I guess when I use the term IT Professional I mean someone with a general understanding of the IT Industry, and the ability to represent that angle in a business context. Not, as you describe, a person with an understanding of a subset of the industry.
Sort of the concept of IT as espoused by sites like IT Toolbox. You know, enterprise stuff, ERPs and CRMs and the like.
The writer of this story took IT to mean programming, you take it to be a term used exclusively by end lusers, and I mean by it something implying much broader understanding.
I'm actually kind of interested to see what people say on this subject, as it's something I've been thinking about recently.
Seems to me that "IT" is a much broader subject than what is suggested by this list, and that an "IT Professional" is much more than a programmer. To me, an IT Professional is someone who can walk into a business, assess their situation and needs, recommend a solution, and see through the implementation of that solution.
This obviously requires solid programming skills, but it also requires real business knowledge, finance, operations, knowledge of the IT industry, people skills. Let alone software and hardware architecture.
The fact is, that code is becoming largely a commodity. A growing percentage of business problems can be solved more cheaply using off-the-shelf components. So "implementing a solution" is more and more a matter of tying together pieces.
What becomes valuable and in demand, then, is your integration skills, your knowledge of business needs, your experience dealing with vendors, and your ability to nurture your customer relationships.
So I would conclude that yes, it's critical to have a solid tech background, and all that stuff should be on your bookshelf, but you really need to succeed as an IT Professional is a global view of the IT Industry and its relationship to business.
What I'd like to see added to the list is recommendations of books that would help one achieve this sort of perspective.
Slashdot Mirror
I guess when I use the term IT Professional I mean someone with a general understanding of the IT Industry, and the ability to represent that angle in a business context. Not, as you describe, a person with an understanding of a subset of the industry.
Sort of the concept of IT as espoused by sites like IT Toolbox. You know, enterprise stuff, ERPs and CRMs and the like.
The writer of this story took IT to mean programming, you take it to be a term used exclusively by end lusers, and I mean by it something implying much broader understanding.
I'm actually kind of interested to see what people say on this subject, as it's something I've been thinking about recently.
Seems to me that "IT" is a much broader subject than what is suggested by this list, and that an "IT Professional" is much more than a programmer. To me, an IT Professional is someone who can walk into a business, assess their situation and needs, recommend a solution, and see through the implementation of that solution.
This obviously requires solid programming skills, but it also requires real business knowledge, finance, operations, knowledge of the IT industry, people skills. Let alone software and hardware architecture.
The fact is, that code is becoming largely a commodity. A growing percentage of business problems can be solved more cheaply using off-the-shelf components. So "implementing a solution" is more and more a matter of tying together pieces.
What becomes valuable and in demand, then, is your integration skills, your knowledge of business needs, your experience dealing with vendors, and your ability to nurture your customer relationships.
So I would conclude that yes, it's critical to have a solid tech background, and all that stuff should be on your bookshelf, but you really need to succeed as an IT Professional is a global view of the IT Industry and its relationship to business.
What I'd like to see added to the list is recommendations of books that would help one achieve this sort of perspective.