IT Department Organizational Structure Outline
Information Technology (IT) Organization Chart Template
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An Information Technology, or IT, Department develops, manages and maintains an organization's technology-related assets (hardware, software, systems, etc.), policies, procedures and systems. This includes, but is not limited to, the administration of company email systems, business intelligence and enterprise resource planning [ERP] platforms, network setup, data backup and retrieval and document storage. The group also provides employees with day-to-day technology support to ensure that technology-related problems do not interfere with their work.
Common Information Technology (IT) job titles: Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Application Development
The Application Development Group defines application architecture and develops programs and systems to meet business needs/requirements that are defined by the systems analysis team (through interviews with end users and stakeholders). They use research and user testing to fine tune applications to meet specific, detailed use cases.
Common Application Development job titles: Systems Analyst, Business Analyst, Systems Engineer, Application Developer
Application Management
Application management refers to the ongoing support (for users and infrastructure) of existing company systems, such as ERP or CRM software. Tasks carried out by the Application Management team include bug fixes, patches, minimal enhancements (typically 2 weeks or less), code refactoring, etc. This group may also be responsible for maintaining infrastructure (servers, storage, memory, etc.) related to company systems.
Common Application Management job titles: Application Developer, Quality Assurance Engineer, IT Application Analyst
Business Intelligence (BI)
The Business Intelligence (BI) Group designs and develops databases and applications that pool, extract and analyze large amounts of data to provide management with insights on the overall performance of the organization as well as information on markets and competitors. They use tools like SAP, Oracle and plain SQL databases to manage company data and produce reports. The BI Group works with management to create dashboards and develop data collection methods. "Big Data" technologies, such as Hadoop, are gaining popularity in the enterprise community due to their ability to quickly analyze large, unstructured data sets.
Common Business Intelligence (BI) job titles: Business Intelligence Developer, Data Warehouse Manager, Data Analyst
IT Management & Administration
The IT Management and Adminstration function oversees IT initiatives to ensure that all technology-related projects run smoothly and align with overall company strategy. They perform strategic planning and recommend courses of action for technology-related improvements. The group creates schedules, defines the scope and budget (usual project management tasks) and oversees IT projects from end to end.
Common IT Management & Administration job titles: Business Analyst, Systems Analyst, Enterprise Architect, IT Project Manager
IT Procurement
The IT Procurement function manages the purchasing of technology-related assets and analyzes the point at which hardware/software should be replaced, based on total cost of ownership (TCO) and capabilities/features. Nearly all information technology projects involve procurement for hardware, software or services. A clear understanding of procurement contracts and vendor requirements, therefore, are important but often forgotten requirements for IT departments.
Common IT Procurement job titles: Purchasing Agent, Procurement Officer, Procurement Specialist
IT Security
The IT Security Group is responsible for defining, communicating and enforcing technology-related policies, standards and procedures. They are tasked with mitigating risk related to internal and external data breaches and cyber attacks. IT Security teams also work to develop security incident management plans and ensure that all technology-related projects meet defined security requirements. Robust system and network security is especially vital in industries such as banking, consumer finance and insurance, where large amounts of private data (social security numbers, bank account information, etc.) reside in company systems.
Common IT Security job titles: Cybersecurity Analyst, Information Security Analyst, Information Security Engineer
Network Adminstration
The IT Network Administration Group manages the company's technology 'backbone' – its data centers and networks. They plan, design, implement and maintain server configurations, routing protocols, network configurations and storage environments to facilitate the needs of the organization. They also configure server backups, monitor network use statistics and loads, and implement contingency plans to minimize network and system downtime. The network administration team also works closely with the IT Security Group to ensure that company servers and networks meet or exceed established security requirements.
Common Network Adminstration job titles: Network Engineer, Network Administrator, Systems Administrator
Systems Analyst & Architecture
The Systems Analysis Group works with end users, business unit managers and customers to understand business needs and develop requirements and specifications for systems and applications. Systems analysts act as intermediaries between technical developers (see application development & support) and end users in hopes of aligning business needs with system design and usability. Activities commonly performed by the Systems Analysis Group include use case development, business process mapping & design, end user/stakeholder interviews, and system modeling (UML, SysML, etc.).
Common Systems Analyst & Architecture job titles: Business Analyst, Systems Analyst, Systems Engineer
User Support & Services
The User Support and Services Group (commonly referred to as IT Support or Tech Support) provides technology assistance to internal customers (the company's employees). They set up hardware and software, troubleshoot technical issues and perform root cause analysis to reduce instances of technical problems. In some cases, the Tech Support Group may also be responsible for hardware and software procurement and asset management (licenses, warranties, etc.). More advanaced, application-specific technology issues are typically handled by the Application Management team (see above).
Common User Support & Services job titles: Technical Support Specialist, IT Support Administrator, Desktop Support Specialist/Analyst