In the same way, organisations recognise the need to manage their premises, accounting, and other office equipment. Managing ICT is essential to the organisation's development.

Understanding how to manage ICT is essential for organisations undertaking several different roles. Organisations may use ICT to perform increasingly complex functions, including complicated software solutions and hardware set-ups.

Increasingly, ICT is vital in the work of organisations, so an understanding of how to manage this critical and potentially expensive resource needs to be developed. Organisations must focus on what they want to gain using their ICT and implement systems to help them achieve this.

Your organisation's goals must come first. Careful management of ICT will not only help organisations meet their aims and objectives, but it will also prevent organisations from making possibly expensive mistakes. The Knowledgebase article " Why be concerned about Managing ICT " is a good starting point for thinking about this issue.

Policies and legal issues

Policies and best practices for effectively using ICT in your organisation will help it get the most out of its ICT. There are also legal issues associated with ICT that organisations should be aware of.

• Building Blocks of an IT Policy - briefly explains the elements and principles that should underpin all IT decisions.
• ICT Acceptable Use Policies-explains why policies are needed, what they should contain and how they can be implemented
• The Internet can be a handy tool. Having an Internet Use Policy will help set boundaries for staff and volunteers to responsibly use email, the web and other online tools.
• Even in the most minor organisations, staff and volunteers must know what systems are in place. Having an ICT Induction Manual can help with this.
• ICT is a fantastic tool; however, some risks and legal requirements are associated with using it. The article ICT Risk Assessment outlines some of these and will help you identify and manage risks appropriately. There is further information in the Knowledgebase section Legal Issues.