The main difficulty in working as an IT specialist is that IT is a very fluid field. If you don’t constantly learn something new, you risk being out of a job. Let’s finish with the commonplace truths, you know them without me. Let’s move on to practical advice.
So, what should the present or future IT manager study, where to study and how much it costs.
- English.
This is the first thing you should learn and maintain. I’ll leave beyond the scope of this discussion its necessity for comrades who decide to “get a tractor” and focus on other aspects. The English-language pool of documentation, frameworks, communities, experts and books is MUCH greater than other languages. You cannot normally develop as an IT manager (or as an IT specialist in general), without knowledge of English, at least at the level of reading documentation without a dictionary – if you are just an IT specialist and knowledge of Intermediate or higher level – if you aimed at the proud title of IT management pro. Where: it depends on your capabilities. Ideally, it is great to spend a couple of months in a country of native speakers, but this option will suit the 5% of those who want to improve their language skills. As an accompanying recommendation, it is useful to watch every day for 30 minutes before going to bed, some English-language channel, and at the weekend an English-language movie.
2. ITIL.
A modern IT manager can’t live without it. The base of the most systems is based on the service approach and ITIL glossary (tickets, incidents, problems, SLA, CMDB, reaction time, resolution time, escalation, change, maintenance requests etc.).
It is desirable to take an ITIL Foundation course and pass the exam (ITIL F course – 229 $). Work in helpdesk systems that support ITSM approach (ServiceNow, HP OpenView, ManageEngine ServiceDesk, etc.). With a sufficient level of English, you can start with the books themselves later in the original. If your English is not very good, it will be useful to read this book – Free ITIL (although it probably should be read even by those who have good English).
- Project methodologies (ANSI PMBOK, PRINCE2)
IT manager is constantly faced with these or those projects, so he must be able to manage them competently. Here we have no options. This is the basics. Choose what you like and study (PMI PMBOK, PRINCE2). The price of the question is in the range of $ 1000, depending on the level of certification. Which methodology is better – a matter of personal preference and place of work (for example in Europe Prince2 is more popular). However, I strongly advise you to choose one as your primary methodology and to become acquainted with the basics of the second methodology.
- Agile
This trendy word conceals a whole layer, called Agile approach to development (Scrum, FDD, XP and others). Where to read: you can actually read in many places. Only lazy man hasn’t written about Agile. Something to note – flexible methodologies are not a panacea! In some places, they are even harmful. They have disadvantages that are not immediately obvious. But, in general, they are what the doctor ordered for the needs of most development teams. The disadvantages of the agile approach can be mitigated by delving deeper into the subject.
- DevOps
In a nutshell – it’s like Agile, but for sysadmins. This is very imprecise, but captures the essence. When developers switched to agile methodologies, IT operations became a lagging block, which slowed down, giving out “up to the hilt”, every two weeks, developers. DevOps is eliminating this problem (or trying to). Where to read: you can buy or find on the web a PDF version of the DevOps Cookbook and read it.
- Vendor-dependent certification.
I should point out right away that vendor-independent certifications are little more than useless (with very few exceptions) and I won’t dwell on them. What vendor certification to get – I can’t tell you, it depends on the path you’ve chosen. For many the path looks like this: when I was young, Microsoft, then “oops, no way in serious companies without Linux”, then “oops, I need to understand SAP, it pays the most” (just kidding). What is useful is what is used in large companies. You have chosen these companies as your place of work, haven’t you? Then you need certification from Microsoft, Cisco, RedHat, SAP, IBM, HP. If you set a path to managers, you do not need to delve too deeply into the technical certification, you can stop at the basic levels. Examples: MCSA for Microsoft, CCNA for Cisco and RHCSA for RedHat.
- MBA
Many heated battles have been devoted to the question, is it necessary to spend time and effort on an MBA? My opinion – if you can, it’s worth it. How: choose a school that suits you in terms of price/quality/availability/rating, pay attention to the accreditation (AMBA, EFMD, AACSB), check the accreditation and look for information.
- Finance
An IT manager, in any hypostasis, has to deal with finances. Understanding such things as budgeting, types of costs, depreciation, payback and return on investment and many others is vital in day-to-day operations. Ideally, it’s not a bad idea to get a second college degree related to finance and economics. Pay close attention to the finance management process in the ITIL library and the “Project Cost Management” knowledge area in the PMBOK. If you have your sights set on a career as an IT manager in banking/insurance, consider taking the CFA exam.
- Security
Keeping information systems secure is one of the key aspects of an IT manager’s job. At a minimum, it is necessary to know the basics and know the software for security: antivirus, IDS/IPS/DLP systems, protocol analyzers, cryptographic software, firewalls, means and software for authentication, means and software for video surveillance. It is very useful to get acquainted with ISO 27001 (standard). It is a good experience to be involved in any level of PCI DSS compliance certification. The PCI DSS standard contains a list of fairly specific technical and organizational requirements for information security. Even for those who don’t work with cards, it is also very useful to just read the SAQ questionnaire (SAQ D questionnaire).
