IT Manager Responsibilities: A Guide [2025 Updated]

Running IT at scale is about efficiency, security, and innovation.

As an IT leader, you manage vendors, cybersecurity, asset procurement, and budgets while ensuring seamless operations for 100’s or 1000’s of employees.

This guide explains the IT manager’s role, challenges at scale, and how automation streamlines workflows.

Core Responsibilities of an IT Manager

An IT manager is an indispensable resource for an organization. No wonder, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for managers is expected to grow by 17% from 2023 to 2033 - much faster than the average of all occupations (4%).

However, your responsibilities as an IT manager can vary from organization to organization. 

Larger organizations have dedicated managers for every domain—IT infrastructure managers, IT cybersecurity managers, IT operations managers, IT service desk managers, etc. All these managers report directly to the IT manager.

However, the IT manager in smaller organizations must manage everything from responding to emails and providing tier 1, tier 2, or tier 3 support to handling cybersecurity and managing IT assets.

That said, let’s explore all the areas, departments, and processes an IT manager is responsible for:

IT Infrastructure and Systems Management

As an IT manager, one of your responsibilities may include managing the entire IT infrastructure, which further involves:

• Storage Management: Ensuring the smooth functioning of storage devices like hard drives, taking backups, creating recovery plans, and performing capacity planning. IT managers also monitor storage performance and take the necessary steps to optimize it.

• System Management: Ensuring the smooth functioning of servers or other computer systems within an organization by installing updates, monitoring system performance, and managing accounts.

• Network Management: Ensuring smooth functioning of network infrastructure, including routers, firewalls, and switches, by configuring network devices, monitoring traffic, and troubleshooting connectivity issues.

An IT manager’s responsibility is to ensure that the organization’s infrastructure—hardware, operating systems, data storage, network and communications, internet platforms, and enterprise software—runs smoothly and securely.

IT Asset Management

The IT asset management lifecycle starts from device procurement and ends at safe disposal. Let’s understand the role of an IT manager in IT asset management:

• Procurement: Responsible for procuring or purchasing end-user equipment (laptops, PCs, office furniture, etc.) by comparing multiple vendors in different locations.

• Deployment: Ensure the devices are configured with the necessary apps, security patches, and MDM solutions for remote management and delivered to the users securely to provide a seamless end-user experience.

• Management (Service and repair): This involves monitoring the devices remotely (e.g., who has what devices and what apps are installed), scheduling repairs, and tracking warranties.

• Retrieval: Ensure the devices are securely retrieved once the user leaves the organization and is prepared for reassignment.

• Disposal: The last step in the IT asset management cycle is to dispose of obsolete devices safely (ensuring data erasure) and sustainably (without harming the environment).

Note. Assets include both hardware and software. In addition to tracking the procurement, deployment, management, retrieval, and disposal of hardware assets, IT managers also manage software licensing - tracking licenses and placing renewal requests to ensure disruption-free operations and compliance.

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Vendor Management

IT managers also have to consider some nontechnical aspects of IT within an organization, such as vendor management.

Vendor management typically involves maintaining a smooth relationship between the technology or system-related vendors and the organization. This includes choosing the right vendor, analyzing their performance, and negotiating contracts.

Vendors generally include third parties to whom companies outsource some of their operations (help desk, security, etc.) or procure equipment.

Security and Compliance Oversight

Here are the responsibilities of an IT manager for security and compliance oversight:

• Creating and implementing detailed security policies that align with the organization’s long-term goals and regulatory requirements. This may include data protection, network security, and incident response guidelines.

• Conducting comprehensive risk assessments (regular audits, pen testing, compliance checks) to identify potential loopholes or vulnerabilities within the IT infrastructure and create strategies to tackle these risks.

• Implementing and continuously monitoring security solutions like antivirus programs, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and security information and event management (SIEM) tools.

• Collaborating with other departments to ensure a cohesive approach to security and conducting training sessions to educate employees about the importance of cybersecurity and security best practices

• Creating incident response plans to effectively handle potential threats and minimize their impact on the organization.

User Support and  Helpdesk Management

IT managers design, document, and continuously improve help desk procedures to ensure effective ticket tracking, prioritization, and resolution. This helps them adequately resolve users’ (both employees and customers) queries and problems.

In some organizations, IT managers act as tier 1, tier 2, or tier 3, or support all levels to facilitate the resolution of technical problems.

Here’s an example of an IT manager who had to support all the tiers when the organization felt the need:

Source

Additionally, IT managers train and mentor their teams to enable them to handle escalated issues or complex problems more effectively.

Onboarding and  Offboarding IT Processes

After IT managers procure the assets, they must configure them with the right security patches, applications, permissions, and accounts to deliver a smooth onboarding experience.

Imagine an employee is fired or leaves an organization. In that situation, you need to handle offboarding by retrieving the assets from the employees, deprovisioning them, and preparing them for reassignment. If the asset is damaged or has completed its life, you must ensure it’s carefully disposed of.

