The IT infrastructure manager or infrastructure administrator is responsible for the design, installation, maintenance, and retirement of the systems and personnel that are an organization’s core.
The services under the responsibility of the IT infrastructure manager are usually the support services or infrastructure, which enable the delivery of customer-facing IT services.
In simple terms, the infrastructure manager is responsible for everything between the wall socket and the transfer to the Internet service provider. This practice is known as IT Infrastructure Management.
Peers and reports
An IT infrastructure manager is typically part of the senior management team in an IT organization.
- In larger organizations, the infrastructure manager may report to a director of operations who oversees additional areas.
- In smaller organizations, the infrastructure manager will report to the CIO or senior leader in the IT organization.
To deliver IT services, the IT infrastructure manager works together with:
- the service desk
- security equipment
- development teams
- project managers
Areas of responsibility
Generally, an IT infrastructure manager is responsible for several areas:
- Staff Administration
- supplier management
- Rules and procedures
- Strategy
- Monitoring and reporting
- infrastructure software
Let’s see each one.
Staff Administration
The infrastructure manager typically oversees staff in three functional areas.
1. Networking
The infrastructure manager will manage the staff and equipment that handles switching, routing, and, sometimes, perimeter devices (firewalls).
Most larger organizations have transitioned firewalls into the responsibility of the security team. In those cases, the IT infrastructure manager must build a strong relationship with the security team to ensure smooth infrastructure service operations.
In organizations without a dedicated security team, the infrastructure manager should have at least one person responsible for ensuring IT security. In small organizations, this may be the responsibility of the IT infrastructure manager.
2. Servers
The infrastructure manager must understand server technologies and server equipment well. This normally includes:
- Operating systems
- Physical and virtual servers
- Storage and backups
- Disaster recovery
3. Physical wiring
Only the most prominent organizations have internal teams responsible for physically pulling the network cabling. However, the IT infrastructure manager must be well-versed in all physical and fibre optic cabling types. We’ve seen situations where not considering data transfer speeds and associated cabling requirements have been critical (and devastating) for server room and data centre projects.
supplier management
In most IT organizations, staff work with outside vendors to support hardware and software. The infrastructure manager is responsible for building strong partnerships with those providers to set clear expectations. This includes:
- Negotiation of access agreements
- Establishment of service level agreements (SLAs)
- Ensure contracts are in place to support services provided by the infrastructure team
Rules and procedures
Perhaps the most crucial role of the IT infrastructure manager is to ensure that standards and procedures are established for the work of his team. This includes installing, drafting, and distributing governance and enforcing existing regulations.
The technological infrastructure is inherently complex. This complexity is mitigated by establishing standard work methods that ensure technical teams consistently work together.
Although it may seem otherwise, standard procedures allow the organization to be more agile and adaptable to change. Let’s think about it: what sounds like more work, writing a script to change the settings on 200 servers or manually changing the settings on 200 servers because each one was configured uniquely?
Strategy
The infrastructure manager must be more than just an expert in technology management. The IT infrastructure manager must be aware of the strategic direction of the organization, as well as new technologies on the horizon. The infrastructure manager must be able to use this knowledge to select the right technology to move the organization forward instead of waiting for the IT department.
Additionally, the highly successful infrastructure manager must be able to craft a strategy that the CIO and other executives understand and support. This means going beyond understanding what the technology does at the systems engineer level. The infrastructure manager must understand how that technology relates to the goals of the department and the larger organization.
Monitoring and reporting
The infrastructure manager must:
- Put a robust tracking system in place
- Produce standard reports on the state of the infrastructure
- Regularly communicate what they are doing and how their work relates to the success of the organization
By doing this, the IT infrastructure manager can provide visibility into the work behind the scenes compared to the rest of the organization.
infrastructure software
A responsibility that is often overlooked? Ensure that you have the right software and tools to manage the infrastructure. This goes beyond the selection of the operating system. We’re discussing monitoring software, devices, OS patches, and configuration management tools.
The modern IT infrastructure manager
Many organizations are already focused on cloud-first solutions. There are significant advantages to a cloud-based approach for startups. But well-established organizations have much to consider when investigating cloud solutions: cloud-first or cloud intelligent?
Cost should not be the only consideration for infrastructure managers. Cloud-based solutions can bring greater agility to your overall infrastructure and enable you to respond to business demands quickly. The modern IT infrastructure manager must consider cloud-based solutions as part of the infrastructure toolkit and know how to harness its benefits to give the organization a competitive advantage.
The key to this understanding is having the right tools and people to effectively manage infrastructure services, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
