[The Challenges That IT Managers Have With Network Security In Federal Government Agencies]

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The Challenges That IT Managers Have With Network Security In Federal Government Agencies

Purpose Statement

Managers in technology-intensive organizations use controls to accomplish strategic goals and objectives amid rapidly changing expertise, globalization, and scarcity of resources, end-date propelled schedules, increasing regulations, disruption, and risk.

Discussion

Research shows that both large corporations and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) that use expertise to leverage work outcomes have the greater prospect of success when the work is managed as projects.(Zander,2005) However, projects can fail if not correctly planned, controlled and managed.(Roberts,2001) Control is an absolutely vital function of management and it facilitates the accomplishment of the organization's goals and objectives. Managers also shoulder responsibility for orchestrating and optimizing the use of expertise, human and financial resources, systems, and the natural environment in which the work will be performed.

The reasons for failure encompass but are not restricted to: multi-nodality, where PM focuses on centre areas to the detriment of outlying areas in spatially distributed organizations; organizational slack, where the lack of resources in the particular area affects the functioning of the project; lack of top-down and bottom-up interventions; insufficient buy-in from the task team; task managers who also are business managers; unclear task plans; ambiguous roles and responsibilities; team constituent burnout; inefficient management of change; and poor organizational culture.

The management of technology-intensive work thus calls for projects to be managed formally under the PM framework that includes the PM Plan, task organization, PM tools and techniques, and performance supervising, measurement, and control. As “people” represent the other critical dimension of PM, task managers must have the ability to organize, motivate, lead, and harness the individual and collective information and skills of their human resources. (Wesner,2009)

This paper discusses the factors that leverage managerial command of technology-intensive work and the tools and techniques available to the Project Manager. Due to the vast body of literature on PM, managerial command is discussed in the context of the PM framework, persons, organizational design, and PM tools and techniques.(Berry,2009)

 

Managerial command in task Organizations

Managerial command is accomplished through the PM Plan, measuring performance, taking corrective action, and feeding back performance results and data for continuous enhancement of the plan, personnel, and task scope or configuration.

 

Project Management Framework

Project controls are often dictated by numerous and increasingly stringent legislation, corporate social responsibility policies, and industry-accepted management practices.(Berry,2009) The accountability of owners and company directors to regulators, investors, and other stakeholders farther leverage the strength of internal management controls. Senior management thus has the special interest in ensuring that projects are managed in the manner such that potential liability from damage or loss of reputation is minimized.(Zander,2005)

Management firm promise is the key component of task success and it should be leveraged for commanding the development and implementation of policies; approval of the PM Plan; initial and additional financial and non-financial resources; approval of changes to the task scope, task documentation, organizational assets, and the PM Plan; procurement of PM tools and software; approval of ...