Confused - Carrer Guidance Needed

[Akshay Lele]

Hello All,

My name is Akshay and i am from India. I have 5 years of experience in java, in these 5 years i have worked on various technologies and frameworks related to java like springs, jpa, web-services etc and i am pretty good at it.

But i some how have started to feel that i have a very limited view of the IT industry, for me at least as a developer it starts from getting the high level design from architects, preparing low level design documents then coding testing and it ends there.

I want to understand more about the IT industry, how it works at a higher level. How budget is earmarked for a project, what are the criteria s that come into play on deciding whether the business should put in the money. Who makes these calls. How risks are identified and dealt with? How companies sell their products and services. What preparation goes behind it.

In a nut shell i want to understand how the IT business is run?

Based on the above can anybody suggest as to what career path i should take, what education should i take to enhance my knowledge?

This is really bugging me as of now, hence greatly appreciate any views on the same.

Thanks.

Akshay

[Tim Cooke]

Why not start at your current company? Talk to your supervisor and tell him/her about these things that interest you. Perhaps there's some opportunity to learn about them there.

[Raghav Arnav]

Akshay Lele wrote:
I want to understand more about the IT industry, how it works at a higher level. How budget is earmarked for a project, what are the criteria s that come into play on deciding whether the business should put in the money. Who makes these calls. How risks are identified and dealt with? How companies sell their products and services. What preparation goes behind it.

Maybe its time you shift your focus on business management in your field of interest, your budget...now whether you are comfortable taking a full-time or you wish to go for part-time is what you need to think.

[Johanna Rothman]

Hi Akshay,

It sounds as if you are interested partially in project management and partially in project portfolio management. I agree with Tim, ask for a one-on-one with your current manager and explain that you want to know more.

You could also read some books. I've written some books you may find interesting: http://www.jrothman.com/books. So have many other people. But start your career development with a conversation with your manager.

I would keep working while I understand this. I found it easier to understand while I worked on projects. Of course, I got my Master's degree while working full time, so I'm slightly crazed.

Good luck.

[Roger Sterling]

"i want to understand how the IT business is run? "

IT business is no different than any other business. Business has producers and consumers. The producers deliver a value, hopefully more value than they consume delivering their product or service. The consumers consume the value delivered by the producers. Hopefully, the consumers pay more money back than the cost of the goods or services they consume.

So for example, this is why you cannot just let developers write any code they want. If you allow developers to add all the bells and whistles they want to have, the cost of the value delivered to the business would be far too great.

A consumer is willing to pay X rupees for some product, good, or service. If it costs two times X to produce that good or service, no one would buy that.

A good book to read about the IT business, or any business in general, is "Crossing the Chasm", by Geoffrey Moore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm

You can get the paperback for a penny on Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-Mainstream/dp/0066620023

[Campbell Ritchie]

Roger Sterling wrote: . . .
A consumer is willing to pay X rupees for some product, good, or service. If it costs two times X to produce that good or service, no one would buy that.
. . .

Surely you mean, “no one would produce that”?

[Roger Sterling]

@Campbell Ritchie -

Either way, the Return On Investment is negative. In USA , we seem to make things the rest of the world doesn't want or cannot afford because our cost structure is so much higher as our society gets more socialized. China, on the other hand, is de-socializing and they seem to be making everything everyone wants to buy.


Thats why I recommended the Chasm book. Its extremely useful explaining when a core competency becomes a context competency. The next book on the series, called "Living on the Fault Line" explains what companies need to do to continue to be the gorilla ( ie. reinventing , revitalizing , and rebooting ). To be successful, a company must provide a continuous path to innovation.

[Akshay Lele]

Hello All,

Thank you all for your thoughts, they are greatly appreciated and valued.

Regards,

Akshay Lele