Small Business Management Series

Return to Article

Find the Right Geek

Marc Kramer

Businesses today need information technology pros who understand how businesses work and grow.

Many businesses even require a dedicated employee to focus full or part time on managing technology. We aren't just talking about some geek who knows how to build his or her own laptop or get the iPhone to run on other systems besides AT&T. They have to think strategically.

Let's look at the areas of responsibility a 21st-century technology czar must handle. Regardless of the size of a company, there are varieties of internal and external technology challenges, for which someone has to take responsibility.

This includes all things related to the interworkings of the company, such as:

• Employee productivity: Making sure employees have the right types of computers and that those computers are configured properly to allow employees to maximize their time and get their work done without any problems.

• Convenience: Technology shouldn't feel like a straitjacket to employees. It should make their life easier. This could mean having voice-mail messages routed to laptops and figuring out how to integrate BlackBerrys into the corporate system, so users can get their emails routed to the devices when they are traveling.

• Databases: Developing and maintaining company databases of information ranging from customer contacts to employee information to the company's financial information.

• Maintenance: Setting up a system to check, maintain and upgrade computers, phones, BlackBerrys and other devices.

• Support: Making sure questions and problems are handled 24/7. Recently, I was at a conference in Chicago, and my wireless Internet access card wasn't working. I needed access to my emails, which contained documents I needed to review. I contacted IT, and one of the support people went into my computer from their home and spent two hours solving my problem. Having that problem solved was crucial to my very important meeting the next day.

• Security: Every business is a target to outsiders wanting your customer list, internal documents, email accounts and computer resources.

Other important IT responsibilities are external, such as using technology to obtain and maintain clients by providing the following:

• Database access: Some businesses allow clients access to company services and databases. The IT department needs to maintain those databases by upgrading the latest software, making sure there are no viruses that clients can be infected by, and making sure that clients cannot infect the system.

• Web site: Making sure the Web site functions smoothly, including easy access to password-protected information for registered users.

Needed Qualifications

When deciding on a full- or part-time information technology chief, a company should evaluate the following 10 criteria:

1. Business IQ: Heads of technology have to understand how businesses work. They have to understand how each part of the business integrates with other parts of the business. Strategic thinking of how IT can positively affect the bottom and top lines is very important.

2. Creativity: For small- to medium-size businesses that have limited IT budgets, the IT leader has to be creative in how to get the most out of the available resources. I once ran a turnaround where the budget for IT was almost nonexistent. The head of IT decided to have his people take apart all of the old computers and select the parts that could be used to enhance the performance of the remaining computers by doubling memory and increasing speed.

3. Communication skills: Speaking in bits and bytes won't fly. IT leaders need to be able to convey problems, solutions and strategic ideas in a way that non-geeks will understand. Their statements need to be short and concise. I have had very bright IT directors, who, once they got rolling on an idea, speak in techno-babble that makes my eyes glaze over. Their message was thus lost on me.

4. Organizational skills: IT projects typically never work as planned, so being well-organized will improve the process and cut down on the errors.

5. Employee development skills: Developing other IT employees' all-around skills will attract and retain the best developers, support staff and other tech experts.

6. Adaptability: Small- and medium-size businesses go through periods of ups and downs. They are a lot less stable than large companies with big cash positions. The small business IT leader needs to adapt to the change in a company's circumstances without complaint or panic. He or she needs to be hands-on and flexible.

7. Efficiency: Getting problems solved quickly and with the least amount of cost and disruption to the company are imperative, so being efficient in solving problems is critical.

8.Thoroughness: Running IT is very similar to managing accounting -- you have to be meticulous. You have to spot errors before they happen. It requires developing procedures and constantly going over them to make sure things run smoothly.

9. Recruiting skills: Today's IT leader needs to be a good judge and recruiter of talent. They need to have developed a reputation that others want to follow them.

10. Work ethic: In small- and medium-size businesses, you need someone who lives and breathes IT 24/7 and holds the department to very high standards. The market for smart business-focused IT professionals is very competitive. It is a position that should report directly to the president, and the individual should be a strategic thinker and leader who runs their department like an entrepreneurial business.