Human Resources Management at Data Center
ByAqel M. Aqel, OCP, CISA, CSSGB, MBA
Information System Audit And Control Association – Riyadh [email protected]
10th of Dec 2013
1
Content
Introduction
A. PlanningBusiness requirements
Implemented technology
Available budget
B. Hiring
C. Development / Management
a. Organizing
b. Motivation
c. Risk optimization
D. Transitioninga. Rotatingb. Promotingc. Releasingd. Retiring
E. Q & A
2
Introduction
• Information technology is
– No more a tool for business,
– or even an enabling factor,
– It is becoming highly intermingle with business at strategic and operational levels.
• Datacenters are becoming more important in sharpening organization’s competitive advantage.
3
Introduction
• Firms are pursuing a path to ensure:
– appropriate levels of IT service delivery,
– maintaining cost efficiency, and
– alignment to business goals,
• decision makers may focus on technology,
equipment, operating processes but less on human resources.
4
Introduction
• Increasing demand for computing and connectivity
• IT consumerization” Trend:
– Blending personal and business use of technology.
– “consumerization is going to be the most significant trend affecting IT in the next 10 years."
– Example the “take home PC”Gartner, 2005
5
Introduction
• Is Technology staff different?
1. Self confidence: controlling high technologies.
2. Self learning capabilities: diversity of parameters in tech environment.
3. Belonging to professional communities. Less Loyal.
4. Natural since of globalization: IT technology is independent of nation’s cultures,
5. More ready to accept change: Risk of obsoleteness if they fail to renew their knowledge and expertise.
6
HR Phases
D. Transitioning
a. Rotating b. Promoting c. Releasing d. Retiring
C. Development / Management
a. Organizing b. Motivation c. Risk optimization
B. Hiring
Collect Resumes Evaluation Criteria Background Check Orientation
A. Planning
Business requirements Implemented technology Available budget
7
Planning
• Conduct an assessment for capabilities needed to operate the datacenter
1-business requirements,
2-implemented technology,
3-available budget.
8
Planning – Business Requirements
• Datacenter is A service unit responsible for information custodianship.
– Service catalog, SLA, time to market
• Plan HR expansion parallel with the growing in the demand for IT services.
• Risks related to IT, business unit’s tolerance, and possible mitigation plan.
9
Planning – Business Requirements
• Informational model is a key factor in designing operating requirements:
– Number of redundant datacenter
– Remote branch connectivity and infrastructure.
• No recommended mix of capabilities could be easily adopted.
• Seek cost effectiveness while balancing performance with real business needs.
10
Planning – Implemented Technology
• Technological directions is supposed to be identified earlier (COBIT APO02 – manage strategy):
• Operating requirements must be assessed• Staffing depends on project stages and contracts
sourcing.• Do Not:
– depend strategically on temporary teams– depend on immature capabilities while transitioning
between technologies, – underestimate security issues while trusting people to
work in your datacenter.
11
Planning – Implemented Technology
• Number of resources needed?
– measuring performance according to defined processes and tasks
– Actual versus ideal ratio of internal end-users to technical support employees:
• Mean response for Actual was 136:1
• Mean response for Ideal was 82:1 (close to Gartner average which was 87:1)
12
Planning – Implemented Technology
Resources
Periodic Tasks / Processes Projects
Task A Task B Task C … Task n Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 … Project n
Skill 1 Skills
needed
and
Weekly
hours
Skill 2
Skill 3
.
.
.
Skill n
13
Planning – Available budget
• Minimum IT requirements will lead to the needed budget
• Available budgets are mostly less than the dreamed ones!
• Unlimited budget is the worse
• Utilization is a managerial excellence.
14
Planning – Available Budget
• Staff Salaries should budgeted wisely :
– According to market fair salaries
– relies on accredited salary surveys
– Less / more encounters some risks
– Develop your own ranking scheme that includes :
• Long term employment
• Retention plans,
• Career development,
• Deferred benefits
15
Hiring
• Capacity building starts by hiring completive candidates:
– Owns knowledge &
– Positive attitudes
• Streamlined hiring processes will attract qualified resources
• Establish an attractive work environment in the datacenter
16
Hiring
• Collect some resumes
• Hiring skills.
– All datacenter staff should participate.
– Share experience and build best practice.
– Entry level versus highly skilled workers
– Hand Over before joining
– Background check
– Singing NDO
17
Hiring
– Orientation period
• Introducing business objectives and organization structure,
• explaining key activities
• sharing him current and previous success,
• meeting with some decision makers according
• Detailed skill assessment after hiring supported with training will reduce risks.
18
Hiring
• Outsourcing
– Outsource when you add value e.g. performance, excellence of operation, reduce risks, and optimize costs.
– spend enough time in writing down good agreement:
• Make sure it will fulfill your objectives,
• Clarify roles and responsibilities before defining penalties
• Include an exit door.
– Monitor performance and watch behaviors
– all security consideration should be implemented.
19
Hiring
• make candidates understand that:
– You have a career path in mind for them.
– You will invest in their future
20
Development / Management
• “You manage assets; human must be led”
• Management Part: associate HR with the assets in order to keep it up and running
• HR is more important than assets
• Will discuss
a. Organizing
b. Motivation
c. Risk optimization
21
Development / Management Organizing
• Internal structure inside the datacenter
• IT function positioning in the bigger structure
• Internal organization is tightly coupled with the external
• Hierarchical versus team approach
– Rigidity versus dynamicity
• Best structure is that best utilize the resources
• Staff capability matrix.
