The Changing World of Information Technology
7/30/08 at 9:49 PM by Mike Crandall, PhD IT service professionals need to keep an eye on the “big picture.” The technology market is changing at a continually faster rate. It is highly likely that decisions that made your IT service business successful in the past will not be the same as those required to achieve success in the future. But the biggest differences will not be expanded technological functions, features and device forms. The bigger changes will be the many ways that human factors get stirred into technology. This will require new ways for supporting technology and the people that use technology. The following discussion takes a broad look at macro trends and tees up important perspectives for service providers and educational institutions. Both are agents of important changes that are happening right now.
It’s not just technology anymore
“Looking back over the 1990s, it is easy to see the widespread troubles of many ventures that depended upon advanced IT applications, including business process reengineering projects, enterprise systems, knowledge management projects, online distance education courses, and famously — some of the dot-com businesses of the 1990s…. Many of these ‘troubles” could have been avoided (or at least ameliorated) if the participating IT professionals had much more reliable and critical understanding of the relationships between IT configurations, socio-technical interventions, social behavior of other participants in different roles, and the dynamics of organizational and social change.” [1]
As Rob Kling pointed out over 5 years ago, there is a growing recognition of the fact that IT is not just about technology, but the intersection of technology with people and organizations. The complexity of modern information systems depends not only on successful implementation of the machines and software that enable our interconnected digital world, but also on the behaviors and interactions of the individuals and groups using that technology for specific purposes.
Understanding how people and the organizations they build work has become an essential component of any effective IT professional’s tool kit. Psychology, human information behavior, organizational dynamics, change management, strategic planning and many more disciplines that were traditionally outside the scope of IT have become key skills that are needed to succeed in today’s IT environment.
Whether designing a parts management system for a major manufacturer and its suppliers or a social software application for a target population, the information technologist needs to understand how the information flows, how to effectively engage people in the system, how the system fits with other, existing information services, and how to measure success in implementation. None of these skills are technical, but they are all critical to success of the project. The modern IT professional needs to be conscious of their importance, and find ways to include these elements in every project.
Everything is connected
“IT and business processes can no longer operate in isolation, requiring a new breed of professionals that cross-over the IT and business application sides. There is a deep and rapid convergence of technologies that used to reside in separate fields of education, creating a demand for professionals with a broader knowledge of technologies and cross-trained in various technology areas.” [2]
The rapidly changing nature of technology and applications in the Web2.0 world require a much broader knowledge of the landscape, not only in the world of technology but also in the application of that technology to business and other objectives. Becoming a specialist in one particular application or system is a good way to find yourself without a job, as routine activities are outsourced or replaced with new solutions based upon rapid developments in the web environment.
Businesses and other institutions are looking for individuals who are able to understand how to use technology, in whatever form it comes, to help their organization achieve long-term goals and objectives-to maximize profit, increase customer satisfaction, do more with less, enter new markets, serve users more effectively. A recent article in eWeek sums up the kind of technologist hiring managers are now looking for: “When CIOs and IT managers are asked what they measure their IT hires by, their answers are surprisingly abstract. Few talk about, say, SAP skills or specific business skills-but not because they don’t want those skills. Simply put, CIOs and IT managers want from their staff more enthusiasm, more flexibility and a better ability to execute.” [3]
Preparing future leaders in technology
This is a somewhat overwhelming order for even a seasoned IT professional, let alone someone just entering the field. Fortunately, in recent years, a movement has begun in higher education to address these issues, with the emergence of Information Schools (iSchools) across the United States. Over 20 of these schools are now in existence (http://www.ischools.org/oc/index.html). Their mission is to provide an education focused on developing the broad and deep base required by the modern information world, through interdisciplinary faculty and curriculum.
The founder of the Information School movement, Raymond Von Dran, Dean of the Syracuse School of Information Studies, summed up their mission well: “I” schools build their programs around the four pillars of people, technology, management and policy. [4]
An example is the University of Washington’s Information School (http://www.ischool.washington.edu), which offers an undergraduate degree in Informatics, master degrees in Information Management and Library and Information Science (for both seasoned professionals and new entrants to the profession), and a PhD in Information Science. With a faculty drawn from business, computer science, information science, philosophy, and many other backgrounds, the school provides a dynamic, responsive environment that produces the new IT professionals who bridge technology with people to solve the problems organizations of all types are facing in the information age.
In a statement that resonates with the instruction that students in the iSchool’s degree programs receive each quarter, Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire says: “But let’s be clear here. Technology is just a tool. When I call up [Washington State CIO] Gary Robinson, I don’t say – ‘I need new technology.’ I say, I need a better way to get information.” [5]
Making sure that our future technology leaders can satisfy this demand, and use technology in the ways that most effectively meet the needs of people and organizations, is the mission of all the information schools and the students that are emerging from their broad-reaching programs. As these new IT professionals begin to make their mark, information technology will take its place with other business applications, moving us to a new level of integration and success in our human endeavors.
[1] Kling, Rob. Critical Professional Education about Information and Communications Technologies and Social Life. Center for Social Informatics, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, Bloomington. CSI Working Paper No. 02-06, December, 2002. http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI/WP/WP02-06B.html
[2] Applications of Information Technology: Trends Assessment for 2004. National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies, Bellevue Community College http://www.nwcet.org
[3] Perelman, Deb. ”The New IT Benchmarks”. http://www.eweek.com – eWeek; Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. June 13, 2008. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Careers/The-New-IT-Benchmarks/.
[4] Von Dran, Raymond F. “Putting the “I” in IT Education”. Educause Review 39(2) p.8-9, March/April 2004. http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm04/erm0426.asp?bhav=6.0.2&bhsh=864&bhsw=1152&bhiw=806&bhih=468&bhqs=1
[5] Gregoire, Christine. Governing Magazine Managing Technology Conference. Seattle, WA. May 2008 keynote speech.
