Slide 1: Professional Presentation

Created by Lauren Hohn for IT 7833

Slide 2: What is an IT Professional?

• Anyone!

• Let me explain:

• • Technology is ubiquitous in most jobs today. You do not need to be a database administrator or a hardware aficionado to be an IT professional

  • If you support your business with tasks that use technology, you’re an IT professional

  • If you gain information and share it through technology, you’re an IT professional

Comment:

A person (from an increasingly diverse background) who gains knowledge and provides value to a business organization through the use of information technology.

Slide 3: Strategy, Policy, and Governance

Pictured: A flowchart of the relationship between IT Strategy, IT Policy, and IT Governance.

• IT Strategy—the ideas: plans and decisions

• IT Policy—the concerns: rules, regulations, and laws

• IT Governance—the actions: enforcement, improvement, and management

Slide 4: What is IT Strategy?

Pictured: A flowchart comparing Business Strategy with IT Strategy and Business-IT Strategy.

Business Strategy:

• • How to make decisions

  • Based off what information

• • • Example: PEST analysis

    • Example: market research

IT Strategy

• • How to make IT decisions

• • • Example: COBIT framework

    • Example: ITIL framework

  • To meet the business objectives

  • Generate value

Business-IT Strategy

• • Meet business objectives

  • Through IT

  • In a way that generates value

Comment:

A business’s plan for making information technology-related decisions in order to meet business needs, improve processes, and ultimately generate value for the organization when successfully enacted—all of which is especially important in today’s world where technology constantly changes and improves (“IT Strategy (Information Technology Strategy)”).

Slide 5: What is IT Policy?

• Sets “limitations”

• Made of internal rules, standards, and guidelines

• Influenced by external laws

• Sets broad reactions for various circumstances

Comment:

Put simply, IT policy is a set of recorded rules, principles, and procedures used to manage IT use and decisions (Georgia Technology Authority).

As described by UC Santa Cruz, is the definition of an organization’s approach to security and possible circumstances (“IT Policies and Guidelines”).

For instance, the university has policies concerning compromised devices, network access, security, etc. (UC Santa Cruz).

Meanwhile, the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) defines a policy as “a general [...] statement of a direction, purpose, principle process, method, or procedure for managing technology and technology resources” (“Enterprise Policies, Standards, and Guidelines”).

Slide 6: What is IT Governance?

• Actions to meet objectives, provide value

• Enforcement of policies and rules

• Roles and responsibilities

• Accountability

• Monitoring of outcomes and responses

Comment:

Like IT Policy, IT Governance can be tricky to separate from other areas. In my research, it has been defined as:

Like IT Policy, IT Governance can be tricky to separate from other areas. In my research, it has been defined as:

The oversight and control of an organization through monitoring of the internal organization and external factors, the setting and realization of objectives, and the delineation of roles and responsibilities within an organization (FFIEC 4).

The processes and responsibilities that allow for continual use of IT, performance management of the technology, and value creation from the use of technology and effective management (“Corporate Governance of Information Technology”).

Related processes, such as risk management, should be tied into IT governance, as the creation of value works with the mitigation of risks and threats (“Corporate Governance of Information Technology”).

Good governance can generate value, a positive culture of accountability, and revenue (Lobato).

It also ties in with strategy and policy, as governance allows an organization to monitor the outcomes of strategic plans and make revisions.

Slide 7: What are My Chosen IT SME Areas?

My IT-SME would involve creating and using training material for my coworkers at my workplace.

I have had to gain expertise in new company websites, create training material for my coworkers and clients regarding their work on these websites, and teach them how to use the websites in a professional capacity as part of their (new) daily routines.

Some of the training involved best practices discovered by my coworkers and developing a few of my own for my administrative work. In addition to this, I became the unofficial tech support at my place of business as we adjusted to the telecommunications required by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This also would make me an IT-SME on the applications needed for daily work at my place of business. Additionally, I have academic experience with web development (MEAN stack) and web design.

Comment:

Relation to IT Strategy: When creating the training material, I consider the business’s strategies and processes.

Relation to IT Policy and IT Governance: I monitor my coworkers and clients and support compliance with the business’s policies and regulations.

Slide 8: What are my top 5 Recommendations for IT Professionals?

1. Develop a growth mindset

2. Be a teacher

3. Do your research

4. Connect your various disciplines to IT

5. Remember that technology is for people

Comment:

1.

Carol Dweck coined the term “growth mindset” (“What Having a ‘Growth Mindset’ Actually Means”).

She divided students’ approaches to talent and success into two groups: a “fixed mindset” and a “growth mindset.” The fixed mindset treats talent as an innate ability (which makes failure a personal defeat), and on the other hand, the growth mindset is all about learning and developing (Dweck).

Now let’s apply that to the world of IT. People are not naturally great at coding. They learn that skill. People are not naturally data analysts. They learn that skill, too. As an IT professional, you will be involved in projects that challenge you and require skills that are not on your résumé or in your toolkit. That’s why you learn.

2.

But learning is not enough. You also need to share this information. I call this “being a teacher” because instead of simply learning information like a student, you’re explaining it and you are helping others in the IT field and outside of it.

3.

Conversely, you should also recognize what you don’t know. Whether this means reading up on advances in technology, building (or refreshing) foundational skills, or consulting a Subject Matter Expert, you need to admit when your current knowledge is not enough. Then you need to remedy that.

4.

Also, do not discount your knowledge and interests outside of IT. Connect your various disciplines to IT when possible.

5.

Finally, remember that IT is by and for people. Is your code a mess? Are your policies confusing? Are your publications loaded with jargon? Be aware of the intended users and audience as you design, create, and enforce IT, its policies, and its governance.

Slide 9: Works Cited