WHAT DOES AN IT INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGER DO?
Published: Sep 22, 2025 - The IT Infrastructure Manager develops and executes technology strategies, including multi-year cloud initiatives, automated infrastructure provisioning, and standard server hosting platforms such as Active Directory, Azure, AWS, VMware, and Linux. This role involves managing engineering staff, ensuring compliance with internal and external policies, monitoring platform performance, and optimizing vendor and technology portfolios. The Manager also oversees IT maintenance programs, coordinates with vendors and clients for hardware and software solutions, and implements continual improvement initiatives to enhance service quality.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for IT Infrastructure Manager
1. IT Infrastructure Manager Overview
- Cloud Management: Manage and optimize cloud infrastructure with emphasis on information security and cost effectiveness.
- Server Administration: Administer servers including Active Directory, Group Policies, DNS, DHCP, VPN, routing, firewalls, VLAN, and TCP/UDP.
- Monitoring: Monitor servers and networks using monitoring and SIEM tools.
- Data Protection: Implement and manage data loss prevention (DLP) solutions.
- Network Management: Set up and manage network devices, including firewalls and edge routers.
- Security Practices: Implement, maintain, and monitor security practices across infrastructure environments.
- IT Support Processes: Establish effective processes for escalation of IT support issues, including business continuity and disaster recovery procedures.
- Cloud Provisioning: Provision cloud applications for new clients.
- Automation: Automate provisioning and configuration of cloud applications using templates.
- Incident Response: Contribute to incident response planning and serve as a key member of the incident response team.
- Technical Escalation: Serve as a technical escalation point for the IT department.
- Mentorship: Act as a mentor to other IT team members.
2. IT Infrastructure Manager Details and Accountabilities
- Strategic Planning: Work in partnership with IT and business leadership to develop technology strategy, implementation plans, adoption methodologies, and operational support for assigned areas.
- Cloud Strategy: Develop and execute multi-year cloud technology strategies and automate infrastructure provisioning.
- Server Management: Align, develop, and deliver server hosting standard patterns and platforms, including Active Directory, Azure, AWS, UCS, VxRail, VMware, Tanzu, Windows, Linux, and AIX.
- IT Maintenance: Define and execute annual IT maintenance programs.
- Portfolio Management: Maintain and improve portfolio capabilities, including vendor and technology optimization and consolidation.
- Team Management: Manage assigned engineering staff and ensure compliance with internal and external policies such as SOC and PCI, as well as global, regional, and local IT requirements.
- Implementation: Implement designed installations from planning through testing and release into the production environment.
- Performance Monitoring: Monitor platform performance.
- Process Improvement: Develop continual improvement programs to deliver better quality of service to customers.
- Budget Analysis: Provide monthly budget variance and service analysis metrics.
- Vendor Coordination: Assist in planning, coordinating, and consulting with vendors and clients for hardware/software purchases, product services, and support.
3. IT Infrastructure Manager Tasks
- Strategic Planning: Design and execute short- and long-term strategic plans to ensure IT infrastructure capacity meets current and future needs.
- Resource Management: Work with consultants to ensure that system platforms provide sufficient computing resources to deliver the desired level of business performance.
- Policy Development: Develop, implement, and maintain policies, procedures, and associated training plans.
- IT Support Planning: Plan in-house and remote IT support for software and hardware across multiple locations, including email, PCs, servers, printers, photocopy machines, CCTV, GPS devices, IP telephones, video conferencing systems, PDAs, terminals, and wiring.
- Network Documentation: Maintain the documentation and layout of network design.
- Service Level Agreements: Establish service level agreements with departments.
- Procurement Documentation: Prepare RFPs, bid proposals, contracts, scope of work, and other documentation for IT projects and related efforts.
- Financial Analysis: Perform cost-benefit and ROI analyses for proposed systems and projects to support decision-making.
- Feasibility Studies: Prepare feasibility studies for upgrades, conversions, and improvements.
- Contract Negotiation: Negotiate contracts with vendors, outsourced service providers, and contractors.
- Vendor Management: Manage and monitor deliverables of vendors, outsourced service providers, and contractors.
- Relationship Management: Maintain strong relationships with service providers and vendors.
4. IT Infrastructure Manager Roles
- Asset Management: Manage and maintain asset management for all IT infrastructure systems, including inventory, lifecycle management, and documentation.
- Equipment Administration: Assess, approve, and administer all equipment, hardware, and software upgrades.
- Domain Management: Maintain domain subscriptions and security.
