| As a service member who developed a rewarding | | | | business process applications. Systems workers also |
| career in the IT arena after leaving the military, I | | | | provide the means of connectivity among both local |
| want to provide a brief overview of the incredible | | | | and geographically disparate parts of an IT system, |
| diversity of career options available to those of you | | | | handling local and worldwide information sharing, |
| interested in getting into the field of Information | | | | system resources, and interfaces. Some examples of |
| Technology. Very briefly, I was a CIO and IT | | | | specialized tasks from the Systems field include: |
| department manager for a medium size enterprise | | | | - Purchasing, setting up, and maintaining computers |
| that included a national headquarters, 1500+ | | | | (including end user support) |
| nationwide offices, 60,000+ members, and the | | | | - Designing, installing, and maintaining networks |
| nation's largest fleet of single engine piston aircraft | | | | - Database administration |
| (550+). | | | | - Developing, deploying, and monitoring system |
| The scope of the organization's Information | | | | security |
| Technology program touched in-house business and | | | | Most military members serving in Information |
| mission processes as well as interfacing with civilian | | | | Technology roles play some part in one or more of |
| and government organizations on the national, state, | | | | the above tasks. And anyone who's been deployed |
| and local level. It included equipment management and | | | | to a new location knows both the importance and |
| application interaction among ground, aircraft, and | | | | urgency placed on completing these tasks efficiently |
| satellite resources. And even with this wide a scale of | | | | and effectively. Depending on the size - and budget - |
| involvement in so many aspects of the operation, our | | | | for the system in question, IT workers can find |
| role touched on only a limited number of applications | | | | themselves working on all of these functions at once, |
| from the vast opportunities available in such a diverse | | | | or focusing on a specific role like monitoring and |
| field as Information Technology. | | | | interpreting security logs to prevent or stop hacking |
| Due to the wide array of possibilities open to an | | | | attempts. On the Systems side of the Information |
| Information Technology professional, it might be | | | | Technology arena, there are occasional requirements |
| difficult for you to determine which degree program | | | | for coding and programming, though those functions |
| you want to pursue. In an effort to make things a | | | | are typically not the primary task at hand. |
| little simpler, we can break down the field into two | | | | Be sure to stay tuned for part 2 of this article, |
| main areas of specialization - Systems (the physical | | | | where I will explore the Process Application |
| tools, instruments, and hardware that makes it all | | | | Development category of IT. Also watch out for |
| work), and Process Applications (the software | | | | future updates from both myself and other experts |
| programs that perform required IT tasks and run on | | | | in the Information Technology field. We'll be providing |
| the aforementioned systems). This first article will | | | | a wealth of information on specific issues and general |
| cover the Systems category, while my next article, | | | | considerations alike. Be sure to help out fellow service |
| Part 2, will focus on Process Application Development. | | | | members by inviting them to participate in our forum |
| Systems Category | | | | either as a contributor, or another interested reader, |
| Information Technology practitioners working in the | | | | and if you have any questions, feel free to contact |
| Systems side of the field typically deal with the | | | | us at your earliest convenience. We'd love to hear |
| actual computers, networks, security systems, and | | | | from you! |
| the required support networks used to run the | | | | |