IPTS : Postgraduate: Mixing IT, business

The Master of Business Information Systems (MBIS) offers a unique take for students to gain a mature understanding of business information systems to a new level of depth and sophistication. 

The course, which is in its first year of commencement at Monash University Sunway campus (applications close 24 Feb), has been introduced in Malaysia to meet the demand among career professionals who want to understand how the field of business is influenced by information technology.

Thus, the MBIS is a flexible master’s degree open to students from any educational or professional background. The course is particularly suited for those wishing to advance their career in IT management, applications development, information systems, business consultancy and knowledge management.

The Master of Business Information Systems will provide students with the knowledge, understanding and experiences to deal with rapid changes in the IT field.

Students of the course must compete completion four foundation IT units and at least one four-unit specialisation selected from: Business application development, Business intelligence, Business systems, Corporate information and knowledge management, Enterprise systems, Library, archival and recordkeeping systems or Project management; plus electives.

In today’s mammoth corporate world, IT leadership positions require technological expertise, management skills and a knack for fostering innovation.

Using the smart phone as an example -  it takes various aspects of IT and engineering to design the parts of the smart phone that one may not even consider. For example, computer science makes the touch screen work, information architecture designs the menu, while information technology creates the applications.

When a student graduates with the MBIS postgraduate degree in hand, they would have picked up experiences that transcended technologies, making them well-placed to deal with on-going and rapid chances in the field of information technology.

Students may also exit the programme after completing four specific units, with a Graduate or Postgraduate Certificate in Business Information Systems, or after completing eight specific units, leave with a Graduate or Postgraduate Diploma in Business Information Systems.

The School of Information Technology at Monash University Sunway campus prides itself on an industry-relevant curriculum that similarly offers a global perspective.
Researchers at the school are made up of academics from around the globe with solid and recognised qualifications, and who are well-experienced in research-based teaching.

The highly flexible course structure opens up a variety of career opportunities. Graduates of the program will be expected to play leading professional roles in the field locally and overseas.

IPTS : Undergraduate Focus: Getting ahead in technology, computers

INFORMATION and Communications Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of life in this century and the development of information technology has an impact on the basic concept of literacy and the teaching and learning on campus.

 

University College Shahputra (UCSA) is currently conducting various technology and computer skills programmes to enhance the level of ICT knowledge and skills among students.

Among the programmes on offer are Bachelor of Information Technology, Bachelor of Information Technology (Software Engineering), Diploma in Information Technology, Diploma in Interactive Multimedia and Diploma in Software Development.

UCSA also offers two degree programmes in technology and computers — Bachelor of Information Technology and Bachelor of Information Technology (Software Engineering) with Honours.

Graduates of the Bachelor of Information Technology can go on to work as IT project managers, systems administrators, officers with the government, network administrators, systems analysts, programmers, web administrators,  database administrators or educators.

Graduates of Bachelor of Information Technology (Software Engineering), on the other hand, can apply for jobs such as software engineers (application/systems), systems analysts, project managers, lecturers, web designers, programmers, computer games software developers or computer network officers.

IPTS : Desperately seeking IT grads

TALENT HUNT: The need for Information Technology workers is acute and experts say the sector offers good career prospects for Malaysian youth.

A student pores over a Facebook account. As technology becomes part and parcel of students’ life, they see little difference between being a user and a producer

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MOHD Syamil Afiq Mohd Fadzil has been playing computer games since primary school.

So, choosing a career related to Information Technology (IT) was a natural progression for him.
 “I enjoyed being around the computer and playing with it, which is why I wanted to find work that is connected to computing,” says the 24-year-old, who graduated this year with a Diploma in Information Technology from Kuala Lumpur Infrastructure  University College.

Judging by recent statistics, Malaysia certainly needs more young people like Mohd Syamil Afiq to fill vacancies in Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
The MSC Malaysia Talent Supply Demand Study 2010-2013 — Final Report reveals that the number of IT graduates has declined by 0.6 per cent and will not be enough to meet industry’s demand next year.
The problem stems from a mismatch between the number of available IT graduates and what industry really needs, says Rototype International chief executive officer
Harres Tan.

If this persists, vendors will not hesitate to “scale down (their) business or move to where the talents are”.
Tan, who is also an adviser to the National ICT Association of Malaysia (Pikom), said this at the recent launch of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) of HELP University’s Department of Information Technology.
IAB members comprise senior industrialists, IT professionals and academics.

