Managing Picasso: The Art and Science of Managing IT, Part 2

By Stephen K. Wiggins

This book explores a set of concepts that are fundamental for the management of Information Technology (IT) as a successful business. The ideas and concepts explored here have emerged from a ten-year collaboration between the authors in creating professional development programs to support and enhance the remarkable success of a particular IT company - the Information Systems (I/S) Division of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. However, the book is about more than one company's success. Anyone facing the challenge of managing an IT company, an IT unit, or IT projects of most any size will find ideas and concepts here that resonate with their experiences and that will provoke them to think in new and more productive ways about the work they do.In their earlier book, Picasso on a Schedule, the authors described a unique IT organizational structure called the Hierarchical Matrix, and defined a framework of repeatable processes for its Matrix component. The Matrix component of the structure focuses on producing the quality technical work that IT clients expect and demand. The Hierarchy component of the structure focuses on managing the resources necessary for the production of that work.The current book, Managing Picasso, extends the study of the Hierarchical Matrix by describing a framework of repeatable processes for the Hierarchy (Management) component of the structure. The Hierarchy's mission has two major features. First it must enable the IT organization's current success by creating and managing a technical workforce that consistently produces excellent client value. Second, it must ensure that the organization remains positioned for long-term success. To accomplish this two-fold mission, those in the Hierarchy must have the technical competence to deal with the creative nature of IT work, and the business competence to employ the best-practices under which successful non-IT businesses operate. Managing Picasso is an accessible reference guide to a framework of repeatable IT management processes that enable the accomplishment of this mission.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1495244717
• ISBN13: 9781495244711
• Release Date: April 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"