Who is an IT manager and how to become one in 2025

The pace of digitalization is growing linearly, while the number of projects is growing exponentially. Every business is launching online services, expanding IT infrastructure, and seeking ways not to drown in technical tasks. The center of management becomes a person who connects the business goals, the work of developers, and the possibilities of technologies. In 2025, their role grows to the level of a strategic unit. To understand who an IT manager is, it is important to go beyond the notions of a technical profession and see it as the core of a digital organization.

What an IT Manager Does and Who They Are

An IT project manager does not code but controls the entire process: from task assignment to product launch. They plan deadlines, create budgets, define interaction architectures, and allocate roles in the team. While programmers write code, designers create interfaces, and analysts shape requirements, the manager integrates everyone into a unified system. They are responsible for implementation, monitor integrations, regulate risks, and ensure quality.

Why the IT Manager Profession Became Key in 2025

In 2025, businesses are increasingly transitioning to a hybrid model. Online sales, remote teams, SaaS solutions, platform ecosystems—all of this requires technical coordination. One project may involve 3 continents, 15 specialists, 6 platforms, dozens of APIs, and numerous budget and timeline constraints. Without a connecting link, the technical process loses manageability. Therefore, the profession ceases to be auxiliary—it becomes the core of digital transformations.

In modern realities, an IT manager not only performs coordination tasks but also includes business analysis, product approach implementation, and continuous work with customer metrics. Every release is tracked by indicators. Every implementation stage is backed by numbers. Such a specialist acts structurally, not intuitively.

Who Is an IT Manager: What Skills Shape the New Generation Specialist

The path to the profession requires systemic thinking rather than a template education. To become an IT manager, one needs to develop three groups of skills simultaneously: technical, managerial, and strategic. None of these levels work in isolation.

1. The technical base includes understanding architectures, clouds, databases, CI/CD, DevOps, and APIs. Deep coding is not mandatory—it is important to understand process logic, know how systems work, and be able to explain requirements in terms of the team. The level should allow for dialogue with programmers, admins, analysts, without losing the thread of conversation.
2. The managerial block requires skills in time management, facilitation, delegation, documentation creation, setting up communications in Slack, Jira, Confluence, Trello, Notion, and similar tools. Each project requires flexibility: Scrum is important somewhere, Kanban works somewhere, and the cascade model remains effective in some cases.
3. The strategic focus includes market analysis, business modeling, customer work, product metric implementation (LTV, CAC, retention), as well as MVP support to version 1.0. The ability to embed a digital product into a business model becomes part of the profession.

How a Team Forms Around an IT Manager

Modern teams do not work vertically. The project structure is a matrix. Who is an IT manager: a professional who manages the project through coordinating all functions of developers, designers, system analysts, testers, DevOps engineers, and even marketers if the project goes to market. Each specialist works in their domain but interacts according to a common plan. The manager sets synchronization: who, when, and what to do. They establish a common goal, monitor stages, connect external services, regulate workload, and expand resources if necessary. This approach requires a high level of abstract thinking, clear planning, and empathy—without which managing an IT team does not work.

Tasks and Challenges an IT Manager Deals With

One project involves dozens of points of attention. Every day, a manager solves not only technical but also organizational and human tasks. To demonstrate who an IT manager is, it is enough to look at their typical area of responsibility:

• sprint task assignment and monitoring;

• agreement on architectural solutions with the development team;

• coordination of UX/UI between the designer and developer;

• budget preparation and defense before the client;

• control of deadlines, releases, and intermediate versions;

• agreement on access rights, security, and administration;

• product integration with CRM, ERP, BI, or third-party APIs;

• KPI analysis: development speed, team load, uptime, returns;

• post-release support, bug collection, maintenance, and scaling;

• project presentation to an investor, client, or internal stakeholder.

Each of these tasks requires precision, communication, and the ability to make decisions quickly under pressure.

How to Become an IT Manager in 2025: Step-by-Step Trajectory

The path to the profession begins not with a diploma but with an understanding of the specialization, who an IT manager is, and processes. It is important to integrate into the development ecosystem and learn to speak the language of business, technology, and teamwork. A career is built gradually, accumulating specific experience and mastering key tools.

Entry Through Analytics or Management

The first step is to get into a project. The transition usually starts with roles like system analyst, task coordinator, or junior project manager. These positions provide access to processes and allow one to see how the team is managed, how tasks are distributed, how deadlines are set, and changes are implemented. Some come from development, where they accumulate a technical base and transition to management through a technical background. Both paths are effective.

Candidates without experience start with internships and practice in small digital teams. Participation in launching at least one real product, even in an assistant position, shapes the required thinking: the balance of goals, resources, and deadlines.

Formation of a Management Model

After the initial projects, one develops their own style. A good manager does not use templates—they adapt tools to tasks. Scrum can be replaced by Kanban, releases by continuous integration, a team by microservices. It all depends on the project. To become an IT manager in 2025, it is important to think as a coordinator of the entire system. It is not just task control but setting up the environment: documentation, processes, feedback, motivation, chaos reduction.

Mandatory Skills for Transition

Who is an IT manager: everyone building a career in the niche masters a specific stack:

• ability to read specifications and write documentation;

• understanding versioning logic, releases, git, and CI/CD;

• knowledge of QA role, automation, integration, and regression testing;

• experience interacting with architects, designers, programmers, DevOps;

• basic orientation in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud);

• proficiency in Jira, Trello, Asana, Notion, Confluence, and counterparts;

• ability to negotiate with the client, defend the plan, argue priorities.

None of these points require a certificate. They are all acquired through practice.

Where an IT Manager Works and Available Formats

Projects are not limited to the office. An IT manager’s work is increasingly moving online. Remote work allows managing a team in different time zones, launching international releases, and forming multicultural teams. The modern digital environment offers formats: full-time in a studio, outsourcing to an agency, freelancing on a platform, startup, hybrid format with various contractors. It all depends on the project type. Someone supports platform development, someone implements ERP, someone works on an e-commerce product. An IT manager working remotely follows the same rules: task structure, reporting, synchronization, control. The only difference is in communication channels and time discipline.

What Sets Apart a Strong Specialist from the Average: Who Is a Professional IT Manager

In 2025, there is a growing demand for managers who not only coordinate the process but create product value. The difference with a strong IT manager lies in the ability to understand business and translate it into technology.

Such a specialist participates in choosing architecture, influences usability, sets up analytics, evaluates solution effectiveness, and introduces a growth culture. They look not only at deadlines but also at the project lifecycle. They forecast risks, prevent failures, collect feedback, suggest improvements. The manager works at the intersection: business client—development—market. They become not just an executor but a system architect. Their KPI is not just time but also results.

Role and Potential of the Profession

Who is an IT manager in 2025—a strategic figure in the digital economy. They connect technical, organizational, and business aspects. It is not a position but a skill to manage projects, people, products, and data. They adapt teams to market challenges, create conditions for growth, and minimize risks.

To enter the profession, technical education is not required. More important are systemic thinking, empathy, quick adaptation, and experience in real projects. The digital industry will continue to grow, and those mastering IT management ensure demand for themselves for years to come.