What Is IT Management and How Does It Help Businesses?

Key takeaways

• Information technology (IT) management refers to the approach teams within an organization take to make information systems work effectively, helping businesses meet their objectives by aligning technology and business operations.

• IT service management encompasses disciplines such as business intelligence, web and application development, cloud computing, project management, and IT systems management.

• IT management services help businesses reduce costs, improve data management, and support employee collaboration and data transfer.

IT management performs various functions, including aligning business objectives with its technology, and involves a range of professionals, including IT managers, project managers, security analysts, directors, and executives, such as the chief technology officer and the chief information officer. Learn more about IT management, including what it entails and why it’s important.

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What is IT management?

IT management is a broad term for how teams or individuals within an organization make information systems function effectively. Think of IT management as the way technology and business operations align to meet business objectives.

IT management includes the following disciplines:

• Business and IT alignment: Integrating business objectives with IT systems to improve an organization’s outcomes

• Business intelligence: Technologies that turn raw data about an organization into meaningful information in the form of charts, dashboards, reports, and tables

• Web and application development: Building web-based software to enhance customer experience

• Virtualization: Helping organizations achieve faster backup and recovery of data

• Cloud computing: Helping organizations mobilize a remote workforce, store and sync data, automate processes, and manage customer relationships

• IT finance management: Calculating the cost of delivering IT services and monitoring how an organization uses them

• Project management: Planning, scheduling, and executing IT projects within an organization

• Sourcing: The process of sourcing IT systems that an organization does not develop internally

• IT systems management: The process of making sure IT systems consistently perform as expected

• IT infrastructure and technology management: All the tools used to operate IT within a company, including software and hardware

"I’ve been applying the new skills and knowledge I’ve gained from all my courses to my work and it’s helped me be a better IT professional."

— Munifa M., on completing the Google IT Support Professional Certificate

Why is information technology management important?

With businesses’ increasing reliance on technology, IT management is vitally important to the health of an organization and the ability to execute business strategies.

According to Gartner, global IT spending will reach $6.15 trillion in 2026, up 10.8 percent from 2025 [1]. In terms of priorities, investing in AI, clouds, security, and data continues to be among the top tech trends that Pluralsight outlined for 2026 [2].

With a solid IT management team or process, businesses can reduce costs, improve data management, and make it easier for employees to collaborate, transfer data, and store and protect information.

Did you know? IBM studied 500 data breaches and found that the average cost of a data breach in 2024 was $4.4 million. According to the 2025 report, the average cost savings for companies that used AI and automation for IT security was $1.9 million [3].

What can you count on from an IT management team?

Given the range of services IT management covers, an IT management team can include technologists in various roles with various skills. While organizations’ IT needs may differ from one to the next, here are some IT management roles and skills you may see across industries:

All salary information represents the median total pay from Glassdoor as of July 2026. These figures include base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

Read more: Highest Paying IT Jobs: 7 Different Jobs

Discover free resources for your IT career

Join us on Career Chat, where you can learn about emerging industry trends and gain access to helpful career tips. Then, explore the following free IT resources for more:

• Check out an insider story: Meet the IT Support Tech Advancing Toward a Cybersecurity Career

• Read our Career Chat issue: Project Management Is Everywhere—But What Does It Mean?

• Watch on YouTube: How to Become an IT Professional

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