

This includes the ability to create software deployments and deliver automatic updates via user login and group membership. Software updates: To the extent that CAD software requires administrative permission to be updated, the CAD manager should have the authority and knowledge to manage the process. Learning to use your company’s backup and restore IT procedures could prove to be invaluable.ĭiagnostic question #3: Do you find yourself waiting long periods of time to recover or find archived information due to IT delays? The ability to comb through old projects to find hidden nuggets of information from similar projects executed years ago can also save tons of time.
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Peripheral management: The ability to reset printers/plotters, clear out document queues, configure device defaults, deploy drivers, etc., is something every CAD manager should know how to do.ĭiagnostic question #2: Do you often find yourself waiting for IT intervention to get a printer or plotter back up and running or have to wait for driver updates?ĭata archiving and backup: The ability to store, find, and recover data is key for disaster avoidance and recovery. If your IT department handles all these tasks, how well do they do so?ĭiagnostic question #1: Do your CAD tools often experience problems because of incorrect network permissions, peripheral issues, or account configuration problems? Network administration: Creating user accounts, creating user groups, assigning network permissions to users and groups, sharing and configuring network peripherals, access to cloud accounts, etc. To answer the above, read through the following topics and answer each diagnostic question Yes, No, or Sometimes and write down your answers: Or, put another way, what IT tools/issues cause you problems? After all, if you know where the IT heartburn is you know what IT areas you need to pay more attention to. Could it be that CAD managers should now be part of the IT department or at least have all the power and permissions of an IT staff member? Could being a member of the IT staff better help us make IT reliant CAD tools run better? How can the CAD manager know the answer to these questions?Īsk: What IT Tools Determine Your Success? What I have noticed is that today’s CAD manager either has to be more IT conversant or has to rely a lot more on the IT department than they did before. As a result of not being in the IT department, many CAD managers have zero IT capability or permissions.

Therefore, most CAD managers I talk to still report through the engineering manager, production manager, architectural director, or other technical management branch of the company - it is rare that they report through the IT department. So, the persona that emerges is that of someone who isn’t a classic “computer nerd” but someone who evolved into the position because of their CAD expertise. It is rare for someone with a pure IT background to become a CAD manager. Here goes.Ī consistent trend over the years is that CAD managers are typically designers, engineers, architects, or other technical workers who evolve into the CAD manager role. More and more I’ve started asking the following questions: “How much should I be involved with IT?” and “Should CAD managers be treated as part of the IT department?” or even “Should CAD managers report to the IT department?” In this edition of the CAD Manager’s Newsletter, I’ll pass along some strategies you can use to decide how involved with IT you should be at your company. And as these changes have taken root, CAD managers are ever more at the mercy of the IT teams that manage those resources. Truly, to get CAD done these days you have to go through the tools that IT manages. We store files in cloud locations, validate CAD licenses via the Internet, swap redlines and markups via WAN connections, and confab with our remote teammates using video conferencing tools. It’s no secret that CAD tools/users have become more reliant on IT technology lately. How Involved with IT Should You Be? 28 Sep, 2022 By: Robert Green CAD Manager's Column: How does your job as CAD manager integrate with the IT department?