Budgeting and  Cost Optimization

The IT managers are given a budget, which they use to carry out multiple IT tasks, including hiring new IT staff, procuring equipment, service and repairs, licensing, etc. 

They must identify cost-saving opportunities (negotiating contracts with vendors, choosing more affordable software alternatives, and automating asset management) and optimize spending to support the organization’s bottom line.

Long-Term IT Strategy and  Innovation

In addition to focusing on infrastructure, user onboarding, offboarding, security, and budgeting, IT managers are expected to manage the big picture, i.e., the long-term IT strategy and the roadmap to success.

The IT manager must understand:

• Where the company is headed

• How the company and employees function

• What are the duties of different departments

If the organization is moving in a certain direction and the C-level executives want it to change direction, the IT manager is responsible for helping them achieve that. This is done by creating long-term strategies (1-, 2-, or 5-year plans) that outline how the IT systems will function (down the line) to help achieve the desired outcome.

The IT manager must ensure that every system and process (including the technologies implemented and changes made to them) aligns with the company’s long-term goals.

Challenges IT Managers Face

The role of an IT manager is a challenging one; here’s why:

Increasing Workload and  Responsibilities

IT managers often have to wear multiple hats within an organization for several reasons, including a poor IT staffing ratio, an IT department that does not scale with the organization, evolving needs, and more.

Here’s a Reddit thread where multiple IT managers shared their daily tasks, showcasing their extensive workload and daily responsibilities:

Reddit

Because you’re responsible for ensuring everything works as expected within the organization, the role of an IT manager brings a lot of stress. No wonder IT managers are ready to switch to a lower position for the same pay!

Reddit

Balancing Daily Operations with Long-Term Planning

Time and again, one of the most common tasks of an IT manager is putting out fires, i.e., dealing with and resolving unexpected incidents like system outages, performance bottlenecks, or security breaches.

Reddit

While performing day-to-day tasks and responding to firefighting issues is crucial, IT managers don’t have much time for long-term strategic planning. This directly impacts their ability to improve the IT infrastructure and align IT processes with business goals.

Vendor and  Compliance Complexities

As stated earlier, one of your responsibilities as an IT manager is managing vendor relations. You must work with multiple vendors to obtain hardware, software, and other tech solutions and maintain healthy relations.

However, as the organization expands, you will need more software and hardware, which may require more vendors. This can quickly become overwhelming.

In addition, IT managers must ensure that both in-house devices and third-party solutions comply with the ever-evolving compliance and security guidelines.

However, numerous endpoints enter the picture, and different working modes, such as BYOD (bring your own devices) and remote or hybrid, are becoming popular. This makes it challenging for the IT manager to control each device and ensure it complies with the latest security and compliance regulations.

Limited Resources and  Automation

IT managers often struggle with budget constraints, poor IT staffing ratio, and lack of time, which impacts their ability to integrate automation within the organization.

For instance, several organizations still rely on manual asset procurement and management elements.

• The IT department manually sources vendors negotiates contracts, delivers the devices, and deploys local IT resources to set them up.

• The devices must be sent to a central facility for regular repairs or replacement.

• If an employee leaves the organization, the devices must be manually retrieved.

This method is time-consuming, expensive, and error-prone, but it also inadequately uses qualified IT resources who could have been involved in strategic tasks and contributed to the organization’s growth.

How Can IT Managers Streamline Their Work with Workwize?

Workwize is a global IT hardware management platform that helps you streamline a major responsibility of an IT manager: IT asset management. Here’s how:

Automate IT Asset Management

Workwize allows you to automate every process of the IT asset lifecycle from procurement to disposal:

• IT Asset Procurement: Buy, lease, or rent hardware from global suppliers. To ensure employee productivity, deliver the items to your employees within 5-7 days.

P.S. Workwize allows you to place customized orders (CTO models) based on your specifications.

• IT Equipment Deployment: Deliver pre-configured devices with the necessary user accounts, applications, permissions, and security configurations out of the box. Manual resources for setting up the devices are not needed.

• IT Equipment Management: Track the status of your assets and gain complete visibility into the entire inventory using our centralized dashboard. Workwize integrates with your HRIS platform, MDM, Slack, and other tools, enabling seamless workflows.

Also, your employees can leverage our self-service portal to request items or schedule repairs.

• Zero-touch IT Equipment Retrieval: Retrieve assets globally with our secure transportation services and real-time tracking facility and ensure data security during redeployment or disposal.

• IT Equipment Disposal: Donate or dispose of end-of-life assets in an environmentally friendly way and ensure compliance with local regulations. Rest assured, you’ll get a certificate of data destruction.

By leveraging Workwize for automated IT asset management, you can save more than 40% of time, which can be better invested in more strategic tasks.

Simplify Vendor and  License Management

With Workwize, you no longer have to juggle between multiple vendors and get into the intricacies of vendor negotiations. Workwize automates vendor coordination and renewals, sparing you enough time to invest in more strategic tasks.

