Transnational IT operations and strategic implications

Transnational IT Operations

With the mounting complexity of the present day IT operations, multiple technology platform is the need of the hour and constant modifications to meet the needs of the organization.

Aspects, advantages, disadvantages and issues: IT operations are organized into (i) Administrative support: Under this division, fiscal management and budget assistance is received for the entire Department. Further, this division has a nationwide influence by means of its role in setting rates and billing for different kinds of IT services and its role in processing all orders meant for personal computer hardware and software (ii) Technical Services and Communications: This area looks after the round the clock operations and support of the county's enterprise server, and network infrastructure which offers connectivity in respect of nearly 14,000 computing devices providing for voice and telecommunications services for the county. (iii) Central services: This division looks after the county's mail delivery system, shipping and receiving, and graphic services like photocopying and printing. Therefore, they interact with every program area within the county, dealing with nearly 12 million incoming and outgoing mails annually and creating 33 million printed impressions annually (iii) Production/Customer services: This area supplies a wide range of IT services; the scheduling of production computer jobs on that of the county's enterprise server, the deployment of computer security mechanisms and operating the county's primary helpdesk for sorting out computer use or access difficulties. (iv) LAN services: Services under this area looks after the round the clock operations of the county's 250 network servers which offers anti-virus, faxing, email, file and print applications, and other services. LAN Services also manages about 10,000 Gigabyte -- GB of data over that of the storage area network. LAN services is responsible for setting the county-wide technical specifications for Laptops, PCs, PC software and network printers and that of direct desktop support is being provided for 900 county employees. (The IT Operations Division)

Quality Issues: The quality function of the organization must be constituted of a small focused team within the arena of the IT community. The answer lies in avoiding a huge, bureaucratic entity, but instead employs a small team representing an enhanced community in the business responsibilities. The IT quality function must be spearheaded by an influential executive who reports directly to the CIO or the Chief Financial Officer. This will guarantee that the new function has the necessary impact and is able to handle across the organization in an efficient manner. The small team of quality supporters will report directly to that of the quality executives. The IT quality function must be able to concentrate on, broad, cross-functional quality matters which are high priority areas and significant in nature to solve. Based on an IT perspective, the scope must comprise of such arenas like networking, application development, databases, data centers and end user support i.e. help desk. From the business point-of-view, the function's duties must comprise almost the complete organization, as majority of the business areas will possibly have some type of IT infrastructure application. (Managing quality for IT)

Global Networking and service levels: Currently, the networks of the present era have grown to be complex. They need multiple technologies 24x7 monitoring, remote connectivity, and regular changes to meet the needs of the organization. A lot of factors like high-speed switching technologies, speedier increases in the number of managed nodes, and intranet working have impacted a great deal the operational and technical needs to successfully handle multi-site, large-scale and mission-critical networks. In order to fulfill these needs, the services of a full service IT Company is needed to meet the needs of individual clients. Network operations and management services might be more cost-effective compared to maintaining and managing an in-house IT staff.

The commitment of network operation services are total in minimizing the total cost of ownership while offering an effective and flexible network management structure to allow the customer to integrate different solutions at multiple levels and locations. The IT companies baseline the operations and supply cost-effective recommendations, techniques, and plans that is able to enhance functionality and lower the complexity of the overall network. Applications and hardware level assessing find out the problems and continuous concerns which need rapid resolution and adaptive scalability in order to generate a more effective networking environment. Due to this end-users get enhanced levels of information accessibility and measurable performance enhances in availability of network. (Network Operations)

Cultural Diversity: Cultural Diversity initiative is able to provide organizations with several advantages, but there are many variables which are able to influence the success of such initiatives. In value driven IT companies like IBM for instance, cultural issues were unable to make an impact regarding the manner in which the staff felt regarding the company, particularly in cases where differences hindered clear communications, for instance, between the line manager and staff member. The decision to develop a strategy for cultural awareness and acceptance within the company was driven by corporate values, legal requirements and the business case. Cultural diversity regarding value driven companies do not evolve in a vacuum. (Cultural Diversity, IBM style)

It is a long standing view that through valuing diversity, IT companies finds out new perspectives, utilize different knowledge and experience and produce innovative ideas, suggestions and methods. Employee Opinion Survey -- EOS provide the concrete data to emphasize the business case for cultural diversity. Modern organizations encounter dilemma of skills. Managing the twin trade-off between an ageing workforces and increasing dearth of skilled workers create problems while demands of clients propelled by globalization and advanced technology are coming to be increasingly complex. Therefore any organization which becomes unsuccessful in maximizing opportunities for every employee will find itself caught in a talent gap and missed business opportunity. (Cultural Diversity, IBM style)

Language: With the advent of the Internet, the need has arisen for people who are able to access and handle information in various several languages. Even though in situations where people know various languages they will continue to require help in effectively taking part in the global information society. In the recent Granada Workshop, participants had a session on Multilingual Information Management research. The U.S. White House made its interest clear in the topic as a pioneering effort for the new U.S.-EU Science Corporation Agreement. The world is definitely becoming a global village with the progress in communication and proliferation of computers at a faster pace. (Multilingual Information Management: Current Levels and Future Abilities)

On the other hand, people will preserve their values and beliefs of their native cultures that include clutching on to their language of their families and ancestors. This constitutes a treasure, a cultural knowledge base which must not be destabilized even though the pressures to be capable to speak common languages go up. Thus, endeavors in multilingual technology not just permit us to share knowledge and resources of the World, they even permit us to preserve our inherent human qualities which have permitted us to progress and solve problems which everybody shares. (Multilingual Information Management: Current Levels and Future Abilities)

Technological Infrastructure: Basing on a vision that Internet Protocol -- IP will be the core of all future communications strategy and the view that IT organizations would evolve in the direction of a service model as efficient like service providers and outsiders. Those companies with technological edge have evolved its solutions to include convergence and quality of service. It also includes real-time information, customer-facing service level reporting, analysis as well as action. There has been companies' who are leaders in service-centric performance management software's and guarantees the optimal delivery of business-critical IT services. The flexibility, scalability and openness of the products offer an efficient setting to provide any IT decision maker the required visibility to leverage IT infrastructure to competitive advantage. (Value Proposition)

Local Customs and Control Issues: The general levels of awareness of different cultures within the organization which among other things shall include printing a diversity calendar, showing the various dates of cultural significance which might be appropriate to employees and business relationships. Launching of a floating holiday in the employees can exchange a public holiday for an important cultural holiday. There should be a clear distinction of religion from cultural diversity. Basically, cultural awareness and acceptance is the theme instead of religious observation. The proof of programs like those devised to promote cultural diversity lies in the results. Rates of retention, staff satisfaction, client feedback and new contracts will determine the degree the success the company has achieved. (Cultural Diversity, IBM style)