22
Development / Management Organizing
• Skills matrix• The matrix will show the skills needed at any shift
• Will reflect continuous changes in datacenter
– testing new technologies,
– releases upgrading,
– special projects, drills
• Staff change as:– Learn new skills
– Assigned to new projects
23
Development / Management Organizing
• Think about dedicating a person to a task!
• Development is essential as a motivator.
• achievements is a good motivator
• Capability ranking
• Capabilities are of technical and non technical nature
24
Development / Management Organizing
• Capability ranking:
– Facilitates task coordination, and responsibility assignment.
– Example:
• Do not know.
• Under training
• Capable but under supervision
• Capable
• Capable and can transfer experience
25
Development / Management Organizing
• Team building
– Datacenter workers are team-work-ready unless they been spoiled by corrupted environment.
– leaders and managers should disseminate and present it as real examples
26
Development / Management Organizing
• Relationships– SLA
– Cost accounting (eliminates abuse)
– Val I-IT Framework
– Tragedy of commons
– Wise financial management positively impact workers morals and help them enhance their performance• Cost optimizing
• Rewarding System
27
Development / Management Organizing
• Right sponsorship
– Enough authorities to enforce policies
– Budget allocation
– Team Confidence
– Conflict handling
– Problem solving and escalation
– Grievance System
– Facilitate DRP
28
Development / Management Organizing
• Managing Quality– Embedded in policies and procedures– defining common roles like operator, network
admin…etc.– Process realization, documentation, & automation– Computerized Management System– Quality cannot be achieved with distorted morals
teams, or unsatisfied worker– Compliancy rather than commitment
• Quality should be integrated to motivation and rewarding systems in order to keep it desirable.
29
Development / Management Motivation
• human internal feeling matters and affects his performance.
• Data center workers are knowledge workers.
• Motivators:– Fair compensation
– Utilization
– Engagement
– Certainty
– Alignment
30
Development / ManagementMotivation - Compensation
• Money is never a motivator, yet lack of money is an anti-motivator.
• periodic compensation assessment
• Periodic evaluation of worker’s overall role, performance, and compensation is a healthy exercise:
– assign him in new position,
– discuss his personal interest and professional career
• Consider non direct financial compensation.
31
Development / Management Motivation - Utilization
• People are motivated by applying their abilities to the fullest.
• ignoring people’s skills is disastrous to knowledge workers;
– May continue on Job, but will never exceed the role you set for them.
– Why to scarify workers innovation and commitment!
– Person capacity could be stretched into unbelievable limits; but workers need trustable leaders at the front.
32
Development / Management Motivation - Engagement
• in decision making:
– Choices of how to do work
– Being told how to do it, will only yield mere compliance.
– No involvement no commitment.
– Let people feel important, and their point of view matters in decision making process.
33
Development / Management Motivation - Certainty
• Persons vary in their tolerance to ambiguity. • Knowledge workers are higher tolerable
– They are anticipating change and set plans to keep themselves competent
• To maintain resources motivate keep stable environment. – clear roles and responsibilities, – transparent decision making process, – manageable demand growing and load balancing. – Continuous Learning and skills building through knowledge
sharing
• Reasonable level of certainty.
34
Development / Management Motivation – Alignment
• Aligning worker’s personal ambitions and values with organizational needs.
• This will give motivation as worker achieves organizational goals while he works to achieve his targets in a wonderful win – win situation.
• Help workers discover and realize their personal ambitions.
35
Development / Management Risk Management
• HR are a Source of Threats
– IT human resources are a great source of threats as they have an unlimited access to datacenter resources.
– The nature of work they do implies that we must carefully trust them.
– Set compensating controls to regulate this trust
36
Development / Management Risk Management
• Handling Responsibility – clearly define authority delegation and
responsibility assignment
– management should know who is in charge of any given task, at any given time
– acknowledging responsibility should be established between roles
– Responsibility matrix should be maintained and updated continuously.
– Ability to establishing evidence will optimize risks
37
Development / Management Risk Management
• Business Continuity and disaster recovery
– Right and quick responses should become natural trait in datacenter staff.
– Continuous training and DRP/BCP drills.
38
Transitioning
• datacenter may become smaller than the capabilities that some workers successfully built.
• it is wise to keep him as a faithful soldier within organization.
• Strategies
– Rotating
– Promoting
– Releasing
– Retiring
39
Transitioning - Rotating
• HR planning in datacenter includes not only adding more workers; it should include career path development for existing resources.
• Common and Wise Yet sometimes risky.
• New Position:
– Should not negatively impact work in datacenter.
– The new position should not conflict with his previous one,
– Should not Conflicts must be elminated or mitigated.
40
Transitioning - Promoting
• Smart leaders would make all possible efforts to retain good workers within their organizations.
• I found no excuse for top management to ignore workers’ needs to grow beyond the premises of the datacenter.– Establish new business units.
– Profits Sharing programs.
– Granting stocks
41
Transitioning - Releasing
• Peaceful
– Handshaking programs
• Downsizing,
• Low Performance
• Workers personal Reasons
– adherence to high professional morals and follow internal HR procedures.
• Non peaceful / Criminal
42
Transitioning - Releasing
• Non peaceful / Criminal
– Strict actions against worker
– Cease relationship peacefully unless workers committed a clear crime.
– Depends on the firm policy and management attitude in such circumstances.
– Strict confidentiality in order to preserve firm’s reputation
– Top management involvement
43
Transitioning - Retiring
• Natural exit for workers
• Anticipate resources who about to reach to natural exit for workers retirement age.
• knowledge and expertise before they leave
• Part of the HR annual planning.
• Assess risks associated with retired resources.
44
Questions & Answers
Thank You
45