Degree program: Business or IT?

YFZblu

How valuable is a business degree on an IT professional's resume'? It seems that for many customer-facing jobs out there companies are more concerned about customer experience and business savvy, and are willing to let a lack of *some* IT skills slide, or understand those skills can be absorbed through experience. Obviously it's not vital that some of you Network Engineers have MBA's, I'm referring more to mid-level Desktop Support and the like.

With the current status of IT seemingly moving (or has it already moved?) in this direction, would you argue that a business degree is now as valuable on an IT pro's resume as a Computer Science degree? Maybe more valuable?

erpadmin

Whether you have a degree or not (even if it's in basketweaving), every IT professional (even a Network Engineer) has to know the direction and nature of the business an IT Pro is supporting. Otherwise, you're stuck doing a same job forever. I don't disagree that with you that Network Engineers need MBAs, but if you're in Desktop Support with one, something went wrong...

IT pros don't necessarily need a business degree, but one will help if he's looking for any IT management position. An IT pro going to work at a financial firm, for example needn't be an MBA or bust out a dissertation on what credit default swaps are. But he needs to have an idea of what's going both at that firm and the financial industry in general...

In short, if all you want to do is put PCs together...you don't need a degree, business or otherwise. If you want to move away from that work at some point...a degree can only help.

Sponx

If you plan on moving into any type of management field, an ITM (Information Technology Management) degree would be a good way to go.

cknapp78

I have to agree with ERPAdmin here. If you want to get a degree then definitely focus on your future area of expertise. If you are looking to admin systems, program code, design networks, etc... Then definitely specialize in some form of IT Degree. The only place where having a business degree might help is in IT Sales. A lot of the people I know who work CDW, PCMall as sales have Business degrees. A few of those guys have gone on to Pre and Post Sales Solutions because they already had some decent computer skills and decided to branch out by getting their IT Certs.

My sister is about the only one I know who followed a really odd path into IT. She majored in Writing and Old English Literature. Managed to turn that into a Technical Writer position, moved onto a Network+ and CCNA since her company decided to send her to training, and now is a CISSP Security Officer for a government contractor.

SteveLord

I would say most outfits have a technical guy and a business analyst/project manager that acts as a liaison for the customer. If you want your prmary gig to be IT, then choose an IT degree. You can understand business enough (for your job) overtime without having to get a degree for it.

paul78

Most senior IT mgrs that I know and work with have IT degrees usually computer science. My opinion only and I have no data to back this up but in my experience, I find that it really may not matter as long as strong leadership (notice that I didn't say management) skills exist.

But as a college drop out, my observation may not count for much

ptilsen

If you want to move into a CIO, CTO, or similar role, ultimately you'll need a business degree, usually an MBA or DBA. Your undergrad won't ultimately matter, and even with a non-business, non-IT-related degree you will still have the potential to get management positions.

Moreover, there is a difference between being in an IT management position and a business management position, as above (CTO, CIO are business positions more so than IT). While business knowledge is useful for, say, the head of an IT department, in the end that person needs technical skills and leadership. Leadership, in my opinion is a talent. While certain techniques can be taught, you either have it as a trait or you don't.

So, think about your long-term goals and where you could see yourself. I think a business degree could bring a lot of useful knowledge, but if you'd rather do computer science just do computer science.

Personally, I'm considering minoring in a business field or double-majoring (CS being my primary goal), but mostly for what I'll get out of those classes. It will bring some value to my resume, too, but probably not make-or-break between me and another candidate.

paul78

ptilsen wrote: »

If you want to move into a CIO, CTO, or similar role, ultimately you'll need a business degree, usually an MBA or DBA. Your undergrad won't ultimately matter, and even with a non-business, non-IT-related degree you will still have the potential to get management positions.

That hasn't been my own personal experience. It probably depends on industry and size of company. But having an mba certainly will not hurt.

ptilsen wrote:

Moreover, there is a difference between being in an IT management position and a business management position, as above (CTO, CIO are business positions more so than IT). While business knowledge is useful for, say, the head of an IT department, in the end that person needs technical skills and leadership. Leadership, in my opinion is a talent. While certain techniques can be taught, you either have it as a trait or you don't.

That's very well said and I wholeheartly agree.

@YFYblu _ it really depends on you career aspirations. If you like IT, stick with a technical degree. You can always take business classes later if you want to go into a business role.

SteveLord

Our state CIO position requires a BS in IT but preferred a Masters in whatever.