What IT Management Can Learn from Football Coaches

It’s the most wonderful time of year … we’ve kicked off college football and the NFL regular season is upon us! (Here’s hoping the Bills can finally deflate the Patriots.) In honor of this great team sport, we’ve decided to torture an analogy and see how football fundamentals can apply to managing an IT network.

When in the middle of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ winless expansion-year season, Coach John McKay was asked what he thought of his team’s execution. Reflecting on the inept performance he had just witnessed, he said, “I’m all for it.” Business owners who suffer with a poorly performing IT network may feel similar frustration and have an equal desire to execute something. Rather than sacking your servers, however, getting the most out of your network is often just a matter of better managing your technological Xs and Os.

Scout the opposition. Business owners must thoroughly understand the challenges they face and how their technology matches up against the opposition. whether this challenge comes from a competitor, weak customer service or insufficient employee productivity, SynchroNet has the answer to keep you in the game.

Look at the film. Which system components give the proverbial 110% or what software seems to operate from the wrong playbook? It’s critical to constantly monitor how networks–both technology and its users–interact and operate to maximize productivity and eliminate business risks. That’s why SynchroNet periodically reviews key components of your technology with you.

Have a game plan. They may have all the hardware, software and connectivity they need, but business owners must deploy their IT resources in ways that accentuate strengths and minimize weaknesses before they can turn technology into a profit center. This is the rationale behind The SynchroNet Way and why standardization is so critical to our process.

Make on-the-field adjustments. Every now and then, real-life situations arise to expose mismatches and assignment breakdowns. At times like those, someone has to know whether to make a technology substitution or if the problem can be handled by quickly huddling up with an innovative play. No solution is cookie-cutter; we’ll call an audible to react to each situation as it arises.

Expect to win. Vince Lombardi demanded excellence, and business owners should do so as well. Consistent and sustained performance from your IT network isn’t everything … it’s the only thing that will ensure full value from your technology investments within your organization.

Ultimately, IT systems should be managed to score productivity and profitability gains while defending against network outages and lost opportunities. That’s the SynchroNet Way, and just as Joe Namath did before Super Bowl III, we’re not shy about guaranteeing a win for our clients.