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IT Staffing levels
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IT Staffing levels
1:24 PM EST 11/2/05
I cannot find a forum for this subject so I will start one here. We are a library that has grown rapidly from a couple of dial-up public PCs and few staff PC to over 150 Public use PC and over 100 Staff use PC's. We Have a internet site and an intranet site. We have long since gone to client server Library Management System (VTLS Virtua) from the old mainframe system with dumb terminals. I have 10 other servers running to handle the typical network functions. These use Linux and Windows 2000 operating systems. We have 5 branches plus the administrative office connected by a combination of fiber and wireless ethernet.
I can go on but you probably get the idea. The problem is that this is all run and managed by myself and a Computer tech. We have become overwhelmed and I am trying to justify addition staff. After extensive internet searches and queries to our HR department I have obtained very few definitive answers. Does anyone have an example methodology for determining IT support staff levels?
Help
Dave Summers
Re: IT Staffing levels
2:42 PM EST 11/2/05 as a reply to Dave Summers.
If you have a TechAtlas account (the link is on the right side of this page - an account is free), there is an IT Staff and Support Model spreadsheet that you can download. It looks like it would at least give you a start on this. Instead of focusing on the number of computers, etc., it has you list the tasks that need to be performed, estimate on average how often they need to be done and how long they take. And then you can enter you available staffing hours.

Once you are in your TechAtlas account, click on the Projects tab and then on the Staff sub-menu. It is in the list of things on that page.

Dale
Re: IT Staffing levels
12:37 AM EST 11/4/05 as a reply to Dave Summers.
I found this article - Gartner's research is quoted and their research is the one that I have seen quoted most often.

http://www.cio.com/online/110201_35cents.html

In the article:
"GartnerGroup research director Mark Margevicius made this point about the lack of an absolute formula (although I made up the part about the petting zoo). However, Margevicius also kindly provided the following average ranges, based on a 1999 survey of about 150 companies. A technology-driven company typically requires:

* Level One support: One support staffer per 80 to 110 users.
* Level Two support: One per 45 to 85 users.
* Level Three support: One per 250 to 400 users. "

I will keep looking for an updated article, but hope this helps give you some ideas.
Re: IT Staffing levels
8:17 PM EDT 4/3/06 as a reply to Dave Summers.
Here's an interesting tool for calculating required library IT staffing levels (and thanks to chrisabo for the pointer to this one):

http://www.galecia.com/weblog/mt/archives/cat_especiallyforlibraries.php#000191

This is a nice, simple spreadsheet template that is more library-specific than the TechAtlas "IT Staff and Support Model" mentioned above.

I'd be curious if any libraries, especially smaller libraries, have any feedback on how useful or realistic the staffing projections generated by this tool are. The author of this tool (Lori Bowen Ayre) is still looking for feedback from the field, so post your thoughts and comments...
Re: IT Staffing levels
6:44 PM EDT 4/18/06 as a reply to Dave Summers.
Based on feedback from a couple of WebJunction members, Lori Bowen Ayre made some improvements to the IT Staff Calculator mentioned above, and gave us permission to post the revised tool on WebJunction:

http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=13282

Check out the updated version of this tool - it's easy to use and provides a convenient mechanism for evaluating IT staffing needs for your library.