Efficient Onboarding and  Offboarding

Experience zero-touch onboarding and offboarding with Workwize. No need to deploy manual resources for setting up devices as you can deliver pre-provisioned devices that are ready to use out of the box.

The same goes for offboarding. Workwize seamlessly handles asset retrievals when an employee leaves your organization and even manages disposal (secure data erasure and eco-friendly disposal) for end-of-life assets.

Improve Compliance and  Security

Ensuring compliance and security when procuring devices from multiple vendors can become complex and time-consuming. However, Workwize helps you ensure that all the devices have the necessary security features configured and comply with the latest regulations.

Also, Workwize offers certified data erasure and eco-friendly disposal, which helps maintain security compliance. 

Reduce IT Costs and  Waste

IT managers can gain real-time visibility into the asset inventory using Workwize’s centralized dashboard. This helps identify unused or underutilized assets across the organization, which you can retrieve or reassign to optimize your IT budget and reduce waste.

Saving Time for Strategic Work

With Workwize, IT managers can automate redundant and otherwise manual tasks like onboarding and asset tracking. This saves countless hours of manual labor, which IT managers can then invest in process improvement, innovation, and aligning IT with business goals.

Thanks to the centralized dashboard, IT managers can quickly review, analyze, and act on asset data without manually consolidating information from multiple sources.

The Reality of Being an IT Manager (Insights from Real IT Managers)

Here’s what actual IT managers have to say about the role:

• IT managers often wear multiple hats beyond their core job description. Their daily tasks usually include but are not limited to responding to emails, troubleshooting, managing vendors, and dealing with compliance requirements.

Here’s what a Reddit user (an IT manager) has to say about their daily tasks:

Reddit

• Many IT managers are stuck with day-to-day operations and struggle to find time for training and mentoring employees and creating long-term IT strategies. Here’s what an IT manager has today about the situation:

Reddit

What do IT Managers Experience (Insights from IT Professionals)?

FAQs

What are the primary responsibilities of an IT manager?

While the actual responsibilities you need to carry out may vary from organization to organization, here’s what an IT manager (real) has to take care of generally:

• Daily IT Operations (responding to emails and meetings)

• Troubleshooting Complex Issues

• Reviewing and Writing Code

• Dealing with Politics

• Putting our Fires

• Training and Mentoring the Team

• Developing, Tracking, and Managing IT Budget

• Managing Vendors

• Procuring, Deploying, and Managing IT Asset

Note: This is not an exhaustive list, as IT managers have to wear multiple hats, and their responsibilities change as and when the organization deems them necessary.

What skills are essential for an IT manager to succeed?

In addition to the technical prowess, an IT manager needs these skills to be successful:

• Strategic thinking

• Strong communication skills

• Ability to work well under pressure

• Attention to detail

• Project management skills

• A desire to keep learning

• Management and leadership skills

How can IT managers improve IT asset management efficiency?

IT managers can switch to automated asset management solutions like Workwize to improve their efficiency. These tools can help automate every process of the IT hardware lifecycle, from procurement to asset disposal, saving managers crucial time.

What are the biggest challenges IT managers face today?

Some of the most common challenges IT managers face include:

• Increasing Workload and  Responsibilities

• Balancing Daily Operations with Long-Term Planning

• Limited Resources and  Automation

• Vendor and  Compliance Complexities

How does vendor and license management fit into an IT manager’s role?

The IT manager is responsible for sourcing the right vendors (compliant, following data protection guidelines, and cost-effective) for purchasing IT hardware, software, and other technology. They’re also responsible for negotiating contracts and maintaining a healthy vendor and organization relationship.

Additionally, the IT manager reviews software and operating system licenses and renews them when required.

What role does an IT manager play in cybersecurity and compliance?

IT managers play a crucial role in compliance and cybersecurity by creating and enforcing security policies, coordinating with cybersecurity teams, and conducting risk assessments. 

They ensure that all IT systems and processes comply with regulations such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and others by conducting regular audits, employee training, and vendor performance reviews.

How can IT managers streamline onboarding and offboarding processes?

IT managers can streamline user offboarding and onboarding by introducing automation and removing manual elements from the picture.

For instance, IT managers can opt for solutions like Workwize to enable zero-touch onboarding and offboarding processes. This can improve efficiency, reduce manual intervention and associated errors, and save them a lot of time, which they can invest in innovation and process improvement.

What tools or platforms can help IT managers automate their workload?

Several reliable tools exist that IT managers can use to automate their workload. Jira Service Management or Zendesk, for example, can automate help desk management processes like ticket prioritization and assignment.

Other tools may include asset management platforms like Workwize. These can help automate asset procurement, deployment, management, tracking, repairs, retrieval, and disposal processes.

How can an IT manager demonstrate the value of IT to leadership?

One of the best methods for an IT manager to demonstrate the value of IT to leadership is to align IT initiatives with business goals. IT managers must showcase how technology improves operational efficiency, reduces costs, and boosts revenue generation.