IT department leadership and business integration at IVK

Financial Statement

Carl Williams (CEO)

IT Contribution to Business

In the past, your organization did not view the IT department in a business sense. IT is generally viewed in a more technical light, but it should be understood that it is a viable and necessary part of any organization. The IT Department here at IVK is an important and valuable part of the business. In order for the firm to grow into the financial services direction it is headed in, the IT Department should be seen as more than just the department that recommend what computers and software the organization should invest in. In order to maintain pace with the growing business, IVK must hire someone to manage the department that has a keen sense of business in order to forecast technical trends and identify areas of opportunity and growth.

III. RECOMMENDATION

The financial statements of IVK should be closely examined to determine how to increase revenues while decreasing expenses. Concerning the IT Department, the new manager needs to hire a good mix of people with various skills. There will, of course need to be staff members with exceptional technical skills that can develop new technologies to keep the firm growing at the steady rate that it did a few years ago. However, the department should not be saturated with technical staff. The new manager will need to hire individuals who have a strong business sense and are experienced in the fields of accounting, finance as well as other business areas. This is necessary because the technical staff person may favor a technology that seems to be best for the company because of its capabilities, but the person with a good sense of business can evaluate the technology to determine if it will help the firm's bottom line.

In order for this department to be successful, cross training of existing employees will be necessary. This can be accomplished by the non-technical staff taking classes or seminars on basic technology and the technical staff learning the basics of business and finance to be able to make a recommendation on technology which is not based solely on technical aspects, but financial ones as well. By implementing new training for staff members, the operating expenses of the firm can be reduced over time. The new manager must have the capability to hire the appropriate staff that can develop technologies that will help the firm to grow. Increasing the firm's revenues while staying within the budget should be a main goal that the IT Department strives to accomplish.

IVK Corporation