tens

of millions of users in over 100 countries– Business environment is free of traditional

boundaries and limits

• Without incurring massive cost outlays for telecommunications, companies can– Expand markets– Reduce communications and distribution costs– Improve profit margins

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Global Data Access Issues

• Transborder Data Flows may be viewed as violating

– National sovereignty

– Laws protecting local IT from competition

– Laws protecting local jobs

– Privacy legislation

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Internet Access in Restrictive Countries

• Revolves around

– Controlling the conduits

– Filtering the flows

– Punishing the purveyors

• For most of the world restriction is not viable

– Hurts opportunities for growth and prosperity

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Global Government Internet Restrictions

• High Government Access Fees– Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan

• Government Monitored Access– China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan,

Ubekistan

• Government Filtered Access– Belarus, Cuba, Iraq, Tunisia, Sierra Leone,

Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam

• No Public Access Allowed– Burma, Libya, North Korea

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Global Systems Development

• Key development issues

– Conflicts over local vs global system requirements

– Agreement on common system features

– Disturbances caused by systems implementation and maintenance activities

– Global standardization of data definitions

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Systems Development Strategies

• Key strategies for global systems development

– Transform an application used by the home office or a subsidiary into a global application

– Set up a multinational development team

– Parallel development

– Centers of excellence

– Offshore development