Introduction
Technological resources are very important in the success of modern business organizations. The needs and priorities of technology resource should guide the way technology resources are managed in an organization (Foster, 2003).
Some of the most important technology resources in an organization include data center facilities, computer software, computer hardware, and the staff responsible for managing technological resources. All the functions of management are needed in information technology management and therefore it is very essential for IT managers within a firm to be conversant with functions such as change management (Foster, 2003).
The rapid increase in technological innovations has led to new technologies that have a significant impact on IT management. This paper will highlight the impact of new and emerging technologies on IT management.
Technology resources are meant to create value within an organization and therefore organization should adopt new and emerging technologies to remain consistent in providing quality services to customers (Christensen, 1997). The modern business environment is very unpredictable and competitive with IT resources playing a significant role in improving the value chain.
The applications used in organizations should therefore be fast, easy to maintain and at the same time easy to manage (Schwalbe, 2010). The modern management environment is automated with its efficiency depending on how the IT resources are managed. Servers, data storage systems and networks should be adjusted according to market trends (Dogac, 1999).
Technology providers are always coming up with products that converge technology resources within organizations. Modern IT resources are normally created in accordance with business strategies to enhance collaboration in the business environment.
IT managers have the responsibility of implementing new technologies within the organization (Dogac, 1999). The integration and convergence of IT resources is not an easy task and therefore require new technologies to be achieved.
The Impact of Social Networks on IT Management
New and emerging technologies have had an impact on the way technology resources are managed in many organizations (Boughzala, 2010). The emergence of social networks has completely bypassed IT systems. Mobile computing is a modern technological trend that enables people to carry out some computer applications on their mobile phones.
The main disadvantage of this new technology is that it can not facilitate some important and complex IT processes and applications. The number of people conducting business on their mobile phones has significantly increased in recent times. IT managers are now shifting to client virtualization in order to catch up with the current trend in mobile computing (Boughzala, 2010).
Organizations have been forced to reorganize their IT infrastructure in order to provide their clients with what they need. This new trend of client virtualization has led to the disuse of servers in organizations which has left many IT managers worried. It is easy to create servers in a virtual environment but most of them end up falling because they are not used as regularly as possible (Ram, 2010).
The Impact of Green Technology on IT Management
Enterprise data in many organizations has been growing and this has been a major cause of concern for IT managers (Ram, 2010). There is need to cut down on the unstructured data because it is very costly to handle a large amount of data. Technologies such as automation of storage devices and data reduplication have been a welcome relief for IT managers.
Most of the data in storage systems is underutilized and should therefore be stored in cheaper storage systems (Ram, 2010). The amount of energy used to run information technology systems is normally high and normally costs organizations a lot of money. Firms are now adopting Green IT that makes IT managers to be accountable for the amount of energy that IT systems consume (Foster, 2010).
IT managers are now cautious when using energy and always look for ways of reducing energy costs in the IT department. Complex resource tracking is a new trend in IT management where energy usage is automated and is constantly monitored to maintain optimal usage (Foster, 2010). IT management has moved to another level where consumption is closely monitored.
The use of social networks to communicate for business has made IT managers to come up with rules and regulations to guide their use (Ram, 2010). Many organizations have been forced to allow the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter in the workplace but IT managers have to monitor their use.
The new trends in web communications and social networking have been unified by IT managers to ensure that they have complete control over their use (Boughzala, 2010). Mobile and wireless applications have been adopted by many people but can not match the capacity of an IT system.
IT managers have to take the responsibility of educating other employees on how the new technological trends should be integrated with the current systems to avoid conflicting interests (Ram, 2010). The cost of supporting data centers has been increasing and therefore maintaining servers has become more expensive that the cost of servers.
Componentized servers have changed IT management by ensuring that only the needed data is stored and processed at a particular time. IT managers no longer build what they do not need and this has helped a great deal in reducing the cost of supporting servers (Sofroniou, 2004). Users are constantly creating applications that need to be managed by IT managers before the systems are messed up.
Cloud computing is a new technology that has given IT managers some focus and direction because they are now able to make proper decisions because users no longer dictate to IT managers the type of decisions to make regarding the type of technologies to buy and adopt (Sofroniou, 2004).
Through cloud computing, the entire IT system is separated into a set of services by a private cloud. IT managers have to strike a balance between private and public clouds to ensure that they grow at the same level (Ram, 2010).
The evolution of the IT infrastructure has been a great challenge for many IT managers because they have to ensure that all business applications work according to plan (Bird, 2010). The cloud and virtual technology has improved business applications according to modern trends. The best way for IT managers to improve business applications in their firms is to embrace the changes that come with the current environment.
The evolution of the IT infrastructure has also had an impact on the way IT managers control business applications (Bird, 2010). The new technologies need to be updated and supported without any delays for them to be effective. The cost of maintaining the emerging technologies is very high and therefore IT managers have to come up with ways of ensuring that all IT support programs are economically sustainable (McNurlin, 2009).
There has been a great change in IT management because the number of employees carrying personal devices to work has increased significantly. These employees expect to use their devices at work and this poses a great challenge to IT managers.
This is an emerging trend where consumerisation of IT has become popular in many organizations (McNurlin, 2009). IT managers have a great responsibility of ensuring that corporate technology is not affected by consumer technology.
Impact of Mobile Devices on IT Management
Consumerization of IT has made IT managers to be on their toes because the modern workforce that is technology-savvy has influenced a cultural shift where workers expect efficient and quick IT systems and applications (O’Brien, 1999). The modern generation employees are used to mobile technologies and therefore expect the same at their workplace.
IT managers are therefore forced to incorporate mobile computing with the stationary systems to keep in touch with modern trends. Cloud-based consumer applications are a potential security risk for IT systems (O’Brien, 1999). IT managers have to manage the impact that such application may have on the IT systems and applications. Security is a critical IT issue that IT managers have the responsibility of managing.
Combining corporate IT systems with personal devices is very risky because some employees can use the advantage to interfere with very important data (Ram, 2010). IT managers have an extra responsibility of managing everything that is related to technology because of the potential security risks involved.
The Impact of Cloud Computing on IT Management
The design of modern IT infrastructure is in most cases determined by the amount of power that a data center consumes (Foster, 2003). The new IT gadgets consume a lot of power due to massive power cores resulting from high density data centers. Many IT managers are reluctant to adopt the cloud technology due to security reasons but that is no longer the case.
The IT managers have realized that cloud technology is very vital in modern business development (Schwalbe, 2010). IT managers are even taking the initiative of educating other stakeholders within their organizations about the importance of adopting cloud technology. There are many success stories concerning the use of cloud technology that have made many IT managers to give it a try.
Cloud computing is a current trend in the IT field that has enabled many organizations to access business services (Schwalbe, 2010). IT managers should be able to do more with fewer resources by being responsive and economic. Modern technologies such as cloud computing have made IT managers to be more agile.
It is very expensive to invest in an IT infrastructure but this is no longer a problem for IT managers due to the new technologies (Ram, 2010). The IT landscape has completely changed due to convergence. The emerging mobile technologies such as broadband have had an impact on the way IT managers control business applications (Ram, 2010). Mobile technologies has introduced some flexibility in IT management.
Conclusion
Managing technology resources in an organization has become very demanding due to new and emerging technologies. IT managers have to ensure that the emerging technological trends are well managed according to the organization’s needs and priorities (Bird, 2010).
New technologies have made IT managers to also focus on the consumption aspects of the IT infrastructure apart from monitoring its performance (Bird, 2010). Emerging technological trends such as cloud computing and consumerisation of IT have had a great impact on how technology resources are managed in business organizations.
References
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