It seems to be generally accepted that the two most commonly undervalued assets within a business are its people and its information. Clearly any issue that affects both of these assets is of crucial importance, yet many companies feel they can get by without properly structured management training which takes into account ongoing and projected IT requirements.

Even within a small company the time taken to carry our routine IT tasks soon takes over people’s time. Something as basic as the installation of new software and ensuring firewalls and defence from computer viruses are up to date can steal large chunks of a person’s time, especially when they have not been properly trained to do these things.

Often these tasks are done by somebody towards the bottom of the chain. After all, that young guy in the post room may well be far more comfortable with computers than the managing director. However he is usually expected to carry out all his normal duties as well as sorting out the IT systems.

Even senior managers are routinely asked to do tasks which require a high level of IT competence without being offered the necessary training. A typical task might be to integrate the company’s various databases. However, to do this as efficiently and cost effectively as possible requires specialist knowledge on software procurement and design.