Craig McDonald 27 November 2015 15:31:01 AEDT 3 MIN READ

The Future of the IT Manager: Dinosaur or Ant?

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

- Charles Darwin, English Biologist (1809 - 1882)

There is a lesson for IT managers in those famous words from the world’s greatest contributor to evolutionary thinking, Charles Darwin: it’s adapt or die.

That might sound too dramatic, but the advent of the cloud is reshaping the role of the IT manager.

In companies that have not adopted cloud technology, IT managers are still flat out keeping up with basic infrastructure tasks. Their days are spent installing new technology, troubleshooting bugs and glitches, and maintaining machines in tip-top condition. Same as it ever was.

The cloud changes all that. For cloud adopters, the provider is responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly, for trouble-shooting and version updates. They provide the storage, performance and connectivity.

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Resistance is useless

In many companies, IT managers have warned their leaders against believing the promises of cloud technology too readily. Perhaps rightly, they have argued in favour of waiting until the teething issues have been ironed out.

That time has come. Adoption of the cloud has been slow, but is gaining momentum. Businesses are at a tipping point.

But IT managers still have time. It may seem paradoxical in an age where IT infrastructure is on the wane, but IT leadership is still as important as ever. More important, some argue. As the IT goal posts shift, those managers who are prepared to re-evaluate and modify their roles are stepping up to IT leadership. They remain a key pillar in the success of their companies.

Those who have failed to envision a new, more strategic scope to their roles have been left twiddling their thumbs -- a target for the bean counters.

Freedom to lead

Those IT managers who have transitioned to the cloud say they are able to assume a more extensive leadership role.

Without the burden of mass infrastructure, they are free to focus on innovation over infrastructure, strategy over software, and potential over the status quo.

Even more crucially, they can prioritise research, anticipate disruptive trends, and step up as key advisors on delivering business objectives. They are analysing big data to gain industry insight, and re-orientating their systems to capitalise on the features offered by the cloud.

The end of IT as a transaction

Cloud-savvy IT managers now have time to talk with stakeholders and staff and are fostering closer relationships built on creativity and contribution, not crisis management. The IT manager’s role is becoming humanised again.

The complexity and challenges of managing flexible and agile workforces provides a whole new challenge for IT departments. In accommodating these changes, IT managers are now viewed as enhancing productivity and fostering staff engagement. These are two big headaches for executives that IT managers can step up and help with.

Here for the long haul

Ants are among the most highly adapted lifeforms on earth. What has made them so successful for the past 130 million years? A highly coordinated social organisation, and an ability to modify habitats, exploit resources, and defend themselves

IT managers can adapt to their new role by adopting a Darwinian approach and learning from the ants (and not the dinosaurs). Embracing cloud computing, anticipating technology trends and helping companies deliver on technology’s vast potential is an exciting role. Those that choose it are already thriving. For those that don’t, someone else steps in.

That’s just the nature of evolution.


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