Chapter 14- Information Technology Careers

Head Applications Developers

People in charge of software application development teams that develop, design, program, and test software applications Usually hold a bachelor's degree in computer information systems, and must have superior project management skills, often using tools like Microsoft Project to organize their teams Must possess extremely good communication skills and a lot of application development experience

Senior Web Developers

Prepare, plan, and implement web-based software applications Businesses will identify a legacy system and ask senior web developers to rewrite it completely to make it browser-based so that it can be deployed on the World Wide Web for worldwide distribution One of the most sought-after and highly paid positions in the IT field

Sequence Diagrams

illustrations that show how computer processes relate and interact with each other and in what order Sometimes called timing diagrams bc they visually represent what should happen in a computer program and in what order

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

A business-wide computer software system used to administer and organize all the computer resources and information for functional departments of a business from shared data stores to centralized database residing on a local area network An overall software solution that attempts to get functional departments in a business on the same page when it comes to software, allowing them to share info and more easily collaborate w/ each other

Rapid Application Development (RAD)

A computer system development methodology that takes a minimalist approach A "develop as you go" approach that allows systems to be developed much faster than the SDLC approach, and makes it more flexible to change in requirement

Software Prototyping

A methodology that can be used during software development by creating software prototypes

Network Administrator

A person responsible for the smooth operations and maintenance of the business' networks and networking technology, which includes its hardware and software Highly paid and highly in demand

Database Administrators (DBAs)

A person that categorizes data requirements and create the database entities and models that ensure accurate and smooth-flowing information throughout a business Often work on existing legacy systems A bachelor's degree in computer science, IT and several years of database experience are required to become a database administrator

Applications Architect

A person that designs parts of applications, like screen interfaces, middleware and programming infrastructure, that complies w/ head applications developer's design principles and falls into line w/ their SDLC

Legacy System

An existing system, often more difficult to deal w/ then developing something new bc they're typically already in use by an organization; this means the system must keep working in order to support the business

Use Case Scenarios

An explanation of a computer system's behavior as it receives and responds to requests that start off from outside that system Says "who" can do "what" Captures a system's behavioral requirements by detailing what will happen when a computer program runs

Property Management Company Example

At first, they used Excel to keep record of everything Then IT Consultant suggests Accesss Advantages: 1. The database can be in one relational database that all three accountants can use at the same time 2. A database can check data input to make sure a user enters "high-quality" data 3. Reconciliation issues would be reduced greatly 4. One database form can easily be developed to show all disbursements of each individual property: something a spreadsheet could never hope to do **BIGGEST advantage to a database is the ability to query information

Information Technology as a career choice is somewhat unique in that it offers ______________________ throughout business bc it courses throughout every aspect of the business world

Broader opportunities

One of the most important qualifications for a CIO is expertise in _____________ and _______________

Business and Leadership

IT professionals are _____________ first that can be found throughout all core business functions

Business professionals

________ is the highest paying IT position in business, sometimes making 7 figures

CIO

One of the main disadvantages of an ERP is that a business needs to conform to what an ERP offers by re-engineering as opposed to software conforming to a business

Changing the software means changing the business as well

In business, ______________ are always a company's biggest assets

Employees

ERPs are somewhat of a "________________" when it comes to overall business solutions, and they're extremely difficult to implement

Holy Grail

The job title "CIO" was coined in the US and is slowly replacing the older "__________________" title that is more common throughout the world

IT Director

______________ refers to the added value of a product or service over the cost of products and services used to produce it from the previous stage of production

"Value-added" Can include applying info technology to an existing process like printing and distributing monthly paper reports and improving the process by distributing the same reports electronically through an intranet

Unified Modeling Language (UML)

Includes a set of graphical notation techniques to create computer models and applications

Concept Development

Is only started if Initiation is complete & determined feasible Starts to define the scope of a project like how big or small it'll be and what part of an organization it will affect One of the more important documents produced in this step are the Cost and Risk Analysis Statements that outline cost benefits and risks should a business undertake the project

A common axiom for IT professionals is "__________".

Know the business

Part of "___________________" is understanding what effects technology will have on a business

Knowing the Business

Head application developers are often given the task of modifying _____________ systems

Legacy

Data Integrity

Means data is whole or complete and accurate

Information Technology Staff Consultants

Must have great communication skills, as they are the conduit between IT and the rest of the organization Must be able to bridge the gap between IT departments and perhaps even a marketing department

Network Administrators are often trained by network software companies like __________ and _____________ that offer certification in all aspects of networking

Novell and Microsoft

UML is typically used with _____________

Object-oriented programming languages

Software developers will use UML to outline how to build their software and in what order it should be built and then ________________ the project for another computer programmer to finish

Outsource

Big Four accounting firms like KPMG, PWC, Deloitte, and EY hire and pay IT auditors very well to help their clients and their computer systems become _______________

Sarbanes-Oxley compliant

There are typically two types of IT professionals within an information technology department; ____________ and ____________.

