Re: IT Department Size

I've seen widely varying "rules of thumb" and other magic calculations, 
but it comes down to your particular needs as an organization. You have to 
factor in things like:

Number and type(s) of servers/desktops, applications, physical sites, 
users, etc.
Network topology
Industry-related requirements (e.g. security clearances, compliance 
issues)
Corporate overhead burden
Technical savvy of your end users

It's basically Management 101: Your staff should be able to perform their 
jobs within a defined work week. Typically, this means throwing people at 
problems that require a human touch, and automating everything else.

Start with an assessment of your existing infrastructure to see how you 
could improve efficiency and reliability. Then use those results to 
determine your staffing needs. Most organizations larger than 100 
employees have a very poor handle on hardware/software inventory and 
business processes that could be dramatically improved upon.

Good luck.

- Rich

 



Rami.Prescott@frostbank.com 
10/25/2005 04:31 PM

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security-management@securityfocus.com
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Subject
IT Department Size







Would anyone know of a good place to find information on how large a 
system administrator/ network engineering department should be? 

The general rule of thumb I've heard is 1 system administrator/network 
engineer for every 250 users.  Is this generally true in practice? 

We define system administrator/network engineer as someone who has 5-10 
years experience in all OS and who is responsible for the operating system 
and hardware. 

Thank you, 
Rami Prescott 
IT Audit