What are the Different Information Technology Manager Jobs?

Information technology manager jobs help businesses and governments keep vast computer systems running, in order to better serve employees and customers. The job varies between different organizational needs, but there are primarily three management roles available. Business infrastructure managers deal with internal networks and hardware, governance managers improve policy and compliance, and information technology contractors can include some or all of those duties.

Business infrastructure managers commonly work for a company or organization that employs a great deal of computer hardware and software to complete its daily tasks. These information technology manager jobs require a great deal of knowledge about personal computers, networks, servers and troubleshooting. The manager in this role is responsible, in smaller companies, for the entire computer operations. Usually, in larger companies the manager simply directs other IT experts that handle the complex computer systems. The primary objective of the business infrastructure manager is to promote business success by providing efficiency for employees' computers and eliminating wasteful processes on outdated technology.

Governance managers take a more philosophical approach to information technology. These information technology manager jobs are a growing sector of the industry, handling the dual role of including coworkers in the IT decision making process and also helping guide ethical, professional and financial guidelines for executives. The first duty of governance managers is to include all levels of a company in IT decision making regarding hardware and software, avoiding an IT black box scenario where technology is upgraded without concern for its users. The second aspect of governance management is communicating with boards of directors and executives to create, in essence, an IT mission statement. These statements outline a company's legal, regulatory, and ethical obligations toward IT.

A contract IT manager routinely operates on a freelance basis and combines elements of many different information technology manager jobs. Several years of experience at all levels of IT development, implementation, and management are customary traits in this discipline. Acting as independent contractors, these managers focus on information technology project management jobs, ranging from updating a computer system to governance consulting, computer process analysis, and more. Contract information technology manager jobs primarily focus on providing these services to organizations without the staff to handle their own IT problems.