Exhibit 17.2 Sample Technology Inventory

Telecom Analysts

Roles

Tier 1 support

Central contact point for

IT problems

Tier 2 support On-site problem resolution PC/desktop support and administration

Tier 3 network support Data network problem resolution

Data network administration

Tier 3 system support Server problem resolution Server support and administration

Tier 3 telecom support Voice network problem resolution

Voice network administration

Manager Applications Management

Application Development Manager(s)

Programmers/Development Teams

Application Testing Manager

Testing Teams

Database Administrator (DBA)

Junior Database Administrators

EDI/Application Interface Specialist

Junior Interface Specialists

Senior Business Analyst

Junior Business Analysts

Roles

Tier 3 application support Application development Application deployment

Application testing Application deployment

Database design, installation and configuration Database monitoring Data integrity and backup

Data transfers between business applications Data synchronization across locations

Business user relationship Requirement gathering Requirement programming specifications

Business user application training

Exhibit 17.3 Standard IT Department Organization Chart

When organizing a department we follow some general rules of thumb that we will share with you:

Separate application and operations.

When possible, hire good managers to oversee each group.

Do not allow individuals to float around the organization in odd roles

that dont report up through the two main lines (i.e., no floating boxes).

When the organization chart must start reflecting personnel with f loat-

ing boxes, chances are there is something dysfunctional occurring. Develop growth ratios for each position so that senior leadership can

determine the proper headcount to assign to the group over time. Develop consistent titles and roles/responsibilities. Each person/

position should have a concise and clear one-page role description with

quarterly or annual management objectives.

Another approach is to create a chart that indicates how the IT organization is structured to address user needs. While this type of chart is not as intuitive to read, a very brief textual description can accompany it and will provide users a better understanding of how the organizational structure is designed to support them. Describing the organization in this way can also help ensure efficient operations. A functional view of the organization will show where redundancies exist.

For multioffice professional services firms, IT department organization can become somewhat challenging. Should each office have a dedicated IT support person? Can local IT support purchase hardware or must that be accomplished at the headquarters? If the local office needs call for the addition of a server, must that server match the corporate standard? In general, most firms will want centralized management and control of IT support and purchasing decisions to ensure economies of scale and standardization of the environment to minimize support cost. Additionally, any office with more than 30 employees will typically need a dedicated IT support person. Offices under this size can manage via a local part-time or contract support resource. Most duties today can also be managed remotely by the corporate support team. Exhibit 17.4 shows how the staffing of the IT organization might change over time with the growth of the firm.

Another issue for multioffice firms is the collaboration between geographically dispersed IT employees. Many times the relationship between IT professionals in two markets may be acrimonious because of communication issues. Many firms have been successful at minimizing this behavior by organizing field personnel into virtual teams. For example, the virtual team responsible for IT process documentation may actually be composed of members from many different cities. This allows geographically separated employees to work together on IT projects and allows them to build a relationship while working