TABLE OF CONTENTS Much of the IT resource pool is plowed into three activities:
Support for operations, networks, and applications
Maintenance to fix or repair software so that it meets the original or approved requirements
Enhancements to improve the features, capabilities, or performance of the software
What is left over is further consumed in management, supervision, and administration. Take that away and you get the resources available for projects. The survey in Appendix A shows that the percentage of resources for projects can vary widely. However, it often is around 35 45% less than half.
This is part of the frustration that faces an IT manager. As the manager you want to do projects to improve the business processes. Yet your people are spending much of their energy and time just keeping things going. A critical success factor for an IT manager is the ability to manage and control the percentage of nonproject time.
You might expect most IT staff to prefer the challenge of projects to that of routine work. In our experience, the opposite holds. Normal support and maintenance work has the following benefits to the IT staff.
There is less pressure to get the work done.
You might receive praise and applause from users.
You do not have the oversight of the project leader.
Support allows you to work with things that you know and are familiar with.
Chances are good that you can finish the work that day,...
