Answer:
A
At my place of employment (which is a knowledge based business) the IT function integrates with all aspect of the operations which include:
- top management,
- business units,
- customers,
- non-IT suppliers, and
- IT providers.
The IT function manages the entire information technology value chain within the organisation. It provides solutions with regard to the software and hardware IT infrastructure.
We have a locally developed software which forms the frame work upon which our business rests. We refer to this as the Primary Production software. Other software which come preinstalled or post-installed on our machines are referred to as Secondary Production softwares.
All the hardware upon which the Primary and Secondary Production software run on are also managed the the IT Unit.
Every aspect of our operations described above must at somepoint interface or require the expertise of the IT Unit.
Our customers rely on the Primary software.
Business Units must a manager key functions for the Primary software on the backend and rely on secondary production software for other administrative tasks.
B
Please see attached the organisational chart that shows how the above relationships interplay.
C
At our organization, it is critical for the IT function to be centralized.
All decisions are made from the IT unit of the head quarters and cascaded into business units and other IT units at various branch locations.
