When your day job of running the IT department of your organisation takes up every second you have and the graduate recruit starts throwing out pearls of wisdom about software apps and new tech trends you’ve never heard of, you know it’s time to pin down a handful of sites that you can skim daily, to keep you on top of your game.
The world moves fast around IT Managers, so here are a few publications worth bookmarking and following on Twitter, so your finger’s always on the pulse.
The Business Insider covers all areas of business, but the tech and media content is well worth a read. You’ll find lots of great articles in the strategy section too, perfect for giving any good IT manager a boost if you feel like you’re fading on the inspiration and leadership front.
It’s a good all-rounder because it doesn’t look at IT in isolation, making it ideal for IT Managers who want to lead the charge on the tech front, without losing sight of the business it supports.
Tech Republic is all about tech-related news and offers a healthy dose of career development fodder. There’s a full section on IT management and the ‘How To’ tips are great for sharing recently resolved tech issues. They talk about networks, security, IT support and development too, so it’s a quick-fix for up-to-the-minute tech chatter.
Tech Republic is part of the ZDNet family, but where Tech Republic focuses solely on IT Managers with strategies and peer-to-peer advice, ZDNet goes a little further for the IT professional.
It looks at hot and emerging tech trends, breaking news, research, product reviews, even government policy that might influence IT business decision makers.
As the name suggests, this is a business-focused publication with insights for chief investment officers that leans towards thought leadership, best practice, management and opinion pieces.
They’re big on blogs and videos too, with advice on how to make the best use of technology in a business environment. It’s also worth stopping off at the IT Strategy section for content on IT investment and interesting examples that illustrate how budget is being spent in new and innovative ways.
It’s hard to look past The Harvard Business review, not least for the blogs because they’re written by accomplished authors, giving it an experiential edge that adds to their weight.
It’s aimed at business executives and covers everything from marketing and strategy to people management and technology. And if you’re super tight on time, the Most Popular section allows you to cut to the chase, with must-reads from recent publications put right under your nose.
Seth Godin is a bestselling author and marketing expert. His blogs have been described as big ideas in small posts, promising easy digestion and maximum thought provocation.
Even if you don’t think marketing is part of your job as an IT Manager, you might be surprised how many of the ideas he discusses will become important in meetings you’re involved in.
Seth blogs about everything from data to generosity and confidence, some of which only run a few lines long, so you could probably read it on the way to the water cooler and have something ridiculously profound to chat about once you get there.
MakeUseOf is another great all-rounder. It’s pitched as a guide to modern tech, teaching people how to make use of affordable technology upgrades and updates, as well as the gadgets around them and pushes out lots of cool stuff it finds on the internet (so you don’t have to go searching).
They cover all the bases for IT Managers with articles on business, time management, project management and productivity, and their self-improvement section is genius - offering advice on everything from how to introduce yourself better to networking like a pro.
It kind of has to be on the list really, because as you add to your network with interesting people, businesses and publications, they reflect positively on your personal profile.
It’s also the ideal place to share your thoughts and ideas, and put questions to the masses that spark intelligent conversation and debate.
Computing does a job for everyone in IT, delving into the Internet, data, the cloud, infrastructure, leadership, research and well… pretty much everything in between.
Anyone with an interest in technology at any level will find something of interest on this site. It keeps pace with all the usual tech news, but it also informs on a much deeper level with excellent resources like whitepapers, research and reports that cover topics such as data security, risk management and auditing.
Their e-alerts are great if you’re happy to be spoon-fed information and because they’re delivered straight to your inbox, you might even be able to build in a little ‘IT me-time’ to your working day.
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