Few enterprises stay the same over a period of five to ten years. Their business grows. Their products, operating locations, and channels change. Their bias toward centralization or business unit independence shifts. Supported technologies change. In addition, their degree of dependence on IT services increases. Expectations of staff for increases in responsibility and career mobility increase over time. An IT organizational structure that has served the enterprise well for a period, if it stands still, can fail to meet these evolving needs.
Change Triggers
A number of situations can strain the IT organizational structure:
- Major increase in IT responsibility because of centralization, mergers, or acquisitions. The resultant IT portfolio will be more complex and the user population will expand in numbers and in the diversity of their requirements. IT management will need to allocate more time to planning and client communication, leaving their staff to make more of the tactical and operational decisions. As an example, after an acquisition, an IT Manager may no longer have time to coordinate his network staff and may have to delegate to another individual.
