Skills for the Information Age

Skills for the Information Age

On 25.01.10, In Computing, ISAD337, University, by Josef Nankivell

My notes from lecture 3 of ISAD337 – Professional practice and social responsibility.

Skills for the Information Age

ICT Industry – Practice

1960s/70s – Programming in 3GL and Assembly languages, manual control of processes, storage-constrained environments, hierarchical, network-databases.

1980s – 3GL/4GL (non procedural) languages automatiion of processes, growth of storage, networks, relational databses (mathematical set theory), personal computers and user computing methodologies.

1990s – Programming in var languages, dev of services, client/server, internet begins, OO techniques, enterprise-wide apps.

2000s – Programming/scripting, automation of services, browsers, search engines, internet established, systems of ICT (ITIL).

Side-notes

Once invented, does not need to be invented again
Doing anything strategic was difficult
Focus moves from data to information (and to knowledge)
Increasing use of databases
Convergence of Human-Computer technology
ICT becomes the “business enabler”
Information viewed as an organisational asset
Service orientation
ICT personnel seen as “professionals”

Information viewed as an organisational set

An organisation is only as successful as the quality of its decisions
Decisions are required at strategic, tactical and operational levels
Information provides a major input to decisions
ICT is now the main delivery means for information
Information must be treated like any other organisational resource – it must be looked after or it may be lost, damaged or remain unused

The rise (and fall?) of the Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Manager of IT resources and operations
- Governance of the IT function
- Operating the core infrastructure and related services
- Managing the applications portfolio supporting business
- Recruiting and managing IT skills, expertise and people
- Developing and retaining IT project management skills
- Managing the suppliers of IT services and products
- Measuring and managing the company’s IT investments
The CIO as an enabler of business change
Strategic business player and part of the senior management team

Above information from Cranfield University paper (exemplar paper)

Side-notes

Low level & high level activities mixed together.
CIO should not have to do low level activities?

Service Orientation

An IT Service is a set of related components provided by IT systems in support of the business and perceived by the customer/user as a coherent and self-contained entity. Or: something “end-to-end.”

Of what is a service compromised?

Peopleware
- Docs
- Skills
- People
- Procedures
- Guides
Software
- Databases
- Dev environments
- Operating systems
- Applications
- Services tools
Hardware
- LANs
- WANs
- Mainframes
- Work stations
- Servers
- Networks
- Telephones
- Sensors

E.g. Email:

Server hardware
Client hardware
Network infrastructure
Email server software
Email clients
Directory services
System administration
Users

Is our orientation now aimed towards service?

ITIL v.3

Sevice design
Service Transition

Configuration Management

To record all Configuration Items (CIs)
And relationships/dependencies between them
To provide accurate information to support other ITIL core processes
To provide a sound basis for Incident, Problem, Change and Release Management
To account for all IT Assets and verify configuration records, correcting any exceptions

ICT Personnel as Professionals

Development, support, networks, suppliers, problems, technology change, users, management – how can we cope with the world of ICT?
What skills have we got?
What level of skill – Basic/Expert?
How many skills?
How can we evaluate our skills?
What/how do organisations recruit?

Create a skills management strategy

Determine the business case for skills/resource management, professional development, and other strategic, tactical or operational change
Analyse professional development processes and strategy versus a Maturity Model of professional development
=> Skills for the Information Age
“SFIA describes what people do, not necessarily what their jobs are called”