Best Bachelors programs for someone looking to break into IT management?

Armymanis

Been working in the IT field for almost 6 months now and loving every minute of it. I have worked doing desktop deployments for 4 months and for the past 2 months I have been doing Help Desk because I am in school and only working part-time. You will be also happy to know that I have been with the same company for 6 months. So, I will be graduating this winter with an AA in Technical Support. My main question is which schools have reputable Bachelors programs for someone looking to break into IT management? After I get my AA, I am unsure of which direction to take as schools go. I know I want to eventually become an IT manager and would like to manage people and day to day IT operations. Computers are really fun and all, but I don't think I could see myself talking to users trying to explain whats wrong with their computer for the rest of my life. I know we all have to pay our dues at the Help desk. I know I want to be someone in charge of an IT department and make sure people are doing their jobs the right way and getting their IT related tasks done. I really like to plan and see the finished product of something, but I want to do it with a focus on technology.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

erpadmin

After a few years, there shouldn't be a reason why you can't land a Help Desk Supervisor gig. Since you got an AA, you could do WGU's BS in IT Business within 1 year (or two if you want.)

Otherwise, you'll want to do a Bachelor's in Business Administration at one of WA's fine institutions of higher learning (they seem to have a lot of good schools over there.) You'll need a business acumen to do vendor comparisons (e.g. HP or Dell PC's? Why?), schedule staff, conflict resolution, etc., etc., etc.

Check out WGU's IT Business program. The drawback with this degree is that you won't get certs with it like the rest of us did (With the exception of CIW's 1D0-510 exam, Microsoft's 98-366 Network Fundamentals exam [it looks easier than Network+....wow...] and Project+.)

The positive is after you finish, you can get an MBA (and gun for being the Help Desk supervisor's boss) without taking foundation courses. I had actually considered taking this route myself, but opted for the NDM route...which I'm glad I did.

http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/prog_guide/bs_busi.pdf

I can attest though that WGU is a legitimate degree. My state's premier state engineering school says so when they told me I was accepted to their graduate certificate program (which can go toward a full MS program upon completion.) Who am I to argue that...lol.

Oh BTW, in Washington state, as you may already know, WGU-Washington is a state school. (Basically...that means you can get aid in grants or loans from the state level.) Pretty awesome.

jmasterj206

I don't think you are going to find a magical degree that is going to put you directly into a management role. I know some IT directors that have bachelors, some that have masters, and some that have associates. One thing is they all have experience. If you want a degree I would lean more towards Information Technology Management degrees versus Computer Science since you are moving towards the Business end of things instead of the Technical side. There just isn't a magical formula to getting into management. I say work hard and get experience and go from there.

Akaricloud

Personally I believe that management should be knowledgeable in both the technical side as well as the management side. Unfortunately my WSU MIS degree was pretty much a pure management degree. I've actually considered going back for a second, more technical bachelors but I'm not sure if it would be worth while.

When I was searching for jobs I was actually surprised how little employers cared about what type of degree it was. Pretty much most just wanted a degree in something business, CS, or technology related.