11. Look for easy ways to integrate

Most enterprise application integration projects are huge hairy beasts, capable of gobbling up every IT resource and budget dollar in sight. But it doesn't have to be that way. Simplified integration tools such as the open source Jitterbit software or Cast Iron Systems' iA3000 appliance allow you to integrate different apps without the pain of programming, freeing up your IT staff for more important endeavors.

"Integration is one of those necessary evils that drags you down," says Simon Peel, senior vice president of integration strategies for Cast Iron Systems. "If you go up to someone and say 'I did 20 integrations today' they're likely to say they don't care. Our box lets you get the job done much faster and move on to things that are really critical for your organization."

IT solutions provider Optimus Solutions used Cast Iron appliances to integrate data between SalesForce.com and Microsoft Navision (now called Microsoft Dynamics NAV). After the company's development team had identified the data it wanted to integrate and how it should look, getting Cast Iron implemented took about a week, says Steve McDonald, vice president for IT at Optimus. The iA3000 appliances start at US$2500 per month.

"It's had an enormous impact on our productivity," McDonald says. "We got exactly what we needed with appropriate scalability without having to hire an EAI specialist. We're just beginning to discover all the synergies between our sales and AR teams, but the improvement in the general level of consistency and communication on both sides has been noteworthy."

12. Think strategy, not tactics

Ultimately, by measuring how you and your staff spend, minimize waste, and delegate authority, you want to be in a position where you can see the big picture of how IT relates to your organization's bottom line. But that's not where most IT organizations are today, says Chuck Kirchner, manager of the Forsythe Solutions Group's IT service practice.

"Most IT organizations are reactionary to some degree, and some are very reactionary," Kirchner says. A good measure as to whether an IT department is reactionary or visionary is how often its top IT execs must leave meetings to deal with production problems or other emergencies. "The more often an organization's leaders have to put out fires, the less mature it is."

Ultimately, Kirchner says, there is no magic-bullet solution. Long-term productivity gains can only be realized through an IT service management initiative that establishes clear expectations for the services IT is expected to provide, trains techs in how to provide them, and educates users within the organization on the best ways to engage technology. You can start today by laying out a road map of where the organization is and where you'd like it to be in six months, a year, two years, and so on.

Spend all your time putting out fires -- focusing on tactical tasks instead of strategic ones -- and you risk burning down the entire enterprise.