IT Degree p/t

hi, i have a friend working on a helpdesk in the public service and loves his job even though he doesnt have much interest in pursuing a very techy role there. he has never gone to third levelcollege and thinking towards the future now, thinks he should. He has limited his uni choices to 2:

1. BSC in IT from DCU via Oscail
2. BSc in IS and IT from DIT p/t

Does anyone have an opinion on the above courses or anything else suitable?

thanks,

Does Trinity still do the evening B.Sc in Computer Science ?

kcat said:

he doesnt have much interest in pursuing a very techy role

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I'm ex DCU and remember that the computer courses there were very good but very tech focused.

Likewise Trinity provided many of the graduates that ran Iona (Orbix). Again very techie.

I would say the growth in IT here will depend on savvy business analysis and Project Management skills as well as having excellent subject matter experts.

We're beginning to see India loom large in outsourcing, not just from multi-nationals but small Irish companies are outsourcing too.

In this situation I wouldn't start a pure IT course here now, and I am surmising possibly wrongly that the business content in the mentioned courses is relatively minimal, if I didn't want to be an utter techie. It's getting tougher and tougher out there if you're only tech focused as jobs and projects move east and skilled developers come here from abroad.

I'd find a combined IT/business course or more specifically IT/Finance as thats where the money is right now.

Just my tuppence and maybe I'm being gloomy here, but I think the days of the pure coders, and I include myself among them, are numbered in this industry. It was a much easier business 10 years ago, but there will be good opportunities still for those who can specify the work and parcel out to the likes of Gurgaon and Bangalore.

Other areas that may stay in Ireland are IT security as it is much less likely to be trusted to overseas entities.

Good luck. Well chosen courses but I just wonder whether a broader business based IT degree might be better in the long-run...

Gearoid, totally agree with you. The courses mentioned are VERY tech focussed. Would be recommending IT/Business focussed courses myself that might lead to IT management/project management with an escape to pure business management later. Anything that can be, will be outsourced to India and China...Its happening with many of the multi-nationals now..

thanks for the replies. I hear what you're saying and agree. Have you any experience or knowledge of any business degrees? alot of them are from private colleges such a Portobello, DBS and Griffith College and i think they are as expensive and perhaps less acknowledged than any of the NUI's or DIT's? Maybe i'm wrong.

I lived in Australia for a long time and studied for a Masters in Business and Technology at the University of New South Wales. The course can be taken via distance education. There were many international students on the course, US, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, UK and some people who were world travellers (always in different countries on business)......You can check it out online at .
I didn't have a primary degree but did have relevant work experience that allowed me entry. The fees are reasonable I think compared to Ireland...Not sure if it would suit given you were considering the more techy options...This one is very much for managers...

kcat said:

1. BSC in IT from DCU via Oscail

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I finished this degree in 1997 after 7 hard years of study (well, 6 plus one year out to regain my sanity!). I also work in the public service and had just started working on a project to computerise our payment system. To be honest, the only thing the degree did in this regard was get me brownie points in the interview. I found the degree tried to spread itself too thinly, with some programming, some analysis, some statistics, some physics, etc etc....and even though I finished in 1997, there was nothing about the internet at all!

My impression of the course having completed it was that it was designed to validate persons who had experience in the IT area but didn't have the "letters after their name" to show it.

I'm sure the course has changed substantially in the meantime, but thought you might be interested in my 2c.

Distance Education isn't easy, it requires discipline and devotion (TV can be such a distraction sometimes!). It was best summed up by one of my tutors who said that distance education was "trying to teach yourself something you don't already know".