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Advanced Business Education for Developers?
DreamTheater asks: "With what I consider a battery of solid technical skills, I find myself increasingly interested in business skills to match. I am looking at MBA programs in either Technology Management or Operations Management. Has anyone pursued an MBA to enhance their career as a developer? If so, how has it affected you?"
If you're already solid in technical skills, you might want to looks at an MBA in general Management or some non-technical concentration. With concentrations like Technology Management, you'll have to take some dumbed-down technical survey courses that will offer absolutely nothing new to you. You're better off spending that time pursuing the business skills you're looking for, be that accounting, people management, project management, marketing, etc.
If you're not up for a full-blown MBA program, you might consider a graduate certificate. For example, Penn State offers non-credit certificate programs in very specific areas like HR Management, Project Management, Leadership Development, Supply Management, etc. Your local university might have something similar.
If you're already solid in technical skills, you might want to looks at an MBA in general Management or some non-technical concentration.
This is a good point -- and actually, you should definitely spend some time thinking about what *kind* of business skills you want.
I've been thinking of going for an MBA myself -- not because I want to get into project management, HR, etc., *myself*, but because my software designs would be better if I knew more about how the business works, and *could* work. I've learned tons of accounting and business practice details while writing custom software, report generators, etc.. I think an MBA could help me figure out new businesses and business models (as I work for other clients), by teaching me the general principals (whereas now I just know the specifics of one business, really)... plus I might even be able to offer software changes to help them *upgrade* their business processes, instead of just automating what they've had for years.
I still want to spend the majority of my time designing and implementing software... but the more I know about how business works, the better I'll be able to advice fitting new technologies into it (which means more value to the client, and often more interesting projects for me!)