Jason Slater Weblog

Being IT
Part Three – Administration

The next step in the working day is administrative and there are a number of these administrative tasks that need to be accomplished. These are not particularly technical but many of them deal with finances which is vital in any business. In a time when we’re being called upon to ever decrease costs at work then we always need to be on the ball and to gain maximum value out of the products and services we have invested in. To help in this cause, we have the following tasks:

• Sort out your staff issues
• Chase outstanding support calls
• Chase outstanding quotes
• Chase outstanding orders
• Invoice/Order matching/Coding/Authorisation
• Obtaining quotes and ordering consumable items
• Checking the Purchase Ledger supplier list for outstanding issues
• Keep a tab on the Nominal Ledger for unusual postings
• Fixed Asset updating where necessary
• Chase Capital Expenditure Requests
• Checking up and coming maintenance agreement renewals
• Check upcoming IT related events

First and foremost to mention but worthy of a section of its own are Staff Issues – if you are lucky enough to have some staff to assist you achieve your goals then look after them. Listen to what they have to say, give them regular reviews, feedback and training, and sort out any issues that arise head on. Never allow a staff issue to linger, or sort itself out, as this is the sure fire way to lose respect from those whose support and help you need to get your job done. Don’t be too soft – people need someone to look up to and respect, a mentor in fact – and that may well be you so show your strength, obviously without being arrogant. Also remember that a pat on the back for a job well done costs nothing but if done with meaning will boost your staffs morale far more than any other incentive – let’s face it we all like to be told we’re doing a great job from time to time.

Support calls are usually posted as calendar items and diary forwarded every day. This is the only real way I’ve found to keep track of them. Let a support issue drift for a day or two and the support company will probably think the issue is closed. Some companies are very pro-active and will keep you regularly up to date but not all of them. Remember to keep the end-user in the loop – if you have heard nothing tell them – if you have heard something but it’s not really solved the problem then tell them that too. Never leave your users out of the loop.

Outstanding quotes are frustrating as they simply delay projects – one day – with a real virtual marketplace we may be able to get prices, availability and lead times instantly but that’s not the case today. I often use a local dealer to source branded products as they can often get better prices and delivery schedules than even your online box-shifters. It’s always worth building close relationships with local dealers – they can be life savers if you need something unusual or at very short notice. However, you need to manage these outstanding quotes to ensure they don’t fall into the pit of perpetuity.

Outstanding orders, part-filled orders, back-orders or incorrect delivered items need close management. Your idea of what you ordered isn’t necessarily the suppliers idea no matter how clearly you stated your requirements. One thing you can be sure of - you can rest assured the invoice will arrive on time and be in correct order so you must always keep the order and delivery paperwork handy and match them off before approving any invoice for payment. Inform the Purchase Ledger controller immediately if there are any queries and I have found it useful to scan in copies of all paperwork, quote, order, delivery paperwork and invoice, and keep them together in a PDF for later reference. If something goes into query diary it forwards and chase it – no one else is likely to sort things out for you but you can be sure that when the invoice is due someone will be banging on your door.

Keep a daily eye on those consumable items too. A reasonable supply in the cupboard today can, after a 24 hour operation, be quickly diminished by this time tomorrow. Space is short in our business so buying very large quantities isn’t realistic and it seems that every time a new laser printer is purchased we need a new code of toner. Also, regularly keep an eye on and review those prices for consumable items – we have to always keep our suppliers on their toes.
I obtain an electronic copy of my purchase ledger accounts and nominal accounts on a daily basis to ensure that what’s on the account is supposed to be there and that there aren’t any issues I am unaware of. You’d be surprised how often some entry can get accidentally ‘miscoded’ into the IT nominal ledger (and thus come out of the IT budget!). I always like to keep a close eye on the nominal ledger for my area to ensure I am staying within budget. In business, being a great technical person will get you through the door but knowing your finance facts and figures and managing them well will get you listened to.

If you buy new equipment or software or dispose of something then check the Fixed Asset register. Auditors love printing off the asset register and marching you around the building to identify items, so be pro-active and keep this up to date.

When submitting a Capital Expenditure Request to the Board, be prepared to doggedly chase it up. Let’s face it the Board don’t want to spend any money if they can help it and they have a mountain of people clambering for spend requests so if you believe in your project then you have to be prepared to support it. Talk to the Users and Managers, even the Directors if you can – anyone who will listen to you about your project – the more people talking will drive the message home. Remember that coming up with a great idea or improvement is one thing but driving it through to delivery is what makes the job worth while.

Always keep your eye on maintenance agreements, again I diary these in so I know when they are coming up. Put reminders a month or two before to give you time to reassess the marketplace if need be. Oh and always read the small print on these things – it’s not always straightforward to cancel a contract once it’s been started – and people who you thought were friendly suppliers can change quite quickly if they believe you’re about to terminate an agreement. An oft missed point here is to keep all your support and maintenance contacts numbers and references handy – not just for you – but for those times when you’re not around and everything has gone up in smoke.

Finally, keep an eye open for interesting and free seminars and events. I haven’t found a central place to find IT related events, probably because it’s such a broad field, but these events are invaluable for keeping up to date with what’s going on and for you to see new technologies first hand. I have included links to a number of major vendors events pages under the UK Events section - if I have missed any please let me know so I can add them to this list.

For other posts in the ‘Being IT’ series:

Part Two - The Checklist
Part One - The Basics