Certification - September 2008 - (Page 3)

EDITOR’S LETTER Tools and Techniques for the IT Professional Dollars and Sense AGAThA GILMORE Back in the heyday of IT, otherwise known as the ’90s, tech professionals were the golden children of businesses. They were the thought leaders, the innovation drivers — they were practically miracle workers in the eyes of the general public. But today, computers, networks, servers and the Internet are so mainstream, even in our personal lives, that those who run and maintain them no longer have the leg up. Which industries don’t use e-mail? What companies don’t have internal networks? Who doesn’t write a blog or update a Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn account? As many of this month’s feature articles show, CIOs and CTOs can’t just manage IT projects anymore, and upwardly mobile techies can’t merely fall back on their expertise. Having a successful career in IT today requires business savvy: It’s all about the bottom line. IT executives need to know how their operations impact the budget, what value they’re adding to the organization and how to deliver it all in a neat package that the top dogs can relate to. As a result, it seems that more and more up-and-coming IT pros are turning to academic degree programs that mingle courses in computer science or engineering with classes on business know-how. There’s also been a growing interest in and demand for soft skills, and our Job Roles feature on network administrators demonstrates how one former business major took an unconventional and roundabout path into the IT industry. Yet, all of this is not to say that tech skills are falling by the wayside. On the contrary, certifications still are so coveted that the industry has had to make a concerted effort to crack down on cheating. But it does mean that tech professionals increasingly will need to wear two hats, and wear them both with finesse. As writer and musician Lester Bangs once said: “Every great work of art has two faces, one toward its own time and one toward the future.” It’s time for IT pros to work their magic once again. 8 VOLUME 10 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2008 GROUP PUBLIShER John R. Taggart | jrtag@certmag.com EDITOR IN ChIEF Norman B. Kamikow | nkam@certmag.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mike Prokopeak | mikep@certmag.com SENIOR EDITORS Agatha Gilmore | agilmore@certmag.com Brian Summerfield | bsummerfield@certmag.com Kellye Whitney | kwhitney@certmag.com COPY EDITOR Meagan Polakowski | meaganp@certmag.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Deanna Hartley | dhartley@certmag.com Lindsay Edmonds Wickman | lwickman@certmag.com DIRECTOR, CREATIVE & PRODUCTION SERVICES Kendra Chaplin | kendra@certmag.com ART DIRECTOR Kasey Doshier | kdoshier@certmag.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Linda Dziwak | linda@certmag.com WEB DESIGNER Spencer Thayer | spencer@certmag.com WEB SPECIALIST Michael Elmore | melmore@certmag.com E-MEDIA DESIGNER Rahel Haile | rahelh@certmag.com VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS Gwen Connelly | gwen@certmag.com EVENTS MANAGER Trey Smith | tsmith@certmag.com EVENTS COORDINATOR Kara Shively | kshively@certmag.com EVENTS SALES MANAGER Kristian Walters | kwalters@certmag.com MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Laura Cibuls | lcibuls@certmag.com BUSINESS MANAGER Vince Czarnowski | vince@certmag.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Cindy Cardinal | ccardinal@certmag.com LIST MANAGER Jay Schwedelson | mediatec@worldata.com REPRINTS reprints@parsintl.com OR call David Einziger at 212-221-9595, ext. 407 ASSOCIATE PUBLIShER & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR James R. Yeakel | jyeakel@certmag.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Dave Lienemann | davel@certmag.com Lisa Newton | lnewton@certmag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Agatha Gilmore Lindsay Edmonds Wickman Deanna Hartley Katherine Spencer John Bostick Lee Wayne Anderson Ken Wagner Andrew Bonslater Bill Horzempa Norman B. Kamikow PRESIDENT Philip S. Wolin GENERAL COUNSEL John R. Taggart EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Patricia Pierce ChIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Certification Magazine (ISSN 1529-6903) is published monthly by MediaTec Publishing Inc., 318 Harrison St., Suite 301, Oakland, CA 94607. Periodicals Class Postage Paid at Oakland, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to: Certification Magazine, P.O. Box 2083, Skokie, IL 60076-7983. Subscriptions are free to qualified IT professionals. Non-qualified paid subscriptions are available at the subscription price of $39.97 for 12 issues. Canada/Mexico orders must be prepaid in U.S. funds with an additional $15 postage charge. All other countries outside the U.S. must be prepaid in U.S. funds with an additional $40 postage surcharge. Certification Magazine, CertMag and CertMag.com are the trademarks of MediaTec Publishing Inc. Copyright © 2008, MediaTec Publishing Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of material published in Certification Magazine is forbidden without permission. Agatha Gilmore Senior Editor agilmore@certmag.com Printed by: RR Donnelley Inc., Mendota, IL September 2008 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE http://CertMag.com

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Certification - September 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Virtual Village Tech Careers Dear Techie Troubleshooting Academic Connection What We Like Look Ahead So You Want to Be an IT Major The Title Is Information Officer… Chief Information Officer Interface Network Administration: Working From the Ground Up Inside Certification Ad Index Endtag

Certification - September 2008

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