Question: What qualities and skills should a IT Manager have?

[OutHouse]

for those of us who work in IT what skills, abilities and qualities should a manager of IT possess? should this person be a complete expert in all aspects of the IT infrastructure of the company? should this person be a expert an all platforms from hardware to software? Or should this person possess a good understanding of the IT world and manage his/her dept and people so that projects get done and ensure the current infrastructure is maintained and upgraded in a intelligent fashion?

The reason i am asking the the position for manager of IT is open at my company and I have been throwing around the idea of talking to my director of my interest. I have been here for 9 years in May and i know the infrastructure pretty well. I do have my weaknesses for example i am not a DBA and we are a SQL shop, I am pretty familiar with MS SQL and can do simple queries. Also we do have a few UNIX boxes and im very weak in UNIX. the thing is we have two DBA's and several people who maintain the UNIX side of things. I know i can do people management thing well i have done it before, I know all aspects of our environment from the production side of things (customer visible apps) to the corporate side of things (AD, Exchange, finance, marketing, HR, Payroll apps).

if i express my interest and they hire outside the company i know it would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Safeway]

Or should this person possess a good understanding of the IT world and manage his/her dept and people so that projects get done and ensure the current infrastructure is maintained and upgraded in a intelligent fashion?

The best manager is not usually the best sysadmin.

Edit: Sure, knowledge of the IT issues is very important, so they guy should not be inexperienced, but I don't think they need to be experts in every aspect of IT. That is fundamentally impossible.

 

[OdiN]

I would say, in this order:

1. People management skills.
2. Process management and improvement skills - out of the box thinking, etc.
3. Good knowledge of proper IT policies and procedures - audit requirements, etc.
4. Knowledge of infrastructure and general IT knowledge.

It's not as important to know everything about UNIX or whatnot - but to be educated in IT and understand how and why things should be done. You don't want a person that IT people will go to and feel like won't understand what they are talking about, but you don't need a person that knows everything about administering a network and everything on it either. If you've got good overall IT knowledge - you should grasp new technology without too much trouble - you don't need to know everything about how to install or configure something, just what it does and why it's necessary.

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I would say, in this order:

1. People management skills.
2. Process management and improvement skills - out of the box thinking, etc.
3. Good knowledge of proper IT policies and procedures - audit requirements, etc.
4. Knowledge of infrastructure and general IT knowledge.

It's not as important to know everything about UNIX or whatnot - but to be educated in IT and understand how and why things should be done. You don't want a person that IT people will go to and feel like won't understand what they are talking about, but you don't need a person that knows everything about administering a network and everything on it either. If you've got good overall IT knowledge - you should grasp new technology without too much trouble - you don't need to know everything about how to install or configure something, just what it does and why it's necessary.

What I was trying to say, but in a much more organized format. Thanks OdiN. :beer:

 

[WingZero94]

Good IT Leaders understand the following

1. Business Goals and Objectives (Organizational)
2. How to motivate, influence, and take care of your people
3. Technology - you must have a passion for this
4. Adaptability. IT Changes at lightning pace, you must be ready for this

Do not worry about technical skills as much. If you find yourself routinely pulling query's, or fixing computers as a manager, then you probably have a problem. You are not managing your resources well. IT Leaders understand their people and how to give them the capability to do their job and grow. They also can communicate on any level. Relationships are important, not just with the top level management, but with the bottom of the totem pole network technician. You must know how to speak their language.