Chaired by Tan, the board was established to strengthen ties with industry and ensure that IT programmes offered at the university arm students with relevant skills.
HELP University vice chancellor and president Datuk Paul Chan Tuck Hoong says the launch “would facilitate linkages between the institution and industry to provide internships for undergraduates and graduates, and expose students to entrepreneurial projects”.

The ICT industry is one of the fastest growing segments of Malaysia’s economy.

According to Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), the sector is likely to grow at an average annual rate of 10 per cent, creating some 160,000 ICT jobs by 2015.
As Muhammad Imran Kunalan Abdullah, MDeC general manager (Head of Talent), puts it: “Having enough employable IT graduates is crucial for industry, so the notion (that it is hard for IT graduates to get jobs) is untrue.”
Yet he cautions that the high demand for IT graduates does not mean that every student with the qualification will find jobs.
“We need to find out if they are of quality or not,” says Muhammad Imran.
 

To be employed, IT graduates must be adept in 10 skill clusters, among which are software development, database and networking and security.
“Each has different sub-skill sets. It is a fast-moving industry where what is required now can become obsolete after a few years,” he adds.
The lack of interest in IT among secondary schoolchildren is a worrying trend.

The MSC Malaysia report showed a decline of 11 per cent in the number of students pursuing the subject at tertiary level.
This is not surprising as out of 100 teens who attended MDeC’s ICT boot camp, only five showed interest in such careers.
Satish Ganesh, for one, seems unfazed by the fact that he stands to earn a starting salary of more than RM2,000 a month as an IT
graduate.

His short stint in IT during the long school holidays three years ago did not develop into a passion for the field.

“It was a part-time job troubleshooting minor computer problems at a transport company,” says the fifth-former.
“Getting the job was a coincidence because my friend alerted me to the vacancy and I wanted to fill my time during the break,” adds Satish, who spends an average of four hours a day online checking his emails and Facebook account as well as reading about wildlife.

He did consider an IT-related career for a while but lost interest in the idea when he joined the Junior Cadet uniformed body in school.
“I love the discipline and order of the uniformed body and I’m aiming for a career in that direction,”
he adds.
 Muhammad Imran is not surprised by Satish’s change of heart.

“Everyone is an expert at using technology at that age. It is already a part and parcel of their life, so they don’t see the difference between being a user and a producer,” he says.
 IAB co-chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah says that the board can concentrate on “getting students to dream of building a future company like Apple or Google in Malaysia”.
“Social content e-commerce is not well recognised compared to pure software development (in Malaysia) but it is growing fast and students can tap into this,” he adds.

He cites the example of social games services developer Zynga, which produces Facebook game applications such as FarmVille and has 240 million users on the social networking site.
The company is now worth about US$15 billion (RM45 billion).

Ganesh is confident that those who take advantage of the social content market will enjoy good pay.

“(Social content e-commerce) is consumer-driven, so a company (involved in this) can grow exponentially,” says Ganesh.

IT course providers must ensure their curriculum is up to date, if more Malaysians were to become social content producers, says Tan.

“By collaborating with the board, HELP University will be able to keep its teaching staff and students up to speed on the developments within the IT industry.
“IT is still one of the most financially rewarding careers and its graduates are still very much in demand, provided they have the right skill set,” he adds.

IPTS : UTP signed agreement with Huawei (14 June 2012)

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) signed an agreement with Huawei in a commitment to further create and enhance UTP graduates’ employability in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector globally. The signing was in conjunction with Huawei Malaysia Global Training Center (MGTC) official opening by the Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Hj Abdul Razak at Cyberjaya on 14 June, 2012.  This new establishment in Cyberjaya is in line with Multimedia Development Corporation Malaysia (MDeC) and Huawei’s continuous support to the Malaysian Government’s aspiration to accelerate the creation of ICT professionals in the industry as well as to contribute towards the success of Malaysia in becoming a high income economy by 2020.

Huawei is a leading global ICT solutions provider.  It is dedicated towards customer-centric innovation, strong partnerships and has established end-to-end advantages in telecom networks, devices and cloud computing.   Through this agreement, Huawei will set up a Huawei University Training Lab (HUTL) under MSC Malaysia MyUniAlliance (Huawei) programme in UTP to further cultivate the interest of students in the field of next generation ICT technologies, such as Cloud Computing, Long Term Evaluation (LTE) and Fixed Broadband.

Also present at the ceremony were the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to China, Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting; China’s ambassador to Malaysia, Mr. Chai Xi; Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) Chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali; Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Datuk Haji Fadillah Haji Yusof and Huawei Senior Vice President, Mr Victor Wang.