Working With a Leaner IT Organization

Michael Wood - April 7, 2009 Like it or not, at least for the foreseeable future, IT organizations need to become "lean, mean IT machines," and fast.  Ironically, those IT groups that are overstaffed and lack efficiency can show the most improvement, while those that are already operating efficiently may be as lean as they can be.  To management, the latter might seem uncooperative while the former, shining examples of sacrifice and team play.  It seems that, like everything else in our post-TARP world, those who are responsible and prudent get punished while those who are irresponsible and wasteful get rewarded.  As Nicholas Cage said in “National Treasure”, “It's upside down”, when referring to having to steal the Declaration of Independence in order to protect it.

So what can IT leaders who already run efficient and cost conserving IT organizations do to get even leaner, to do more with less without taking needless risks, sacrificing service levels or infrastructure integrity and reliability?

Unfortunately, I have not found any silver bullets for taking an already lean IT organization and making it leaner.  But silver bullet or not, there are some things to consider that might help cut costs without cutting into the muscle of the organization.

LET VALUE DRIVE YOUR BUDGET
One way to find cost-saving opportunities is to challenge every …

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