- Preventive Maintenance: Plan preventive maintenance of IT infrastructure systems, including LANs, WANs, internet connections, Wi-Fi, information security, and telecom.
- System Effectiveness: Ensure the effectiveness of IT infrastructure systems and devices, including data centers, servers, network hardware, and UPSs.
- Network Stability: Maintain stability of network connections, bandwidth utilization, system performance, and information security.
- Quality Assurance: Develop quality assurance procedures to ensure system performance, network reliability, and security.
- Disaster Recovery: Develop disaster recovery strategies for IT infrastructure systems.
- Security Management: Manage and ensure the effectiveness of security solutions, maintaining appropriate levels on networks, infrastructure, and servers, including firewalls, antivirus solutions, and intrusion detection systems.
- User Administration: Oversee the administration of user accounts, permissions, and access rights in Active Directory.
- Access Control: Establish and control system access and security.
- Financial Management: Manage operational costs and conduct short- and long-term financial forecasts for manpower expansion.
5. IT Infrastructure Manager Additional Details
- Budget Planning: Establish budgetary requirements for equipment replacement.
- Procurement Evaluation: Evaluate alternatives in services, products, protocols, and standards to improve procurement outcomes.
- Stakeholder Communication: Establish and maintain regular written and verbal communications with executives, decision-makers, stakeholders, department heads, and end users regarding network and infrastructure activities.
- Standards Management: Set software and hardware standards in collaboration with stakeholders.
- Cross-Department Coordination: Coordinate with other departments to understand and meet requirements.
- Service Level Agreements: Develop service level agreements with stakeholders.
- Customer Service Improvement: Improve customer service levels and provide ownership of problems through final resolution.
- Monitoring Systems: Develop strong monitoring systems to produce standard reports on IT infrastructure status.
- Team Management: Direct and manage a team of network analysts and technicians, including conducting performance reviews and corrective action.
- Mentorship: Guide junior team members.
- Staff Training: Provide support and training to IT staff on systems and platforms.
- Supervision: Directly supervise employees and carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with organizational policies and applicable laws.
6. IT Infrastructure Manager Essential Functions
- Infrastructure Oversight: Oversee planning, architecture, and service delivery for enterprise-wide infrastructure and resolve all escalated network and system-related issues.
- Platform Leadership: Act as the primary resource and lead for network, systems, cloud, and security platforms, including their design, implementation, and maintenance.
- Network Configuration: Configure network printing, directory structures, rights, security, software, and file services.
- Network Maintenance: Maintain network infrastructure and manage Dial-In, VPN, and Terminal Service access.
- Server Management: Build, operate, and monitor servers.
- Active Directory Administration: Design, implement, and administer Active Directory.
- Policy Management: Design, implement, modify, and maintain system policies using Group Policy Objects (GPO).
- Cloud Management: Maintain cloud infrastructure services.
- DNS Administration: Administer DNS, DHCP, and WINS systems.
- Data Backup: Provide backups and recovery of user data along with continuity of operations for proprietary systems.
- Security Protection: Implement and maintain anti-spam and anti-virus protection for all servers and desktop systems.
- Risk Assessment: Conduct periodic scheduled processes such as vulnerability scans and privileged access reviews.
- Infrastructure Assessment: Assess and review technology infrastructure throughout the SDLC to identify key risk areas and ensure adequate controls are in place.
- Technology Research: Lead research of specific technologies and controls as requested by senior management.
7. IT Infrastructure Manager Role Purpose
- Server Maintenance: Perform server maintenance and patch management for all systems.
- Penetration Testing: Handle penetration testing and risk evaluation of new hardware and server OS systems.
- Vendor Coordination: Coordinate with external vendors to maintain and operate outsourced services.
- Log Management: Determine and implement log monitoring and infrastructure decisions for network and server environments.
- Software Security: Advise on software log development and security concerns.
- System Hardening: Define hardening standards for all systems.
- Vulnerability Management: Create and manage processes for system vulnerability management and patching programs.
- Security Scanning: Perform automated, regular security and compliance scans with remediation efforts.
- Risk Management: Develop a risk management approach to security and integrate business operations into the overall security maturity posture.
- Firewall Management: Analyze and design firewall policies that support application requirements while adhering to security best practices.
- Incident Communication: Communicate severity, resolution, and estimated resolution times for network-related incidents to stakeholders.
- Threat Analysis: Maintain an active understanding of industry practices for threat analytics and incident response.
- Automation Development: Develop automation scripts using PowerShell or other scripting languages to eliminate repetitive tasks, integrating automation into the architecture in a transparent and supportable way to enhance team capabilities.