Overcoming the Obstacles of Running Geographically Distributed IT Teams

Executive Summary

What it means to operate an IT team has evolved in recent years. Today’s teams are more efficient, flexible, and streamlined than the ones of the past, and much of this is because of a constant desire amongst people in business to enhance their capabilities, and to harness the power of the latest technologies. Earlier, it was a given that the key players in a team would have to operate together in one building, or in close proximity. But this way of doing business had its drawbacks, which became evident over the years. There wasn’t room for personal flexibility for one. Also, sticking to this approach had a financial bearing as well. For e.g. lack of availability of certain skills meant having to pay a premium to get people to work from desired locations. Even worse, having to forgo work if the tactic did not work.

Over time, technology opened up possibilities to revolutionize the way teams could function, and IT industry was amongst the frontrunners to seize the opportunity. Nowadays, IT teams can not only work smarter but also efficiently inspite of being geographically distributed. From using video conferencing and Skype to deploying apps like Slack or GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar, teams can leverage technology to have virtual meetings anywhere -which essentially means that the members can work from anywhere too!