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I have recently joined an IT department of a non-profit international organization (offices around the globe). The department is completely disorganized, no formal procedures, outdated applications (working on poorly designed oracle application forms) off-site offices cannot use, messy database (god knows how many tables they have, duplications). Network infrastructure terrible.

Yes the org is functioning but not in its full capacity, in my opinion that's due to many factors including THE IT DEPARTMENT.

My question is how could I run a full assessment of the IT department to raise my concerns to the CEO? Where and how should I start?

Neo
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Feras
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    What is your role in this organisation? Is it your job to reorganise the department and processes? –  Dec 06 '17 at 08:33
  • well my position is Software Specialist, I hold a BSc of Software Engineering. and NO it is not my job, yet I have been asked by the CEO himself to report back what problems are there. Current staff trying just to hold their positions – Feras Dec 06 '17 at 09:09
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    Possible duplicate of How can I get co-workers to buy into some of my ideas? – gnat Dec 06 '17 at 09:33
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    Keep in mind that if the organization really wants a report to use as a starting point for sweeping, comprehensive change they are not going to task a single new-hire BSc to do the reporting as a side-job. They would hire an outside consultancy or, if not, create a team of the most senior people in the org to do it. A lot people in the OP's position experience a sense of shock when they see what passes for "enterprise applications" products from Oracle. Sorry, but that is reality. – teego1967 Dec 06 '17 at 11:38
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    "yet I have been asked by the CEO himself to report back what problems are there" Couldn't be simpler. Prepare a short report and give it to the CEO. Focus on stating what they should be doing. – Fattie Dec 06 '17 at 16:43
  • @teego1967 well the problem actually is from the senior staff here, they're trying to cover up their mistakes by ignoring complaints from other departments or by blaming the complaining departments. Therefore, they're not fixing anything at all. That's why senior staff cannot be trusted to report what problems are there in the department. outside consultancy from a firm is not an option due to high cost. A volunteer consultant is being paid small fee but not available most of the times. – Feras Dec 07 '17 at 07:24
  • @JoeStrazzere The current acting manager IS the problem as he his one of the senior staff here, as mentioned above and afraid of losing his job . Asking me as i would report what ever problem there are, plus i have been recruited by himself. – Feras Dec 07 '17 at 07:27

1 Answers1

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Begin by addressing and report on each IT stack in your organisation.

  • Database
  • Network infrastructure
  • Application

Document the issues with each stack:

  • What's wrong with each stack (bad forms, database duplication, dirty data, etc.)
  • What effect the "wrongness" is having on the organisation as a whole
  • Your recommendation for fixing it (including supporting processes)

Separately look at your project and IT management, development, test, and deployment processes.

There's a lot of work here, so phase as appropriate (starting with your stacks).

  • Thank you very much it seems a really good start, and indeed its huge work. I guess i need to address other issues, security risks and the hardware :( – Feras Dec 06 '17 at 11:24
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    Might be an idea to run through a high level list of your stack items with your CEO and discuss breaking this down into phases. Also discuss resourcing to get this done properly. This seems to be a full-time job for many months even to analyse/document this. –  Dec 06 '17 at 11:30