InformationWeek

March 24, 1998

Are you at a crossroads in your career? Or do you just want to get started in information technology? Either way, Career Counsel is a great entry point. Your questions will be answered by Paul Daversa, president and CEO of Resource Systems Group, a nationally recognized technology executive search firm based in Stamford, Conn. RSG has advised many Fortune 100 companies and their respective CIOs on how to attract today's technology leaders as well as counseling IT executives through their search efforts.

I'm a veteran sales professional with a solid track record selling high-ticket engineered proc ess equipment, primarily to large industrial corporations. My passion for information technology is driving me to investigate re-directing my sales career to that field. To learn how well my sales experience, knowledge, skills and abilities will transfer to the IT industry, I would like to talk with sales professionals employed in that business. Since I'm an IT "outsider", my contact network is not very well suited to identifying and locating such folks. Can this be done through IT industry trade associations? If so, which ones would be the best to contact for this purpose? Can you suggest any other expedient ways to do this?

The most productive approach would be to look within your own IT organization and inquire about trade associations of those IT professionals who are held in high regard. In addition, you should also be networking through your existing client base with IT professionals within their organizations. Your loca l Chamber of Commerce also carries affiliations and trade associations among different industries. I would actively subscribe to some industry trade journals that are filled with the kind of content, data, and affiliations that would be an added plus to your networking. Lastly, some of the best people for you to be seeking advice from as well as real leads would be in the executive search industry for sales professionals. Quite often, this community not only attends these associations, but is privy to what companies are seeking today.

I graduated from college with a bachelors in Business Administration four years ago. Since then, I have been developing client-server finance and accounting applications in Access/VB, and implementing PeopleSoft financials projects as a consultant at a Big Six firm. Now that I've switched to a corporate job, one of my perks is reimbursed tuition. Considering that I would like to become a CI O or Director of IS some day, which advanced degree should I take: an MBA with an IS concentration or a master's in MIS? Which careers can one expect with one or the other?

There's really no bad choice. It really comes down to what direction you want to take your career and preference. I strongly advise the MBA track with an IS concentration because you've already developed a foundation in both client-server application development, ERP implementation, and you complement that with both Big Six and corporate experience. The MBA track will reinforce your business savvy, and today's CIOs are just that. If you feel your technical depth is not as strong as you would like it to be, then the master's in MIS will complement that. I would also advise this track if your intentions are to move deeper into advanced technology: i.e., a chief technology officer's role. Based on the snapshot you've given me, it appears that you have a broad understanding of both business and technology ennoblement in a client-server environment, and the MBA would be a great addition.

I would like to get into management with the goal of becoming a CIO. I have an Associate Degree in Computer Technology. I am retired from the Navy (electronic technician chief, E7) and have had a lot of experience in management of personnel and projects. I have been working in the IT field for about four years now. I have done some AS/400 programming, installed a Windows NT LAN consisting of about 60 PCs, and connected this network to a WAN with our sister division, using a T1 telephone line. Where should I be setting my goals now? Do I need to get more education?

I would absolutely encourage you to get your bachelor's degree--and if it's manageable, to continue along the masters/MBA track. In addition, although your technology experience over the past four years has been pretty good, you could afford to be broader and less tactical. Your concentration should be on enhancing your technical skills to include client-server implementation, large-scale integration, and business/technology process improvement.

After leaving a career in non-technical sales, I formed a small interactive media company focused on corporate Internet and educational content development. As clients now require more complex solutions, I am considering working with a consulting firm or hardware-software developer starting in business development and moving to project management. With strong consultative selling skills, a business degree in marketing and little technical experience, I would appreciate any advise regarding my options. Is technical training a "must have"? If so, any suggestions?

Stay with your core and continue to outsource areas that have no value or areas that you have no competencies in. Look to develop a partnership with a consulting firm that can serve as the integrator to the solutions that you're providing to your clients. This isn't a market that's very forgiving to those who've tried to reinvent the wheel. Your business experience and marketing experience are your strengths, so don't veer away from them. Most companies fail that way, or go through massive reengineering initiatives that bring them back to one main question: "What are your core competencies?" One you know what they are, gather the added value through outsourcing.

I'm now a certified Lotus Notes/Domino contract employee and I'm having trouble deciding where to go in my career. When I was first a Lotus Notes Administrator three years ago, it was fun--but I really wanted to be a developer, so I made a pla n to get a couple of years experience in both administration and development, to get the highest certification in both fields, and become a contractor in order to get a wider variety of work. Now that I'm near the end of this game plan, I find myself in a very tough position. Lotus Notes and Domino have not gone over as well in this city as I thought they would and I find myself wondering which direction I should go next. My other contracting friends are not very helpful with their conflicting advice. I have no interest in management and would like to get back into more highly technical programming. I have very limited resources and time but I'm ambitious and I'm willing to use my time away from work to learn new technology. What should I do?

Notes and Domino still have prominent market share. This is in no way, shape, or form any kind of legacy or rapidly fading technology. If you're limited by time and resources, I see nothi ng wrong continuing on the track you're on while making sure you take every opportunity to expose yourself to new technology. In general, there are plenty of Notes opportunities today, and all projections indicate that this trend will continue over the next several years. Don't change course in midstream. All indications are that the ripples are moving forward.

I have been in the IT business for 18 years. I started as a programmer on a number of IBM midrange systems and eventually progressed to system architecture and project management. I do not have a technical education-- my college major was marketing. For the past eight years, I've been manager of a small AS/400 shop. In that time, I have drifted away from application development and project management and have become more of an operations manager. My problem is that I am not sure I want to go back to being a technical person in terms of network support or applicat ion development, but I do feel that I need to pursue a new direction such as Internet development or network architecture. I have thought about starting up my own company to provide Web development, but I have concerns about the size of the market that I can tap into locally. My question for you would be what do you see as being the hot trends in terms of furthering one's IT career.

Hot trends today include Internet and Web development to include effective use of electronic commerce. Also, enterprisewide implementation coupled with application integration. Other hot trends include client-server and object-oriented development, as well as component-based architecture.