As an example of an IT consultant career we are going to have a short look at business systems analysts.

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2 An Information Technology consultant or analyst is someone who partners with clients to help them use information technology to improve the structure and efficiency of their IT systems, in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. After analyzing the client s situation, they create and implement IT development plans, policies and procedures, and provide advice on a wide range of information systems issues. They can be employed in internal information technology units, in information technology consulting firms or they may be self-employed. An IT consultant or analyst is the more general job, but there are more specialized consultants, such as business systems analysts, computer analysts, data processing consultants, information security analysts, systems analysts, network analysts or desktop software consultants. There are also some very specific tasks such as computer forensic investigators, data modelers or health IT analysts. The analyst's role is usually the first undertaken, prior to the system design, building and programming stages of the system development process. Analysts usually perform the following tasks: - Work closely with clients to identify how they can help with business objectives and unsolved problems and to evaluate the costs and benefits of implementing an information technology solution. - Prepare an information technology state of the art based on the identified needs of the organization. - Work with other IT experts to study networking, hardware and software needs. - Create one or more system design proposals based on the client's requirements and budgetary constraints. - Negotiate the best solution with the client. -Help the client select the providers for the different parts of the chosen solution. Some smaller organizations may combine various types of analyst, designer and programmer roles into one, while larger ones may employ teams of specialists. 2

3 As an example of an IT consultant career we are going to have a short look at business systems analysts. Business system analysts study and characterize the business needs and processes of an organization and develop IT solutions to cover the needs and improve the processes. The standard qualification for a business system analyst is a bachelor s degree in information systems, computer science or a related degree. 3

4 In some cases the same consultants mentioned above are responsible for deploying the IT systems they plan. In other cases, mostly in big companies, after consultants finish the analysis and planning phase a team of Information Technology engineers executes the plans and deploys the systems, designing in detail the infrastructures and building them. You can find computer hardware engineers, some specialized in servers and others in desktop systems, network engineers and architects, database architects, cloud storage architects, telecommunications hardware engineers, fiberoptic network designers, cabling engineers or wireless communications engineers among others. 4

5 Once the systems are up and running new professional profiles are needed to operate, maintain, troubleshoot and expand them, and that is where system administrators and operators come in. Depending on their specific tasks we can find systems administrators, server administrators, network administrators, cabling infrastructure administrators, telephone network administrators or database administrators and the corresponding operators and technicians, among others. In this group we also find the help desk and technical support team that help users solve the problems they find with IT systems. 5

6 A system administrator is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems; especially multi-user computers, such as mainframes and servers. The system administrator seeks to ensure that the uptime, performance, resources, and security of the computers he or she manages meet the needs of the users, without exceeding the budget. To meet these needs, a system administrator may acquire, install, expand and upgrade computer components and software; provide routine automation; manage user accounts; maintain security policies; make back-ups; analyze logs; troubleshoot; train and/or supervise staff; or offer technical support for projects. A systems administrator should have in-depth technical knowledge of systems hardware and software as well as of operating systems. System administrators usually hold a degree in computer science, information technology, electronics engineering, computer engineering, information systems or a related field and some companies require one or several additional IT professional certifications. 6

7 Another example in this area are Computer Security Specialists. Computer security specialists main responsibility is to protect information systems against attacks and fix any security breaches. To do so they react against attacks, recommend hardware and software updates to avoid security vulnerabilities, detect and correct breaches, establish security policies, create training plans for employees and monitor networks to detect intrusions and violations. They also create disaster recovery procedures. They must stay one step ahead of hackers so they have to be constantly learning about new technologies and gathering information on the latest risks. The standard qualification for computer security specialist is a bachelor s degree in information systems, computer science or mathematics and a master s degree or a professional certification in computer security. 7

8 Information Technology systems work with big data sets and generate vast amounts of data from which very valuable insights and trends can be obtained, so there are several careers oriented to working with this data and extracting information that can be used for business or for system optimization. The more general one is data analyst, but there are more specialized jobs like data-warehouse analyst, business intelligence analyst, big data analysts or data mining analyst. The task of a data analyst usually involves mining, importing, cleaning, transforming, validating or modeling data with the purpose of understanding or making conclusions from the data for decision making purposes. They usually present information in charts, graphs, tables or data sets that let managers visualize them and extract insights easily from them. 8

9 As in every business activity in Information Technology you will also find managerial careers ranging from IT Consulting managers to Help Desk and Support managers. In mid-sized to big companies the Information Technology coordinator is usually called CIO for Chief Information Officer or CTO for Chief Technology Officer. 9

10 Let s look a little more at the role of a Chief Technology Officer. A CTO is responsible for setting the company's overall technology strategy, standards and practices. It is very important that he or she has a very deep understanding of the business of the company and its processes and a vast knowledge of the technology available on the market. He or she will present and advocate technology solutions to the board of directors, discuss their budgets, manage their implementation and monitor their effectiveness. The CTO will also provide leadership and manage all IT staff. A degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field is usually required and previous experience in lower levels of IT management is necessary to reach the level of CTO of a company. 10

11 Another example of a managerial career is the support services manager. A support services manager manages the help desk operations and support service. He or she manages staff with regards to hiring, training and scheduling work assignments; evaluates user satisfaction levels and makes recommendations for improvement in services; evaluates and manages technical support systems hardware and software and makes recommendations regarding upgrades or changes; and negotiates, writes, and reports on internal and external service level agreements (SLA). 11

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