Certification - June 2006 - (Page 28)

CM0606.qxd 5/5/06 6:23 PM Page 28 tion, they're encouraged to take finance and market- They're necessary throughout an IT pro's career. Let's ing courses. Klein said these skills are must-haves for say you're a network-systems analyst, Klein said. today's technical professionals. Without them, IT pro- Your boss asks you to do an analysis of two different fessionals are often left out of important business systems she's thinking of buying. You do your research decisions within the company. and write it up in a report. But your memo is full of mis- spellings, poor grammar and typos. Your boss is going A tech person, such as an IT person or engineer, to think less of you, and she's not going to be able to see needs to understand enough about accounting to be the good work and analysis that's in there because able to understand financial statements, Klein said. you're not able to communicate effectively. The most important thing they need to be able to do is understand budgeting. They have to be able to Klein said because of this potential problem, DeVry's understand how to determine costs for the products faculty takes grammar and typos into consideration they're involved with and how the cost of the items when grading students. You might do A-level con- they're producing is determined. They need to under- tent but C-level communication, and in the real world stand how revenues are generated, how pricing your boss is going to grade you down, Klein said. occurs. They need to understand capital budgeting, We ask our faculty to grade their students as if which is how to establish how much money to put in they're employees submitting a real piece of work to the operating budget to purchase the goods and you. Are they outstanding? Would you give them an services their department needs. An IT person needs assignment and be confident they'd do a good job? these basic financial skills so they're not intimidated Students might ask, `What does it matter if I can write by the financial people. If you can't talk to the finance well? I'm a computer programmer.' Well, it does mat- people, they will bypass you, and you won't have any ter. We feel it's critical we impress upon them how input. If the students take the course, then they will important communication skills are. understand enough so they can work with their finan- Business Savvy cial analysts so they're not shoved aside. They'll be at In today's marketplace, IT is increasingly becoming the table with the marketing people and the finance part of the average company's day-to-day business. people to help participate in decision-making. As a result, IT managers now have a seat at the exec- That leads to one other course I like to see IT people utive table. So if IT pros want to get ahead, they need take, which is marketing, Klein explained. If they to know how to speak the same language as the cor- want to get ahead, if they want to become managers, porate executives. the other big area where they need to be able to com- Hale said one of Global Knowledge's most in-demand municate is marketing. They need to understand courses is Business Skills for IT Professionals. It's what the marketing strategy is for the products and a three-day instructor-led or virtual course, Hale services that the firm sells. How does IT contribute to said. It's one of these classes you could almost call that? How does IT help or not help? An effective IT an MBA in three days. It covers communication skills, function can really help the firm successfully sell and strategic thinking, leadership skills, influencing oth- promote its products. A poorly run IT department can ers. It's a good overview of the type of skills you make it impossible. We encourage IT students to take would need. The course begins with an introduction a marketing course so they're able to communicate to professionalism and a review of management-sci- with marketing people in their own language. ence practices. In addition, the course covers quali- Management ty-control standards in communications; learning how to identify when a meeting is appropriate, how to In addition to communication and business skills, IT avoid a meeting if it isn't necessary, and how to pros need management skills to get ahead. Project ensure meetings are productive; core fields of man- management is one of the top-10 certifications right agement science including motivation, negotiation, now, Hale said. A lot of technical managers are delegation, leadership and time management; critical looking for their teams to use more formal manage- thinking and effective decision-making; and best ment techniques. practices for problem solving. According to Klein, IT pros need to learn that manag- Similarly, Klein said IT students at DeVry are required ing computers and managing people require two to take an introduction-to-business course. In addi- separate approaches. This is something that tech 28 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE June 2006 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Certification - June 2006

Editors Letter
Table of Contents
Data Stream
Consultants Corner
Tech Careers
Virtual Village
Certification Evolution: Job-Role Certifications for Your Future
Inside Certification
Must-Have Non-Technical Skills for IT Pros
IP Telephony Engineers
Specialty Certification
Interface
Ad Index
Endtag

Certification - June 2006

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