Who's in Charge?
The separation of information systems layers lends itself to the division of the organizational responsibilities. It also may lead to the reorganization of the IT department. Management of each layer is a critical component of the client/server success and many existing IT organizational structures do not permit a clear management role over specific layers. For example, the systems support group manages mainframe teleprocessing software and the applications-programming group programs the applications software written to run under the teleprocessing software's control. This is a clear delineation of responsibilities and roles.
In the client/server environment, it is not clear who has management control over the desktop environment. Does desktop support, applications, or network administration manage the desktop and administer change management? Most information systems departments permit different groups to manage the desktop as needed. Servers are a different story and management is usually divided among server administration, network administration, and database administration. The applications development group normally doesn't need to get involved with the management of the servers.
Some clarification is needed about group names. Traditional IBM-type mainframe IT departments consisted of systems support (network and operation systems), database support, operations support, and application support. IT departments supporting client/server or networked heterogeneous hardware and software (mainframes, minis, PCs, and client/server) environments look a lot different.
During the transitional phase, the mainframe IT department retained the existing organization structure and created the separate client/server minigroup. In essence, the client/server group was viewed as another sub-part of the mainframe IT department. The growth of client/server caused the evolution of the IT department to address the management of the layers and who should be responsible for each layer.
Many IT organizations that have mature client/server systems use this formula for layer management. The systems support group manages all servers and network connections including network interface cards (NICs) and the associated network software. Database administration manages the database software, desktop support manages the desktop operating system software, and the applications group manages customer software requests. It doesn't seem like a big organizational change, but it is. Network administration cannot load software or change configuration settings without desktop support's knowledge and concurrence.
Teamwork and cooperation thus become extremely important. The desktop support group just became a team of highly skilled technicians on the same level as network administration, server administration, and database administration. In the mainframe world, systems support applied changes to the teleprocessing software and applications development was generally unaware. Network administration of the systems support area cannot apply changes to desktop configurations without the knowledge of the product's deployment team.
The product deployment team is a group that has overall management of the information systems. Members include representatives from each functional area and management is done by consensus. This is a radical shift for many information systems departments. Each member of the team is responsible for his or her specific area and the team must reach consensus on disputed issues. The rules of engagement have changed. Team consensus is necessary for client/server information systems to succeed. The IT organization must be structured to enable effective consensus.