Technical Stressings

technology management

The definition of Information Technology Management , derived from the definition of Technology Management by Michael K. Badawy (Virginia Tech), is as follows:

Information Technology Management is concerned with exploring and understanding Information Technology as a corporate resource that determines both the strategic and operational capabilities of the firm in designing and developing products and services for maximum customer satisfaction, corporate productivity, profitability and competitiveness.

IT Management is a different subject from Management Information Systems. Management Information Systems refer to information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making. IT Management, as stated in the above definition, refers to the IT related management activities in organizations.

List of IT Management disciplines

The below concepts are commonly listed or investigated under the broad term IT Management:

Business/IT alignment
IT Governance
IT Financial Management
IT Service Management
Sourcing

References

^ M.K. Badawy (1998), Technology Management Education: Alternative Models. California Management Review. 40 (4), pp. 94–115
^ O’Brien, J (1999). Management Information Systems – Managing Information Technology in the Internetworked Enterprise . Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0071123733.
^ 28 Nov. 2008 http://www.gartner.com/it/products/research/topics/topics.jsp
^ 28 Nov. 2008 http://www.gartner.com/it/products/research/research_services.jsp
^ McKeen, James D., and Smith, Heather A., Making IT Happen: Critical Issues in IT Management, Wiley Series in Information Systems, 2003
^ CIO Wisdom:

Posted at 3am on 1/05/09 | Filed Under: technology consulting read on

technology consulting

Information technology consulting ( IT consulting , Computer consultancy , Computing consultancy , technology consulting or business and technology services ) is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses' behalf.

The IT consulting industry can be viewed as a three-tier system:

Professional services firms which maintain large professional workforces and command high bill rates. These firms are increasingly sourcing their employees from low-cost nations.
Staffing firms, which place technologists in businesses on a temporary basis. These firms are pejoratively known as "body shops". While they are geographically limited by their customers, they can exploit global cost differences by bringing guest workers to their host country. Body Shops are typically distinguished from Consultancies by their commercial practice of pricing service by the day (the input), rather than by the results of their work (the outputs, or deliverables).
Independent consultants, who function as contractors (in the U.S, on "1099"), employees of staffing firms (in the U.S, employed on "W-2"), or as subcontractors in their own right.

There is a relatively unclear line between management consulting and IT consulting. There are sometimes overlaps between the two fields, but IT consultants often have degrees in computer science, electronics, technology, or management information systems while management consultants often have degrees in accounting, economics, Industrial Engineering, finance, or a generalized MBA (Masters in Business Administration).

According to the Institute for Partner Education & Development, IT consultants' revenues come predominantly from design and planning based consulting with a mixture of IT and Business Consulting. This is different from a Systems Integrator in that you do not normally take title to product. Their value comes from their ability to integrate and support technologies as well as determining product and brands.

List of major IT consulting firms

The following is a list of the largest IT consulting firms in the world, along with their corporate headquarters location and the total number of consultants they have. Many of these serve primarily as third-party consultants. Many enterprise software companies, such as SAP and Oracle, employ their own consultants for services related to their own products. Among the corporations listed below, the number of consultants listed is less than their total number of employees.