Up Foundations Of Information system

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MODULE 6MODULE 6

Information systems as a profession

Introduction:

The theme of this module relates to IT as a profession. When you

successfully complete your degree, you will be entering one of the most

innovative and fast-paced industries of them all.

While any profession requires an appetite for lifelong learning and

continuous professional development - IT will demand that you keep up

to date. Companies keen to use technological advancements to achieve

competitive strategic advantage ensure that those in the IT profession

commit to ongoing skill renewal.

Two decades ago, in the year 2000, the dominant challenge on the IT

department’s radar was Y2K – most of you will be too young to

remember what this was all about so please watch this brief explainer -

https://youtu.be/fkpbcAIyfwk

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The world has changed substantially since then, with business

dependence on information systems becoming more and more pivotal

with the emergence of ‘Big Tech’ and Digital Transformation.

Obviously, Y2K is well behind us * – and the jobs that were most in

demand now are not the same as they were back then. Rainer & Prince

(2019, p. 7) and Laudon & Laudon (2017, pp. 96-97) list a number of roles

that have been prevalent within the IT profession for an extended period

of time, however innovation has also opened up a new range of

opportunities beyond those on these lists.

It is almost impossible to predict what careers in IT will look like at the

end of the next twenty years – however your journey will be progressive,

and you will make many choices along the way that will open di�erent

doors.

Some of the more useful tools available are the benchmark reports from

large recruitment companies like Hays and Robert Walters – as much as

everyone is curious to see what salaries certain roles attract, they do give

an indication of new and emerging roles in IT. As an example, on page 55

of the Robert Walters report, you will see many roles that do not appear

in either Rainer & Prince or Laudon & Laudon, for example, Advanced

Analytics Specialist, CRM Solution Architect or Human Centred Design

Specialist. This is the nature of an IT career – it has seasons and is subject

to change and advancement.

Thus – in this module we take two perspectives. Firstly, we look at what

professionalism looks like in the IT industry so that you know what is

required to develop a sound professional reputation which will make you

a valued asset to any organisation and thereafter we will look to what

some of the future holds for IT.

*Y2K had many, many developers working rapidly and around the clock

to ensure that at the stroke of midnight 1999 all would be in order with

systems and the calculations that they managed. All sorts of date-based

calculations needed to be correct and 00 would have been treated by

these calculations as if the year was 1900 – mortgages and loans would

not only have been ‘paid up’ but in credit to the person who had made

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the loan rather than a debt. That would have been disastrous especially

for banks. Evidently, some developers took a more longer term view to

solving this problem than others. This is interesting reading -

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-y2k-bug-is-back-causing-headaches-

for-developers-again/ or viewing

https://www.zdnet.com/video/developer-the-y2k-bug-is-back-and-

causing-problems/

References:

Hays (2020). The FY19/20 Hays Salary Guide. Retrieved from

https://www.hays.com.au/salary-guide/index.htm

Laudon, J. P., & Laudon, K.C. (2017). Management Information Systems: Managing

the Digital Firm (15th ed.). https://ebookcentral-proquest-

com.ezproxy.laureate.net.au/lib/think/reader.action?docID=5187455&ppg=97

Leprince-Ringuet (2020, January 8). The Y2K bug is back, causing headaches for

developers again. [Video �le]. Retrieved from https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-

y2k-bug-is-back-causing-headaches-for-developers-again/

Rainer, K. R., & Prince, B. (2019). Introduction to Information Systems (7th ed.).

Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-

com.ezproxy.laureate.net.au/lib/think/reader.action?docID=5633337&ppg=22

Robert Walters (2019). Robert Walters Salary Survey 2019. Retrieved from

https://www.robertwalters.com.au/content/dam/robert-

walters/country/australia/�les/salary-survey/robert-walters-anz-2019-salary-

survey.pdf

Vlogs of Knowledge, (2017, January 25). Y2K: Simply Explained. [Video �le]. Retrieved

from https://youtu.be/fkpbcAIyfwk

White, S. (2020, January 10). The 10 most in-demand tech jobs for 2020 – and how to

hire for them. Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/article/3235944/hiring-the-most-

in-demand-tech-jobs-for-2018.html

ZDNet, (2019). Developer: The Y2K bug is back and causing problems. [Video �le].

Retrieved from https://www.zdnet.com/video/developer-the-y2k-bug-is-back-and-

causing-problems/

This Module will cover:

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Module 6.1 – Professional standards and ethics in IS

Module 6.2 – The future of IS

This Module will help you achieve the following outcomes:

a) Critically analyse the key information systems concepts and technologies in the context of contemporary business and organisations.

d) Communicate and demonstrate understanding of the importance of ethical and professional standards in own career and professional future.

Time Management:

Your workload expectation is 20 hours for this module.

20 hours per module (two weeks): facilitated study: 3 hours / week. Personal Study: 7 hours / week.

3 hours facilitated study consists of attending class, responding to facilitator feedback.

You are to allocate 7 hours of personal learning. This includes essential time spent on pre-reading and viewing materials, assessment progression and learning activities.

Assessment Progression:

Assessment 3 is due at the end of Module 6.1 (Week 11). Please refer to

the assessment briefs in the assessment area for more detail, however

by this point you should be truly well prepared for the assessment based

on module 5.1 and the series of re�ective practice learning activities.

Class Expectation:

You are expected to have worked through the essential learning resources and activities for this module before attending the

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facilitated session (face-to-face or online session) – this enables informed discussion and full participation in learning activities.

Participate in all scheduled facilitated sessions.

This time is intended to be used by you and your learning facilitator to work through activities and engage in discussion about the module content.

These sessions provide a space for you to raise questions about the module content and seek guidance on writing your assessments.

You will review, explore and discuss more deeply the information presented in the learning resources.