Keys for IT Success

Narrative

Version Information

The latest version of KITS is 1.4 - this text is based on version 1.2 and is in the process of being updated. Apologies for inconvenience.

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Tools

The Tools principal belongs to the IT Manager. It's his job. Nobody else's. These guys speak a different language. They read manuals on something called "COBOL" that's 8000 pages long as if it's a Stephen King page-turner. Let them give you the tools. They're your blacksmith, your fishmonger. They procure, they build, they operate and manage your computer hardware and software.

They do not run your business. You wouldn't expect a Fishmonger to tell you how to get married, now would you? But you might just ask them for advice on the best fish, and expect them to get it at the best price.

Here's the guide for good Tools in your company:

KNOW it
LINK it
KEEP it

Know IT

Have you ever wandered what a batch job is and why it runs at 3am and takes 9 hours? No? Well good. That's not your job. But it is your IT section's job. They have to know WHAT a computer tool is, and HOW it's used. They need to know what happens if it goes wrong and how to fix it. They have to be Business Savvy. You would expect a Housing Officer to know what the implication is of a house burning down? Expect IT staff to know what happens to your business when a process fails.

Do they have a Definitive Software Library and Definitive Hardware Store? If not, ITIL them.

Do they have a clue about how income is used? Get them shadowing workers.

And most important of all, are they up to speed on what tools are used in what areas of your business? Do they know that a member of your financial team is building his own Microsoft Access database and filling it with private details of all your clients, when you just spent Ł5.6m on a new Customer Relationship Management system? No? Get them back in control. Get them KNOWING your IT.

Link IT

We all love Grand Designs. And who in their right mind would spend 3 years of their life building a house where the living room is in Essex, the kitchen's in York, and the front door is somewhere up in Liverpool? People like you, that's who!

Don't buy IT if you're gonna do that.

Make your IT work together. It's a WHOLE. You should have printers that work no matter which computer you're sat at and no matter which application you're using. Tablets should work with ALL your business applications, not just one or two that someone somewhere who once owned an Amstrad CPC 464 likes to dream about instead of Helena Bonham Carter.

And what's more - this is YOUR money we're talking about here. Don't fool yourself. Every time you buy a piece of software, calculate exactly how much it costs in rent, in benefits, in direct payments, in terms of YOUR POCKET. Make it count. Make it work as a whole. One big, happy family of IT products and services that supports your business. One that doesn't ask you to go to Chester to get management reports...

Keep IT

In years gone bye, so my father tells me, people would care about their tools. They would clean them, fix them, and take pride in them. They didn't just pop down to Asda and buy a new frying pan, they'd clean the thing - they're wash it properly and get the grease of it. And when they bought a new one, they made sure it was built to last.

Don't install IT you can't sustain. And don't ask your IT staff to do work to "quick fix". You wouldn't "quick fix" your car and then drive your kids 400 miles, would you? Don't put your company at risk - make sure your tools are built to last and that everyone signs up to it.

Secure Interactions

Could you imagine what life would be like if someone kept opening up your brain, telling your friends about all those deep, dark desires for your neighbour? It would be rather tragic, in fact, it might even be described as un-live-it-downable

You are naturally quite lucky as a human being in that respect. People only know what’s going on in your head if you tell them. They can’t open up your brain and see your Oedipus complex in full swing or read your credit card bill. We are protected by a fascinating invention of biology that we could describe as encryption-by-bits-of-flash-that-smell-when-cooked. Furthermore, we also have a pretty hard shell called a skull and we are naturally inclined to keep our gobs shut: we all learn pretty early on that we have to know how to deal with things if we open our gobs and shouldn’t have! Welcome to the world of contingency and risk planning.

We are also quite keen to ensure we know who we’re talking to, and thus on judging whether an individual should be told fact A or not. This experience is no better illustrated than by that moment you approach a beautiful looking individual at a bar and decide that it’s high time you ask them back to your flat for some extended deliberations on Descartes. You have authenticated them, taking on an understanding of who they are (perhaps their name, though most likely just their [bra / box] size or financial and gymnastic ability if you’re anything like me after 5 Sambucca's) determining whether the fact “I would love to do some pillow philosophy with you” should be blurted out. Hence, authorisation.

And even then there are some things, if asked, you just don't get onto. "Where did your cat go? it was here last time?" is often avoided - and to get that type of information, you need to trust this individual a hell of a lot more than you do right now!

Thus, the principles of Secure Interaction are:

Know who you’re talking to and give them a label (sometimes called a Token) that you'll remember them by next time
Know what you can and can’t tell them and do with them (that is, Authorisation)
Confuse people or computers that try and get at information you want to keep secret (encryption and obfuscation)
Record what happens so you can win the argument that'll brew up four months into the marriage ("I told you that when we met the first time!!")

Overarching this is the need to know what to do if it all goes wrong. Namely, when Beauty turns back to Beast in the morning, have a contingency plan.

Tools	Provide the right tools for the job in hand
Secure Interactions	Treat your IT like a castle
Knowledge and Intelligence	Looking after the things you know, using it and developing it to full effect
Customer Focus	Giving right access to your customers
Firm Foundation	Don't build anything til you've thought about what you're building on
Environment	Live and work in harmony with the environment

Version Information

Tools

Know IT

Link IT

Keep IT

Secure Interactions

Knowledge and Intelligence

Access

A Firm Foundation

The Environment