Service and IT Consulting

Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Sometimes called Chief Technology Officer (CTO), is the board-level head of an IT department w/in a business organization Normally reports to the Chief Operations Officer (COO) or Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Information Technology Auditors

Sometimes called senior IT auditors A person that makes sure computing systems are being used w/in a given set of regulations and compliance issues Develop, test, and evaluate computer systems for efficiency, accuracy, and security

Testing & Integration

Start when the development stage is complete to make sure it conforms to the previous requirements of the SDLC

Initiation

Starts with high-level brainstorming of an intended project that tries to determine the goals of the project and whether its feasible Developing a FEASIBILITY STUDY that answers whether a new or existing system is economically, technically, and operationally achievable

CIO's expertise and focus is typically their ____________ and _________________ skills

Strategic decision and Project Management Skills

IT consultants need a __________ approach to developing an entire software solution like a business-wide enterprise resource planning (ERP) system or any system for that matter.

Systematic

Object Oriented Design (OOD)

Takes the OOA diagrams and information and expands it to make implementation specifications. Focused on how a computer system does what it does

Development

Takes the subsystems from the design stage and coverts them to an overall system by installing them on their appropriate operating system and conducting preliminary testing

Compared to the other methodologies, SDLC is more time consuming, which translates into a more expensive computer system

Typically requires more staff to implement

To increase efficiency in businesses, the first simple approach is to ______________________ and what it does and then apply _______________

Understand the business IT

_____________ is a blueprint for developing applications

Unified Modeling Language (UML)

ERP Disadvantages

-Businesses often have to re-engineer their own processes to fit ERP solutions. (Keep in mind that this is not necessarily a bad thing, since the new processes may be vastly improved though still difficult to do.) -ERPs can be very expensive. Costs, training, implementation, and business process re-engineering across all functional departments is extremely costly. -If only one person on an ERP database enters information, controls must be implemented to make sure that the entry is accurate, or the entire organization suffers with inaccurate data. -ERP systems are very difficult to modify or customize after they are fully implemented.

ERP Advantages

-Functional departments increase production, collaboration, and efficiency by sharing information -Revenue Cycles and Order Tracking are more easily available across functional departments, and that enhances tactical and strategic decision-making -Information is available at a more granular level, meaning information can be analyzed to a much finer degree.

General Guidelines of SDLC Steps

1. Initiation 2. Concept Development 3. Planning 4. Requirement 5. Design 6. Development 7. Testing & Integration 8. Implementation

4 Basic Steps in UML

1. Use Case Scenarios 2. Object Oriented Analysis (OOA) 3. Object Oriented Design (OOD) 4. Sequence Diagrams

Business Intelligence Analysts

A person that makes sense out of an organization's data and information, and present their findings to senior staff for the purpose of making tactical and strategic decisions Often analyze, review, communicate, and distribute reports on paper, or via the intranet, to make recommendations to senior management Must have a very strong analytical background as well as sharp business knowledge Required to know what data & info a business requires and how to format it so it makes sense

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

A process for creating and altering computer applications through an approach that includes planning, system analysis, design, implementation, and system maintenance

Unified Modeling Language (UML)

A standardized visual modeling language for developing computer software Includes a set of graphical notation tools and techniques to create what basically amounts to a blueprint for constructing a computer application

Object-oriented Programming Languages

A type of programming language that encourages the programmer to reuse parts of an application like forms, programming modules, and code

End-users that will be involved w/ a new system are called ______________

Actors

A _________________ is an incomplete version of the software being developed

Prototype Allows software developers to evaluate different aspects of the software's eventual implementation and allows end-users to give their input Sometimes these prototypes are called vaporware because they only simulate a few aspects of the final version of the software

Object Oriented Analysis (OOA)

Requires the computer programmer to start analyzing what a new system will need and apply object-modeling techniques to analyze the functional requirements for a system Focused on what a computer system does

Middleware

The computer programming and software that connects the components an applications architect designs, w/ the programming infrastructure which includes the actual programming language components that help an application work as designed

Implementation

The introduction of the new or improved computer system into the production environment Resolves problem identified from the testing & integration phase

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The process of creating or altering systems that takes a strict step-by-step approach to every phase of development

Design

The stage where a computer system starts to look like a computer system Screen layouts, process diagrams, business rules, as well as other documentation, are constructed as subsystems that will eventually become the system itself

Planning

These stages are for developing a project management plan It's common to use Microsoft Project which allows a project manager to allocate resources and identify who's responsible for completing each step of the overall project ^^ can also help in cost analysis and provide a visual representation in a Gantt chart

Requirement

These stages often break the intended or existing system down to analyze problems or even potential problems by employing diagrams like the ones produced in the UML