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Position Descriptions

Responsibilities should be defined for each IT function. IT management determines what functions are required based on the department’s size and complexity, and spreads out responsibilities across the actual functions. One method of defining responsibility is through job descriptions. Written job descriptions communicate areas of responsibility, accountability, and reporting authority. They also provide an objective means of measuring job performance because employees who know what is expected of them can be evaluated against their job description. Job positions, descriptions, and terminology can vary considerably among organizations. Therefore, the following descriptions should be used only as examples when reviewing the positions within an IT department.


Exhibit 1-3.  Organization Chart: Large IT Department

Data Processing Manager. This individual plans, organizes, leads, and controls the overall activities of the IT department, including systems analysis and programming and computer operations; consults, advises, and coordinates between the IT area and customer departments; and reports to senior management on IT plans, projects, performance, and related matters. The IT manager may also choose to have assistant managers who have line rather than staff responsibility. Their functions may be technical or administrative, with each reporting to the manager or another assistant manager.

Operations Manager. This individual coordinates the daily activity of the data center; monitors current production to assure adherence to pre-established schedules; redirects work flow in cases of processing interruptions; and provides for cross-training and rotation of personnel.

Computer Operator. This individual operates hardware according to instructions detailed within the run manual. This person may also support application processing based on similar documentation. Operators should not perform any programming or librarian functions and should only have access to documentation necessary to run a given program, if the department is large enough to support full segregation of duties.

File Librarian. This individual is responsible for the physical control and safekeeping of the data centers online and offline storage of programs and data. This person is responsible for accurate disk inventories, maintains accurate records of library activities, and ensures that any remote backup library contains appropriate files and has appropriate physical access security.

Input Preparation and Output Control Personnel. These once-common positions have largely vanished from today’s IT departments. They have been replaced by end users empowered to input data directly, automated data acquisition equipment, etc.

Input Preparation Personnel. The individuals who perform the following tasks:

  The Proof Operator reviews the batch for possible errors and confirms or prepares the appropriate control totals.
  The Data Entry Operator inputs the batch in anticipation of its processing by an application.

Output Control Personnel. The output staff is divided into the following two categories:

  The Reconciliation Staff validates accuracy of transactions, reconciles all output, prepares rejected/nonreader items for reentry, and completes the reconciliation forms.
  The Distribution Staff ensures that output is routed and distributed to assigned destinations and decollates and bursts output in accordance with operating instructions.

Application Development Manager. This individual coordinates overall activities of the programmer/analysts; is responsible for programming and other departmental procedures; and is responsible for administrative tasks that might include measurement of progress relative to predetermined goals.

Application Programmer/Analyst. This individual has two types of responsibility that were commonly separate in the past. First, this individual analyzes requirements for information, evaluates the existing system and designs or revises procedures for accomplishing the activity, and designs program logic, application system flowcharts, and narratives. Once the design is complete, this individual creates and modifies programs and program documentation, tests the new or changed programs, and corrects errors in logic or coding.

Systems Programmer/Analyst. This person is responsible for the same tasks as an Application Programmer/Analyst, except that the System P/A is responsible for developing overhead programs that, although necessary for the computer equipment to function, do not directly perform an application task (e.g., generating sales invoices). This person may also maintain management routines, database systems, and large communication networks, and develop programs that monitor and measure the performance of application programs.

Technical Support Personnel. These individuals act as liaisons with manufacturers, software support personnel (customer engineers), applications programmers, and systems analysts.

Network Services Support Personnel. These individuals act as liaisons with software support and operations personnel to ensure a proper and effective online communications network.

Database Administrator. This individual acts as the coordinator for any requests to change the database structure, to delete data elements, or modify access to the database. This person is also responsible for organization and effectiveness of the logical access security established to protect the data in the databases.

Quality Control and Assurance Personnel. These individuals serve in a review capacity as an adjunct to project development, but do not direct systems development efforts. They are responsible for reviewing the progress of systems development projects to determine conformity to the organization’s standards and procedures. These individuals also assist in developing and evaluating the effectiveness of the IT processes and manage most quality control programs.

Planning

The IT planning process should be fully integrated into the company’s planning process. The complexity of any formal plan varies significantly, depending on the size of the organization. All plans must, however, meet the organization’s needs. The formalized planning process involves developing written plans, having them approved by company management, and distributing them as needed.

It is imperative that IT management include senior management and user management in the planning process. The board of directors, individually and collectively, has legal responsibility for the continuity of the organization’s operations. Senior managers ultimately implement all strategic plans and, therefore, must be active participants in the planning. User management either requests changes or is impacted by changes requested by others, which is why they also must participate in regular planning activities.

The plan is likely to consist of short- and long-range elements. Short-range elements span one year or less. Long-range elements usually cover at least one to as many as five years. IT management should perform regular comparisons of budget to actual results, just as senior and end-user management do, because periodic revisions to the plan may be required.

The plans produced by this planning process should always include the following items, along with any others relevant to a particular situation:

  Applications software—should focus on the maintenance or changes that will ensure that business requirements are satisfied in an effective manner.
  System software—should focus on providing the most efficient environment to reliably support the application software.
  Hardware—should focus on acquiring and maintaining the equipment needed to support the software environment consistently and cost-effectively.
  Personnel—should focus on acquiring and retaining the individuals to support the in-place hardware and software.
  Budget—should focus on accurately portraying the resources required to support the plan. These resources may include, but are not limited to, the potential costs for new applications software, new equipment, and staffing changes.


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