Transcript Slide 1
CS101 Presentation
November, 9 2009
About Me (so, who is this guy?):
Tony Shuba Enterprise Solutions Manager @ BlueStorm Technologies, Inc.
Experience Miller Aviation / Miller Information Technologies – 6 years Corning Data Services – 4 years BlueStorm – 6 years Education B.S. (Computer Science) – Binghamton, Watson School 1994 Multiple Industry Certifications (IBM, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems)
Why am I here today
First, Important to hear from the outside Focus on C.S. Graduates in Corporate I/T What a great time to be in Computer Science!
What a great time to be in Computer Science
What once cost $1,000’s to $10,000’s is now free Development Environments Servers Operating Systems Virtualization Software Truly a Mission Critical component in today’s enterprise Many, many career choices within the Industry Renewed focus on value of I/T (Post dot com world) Ability to change the world! (in a positive way)
Stand Alone Legacy Applications (Main Frame) Windows Applications – Stand Alone Windows Applications – “Client Server” Windows Applications – “N-Tier” Windows Applications – Collaborative Apps Web Applications – Stand Alone (Simple Sites) Web Applications – Portals Web Applications – Java Enterprise Web Applications – Distributed Web Services / SOA Web Applications – Web 2.0, Mobile, etc… And it won’t stop there…. What’s next?
Eclipse
But, at least I missed these…
Agenda 1. Company Overview 2. CS Graduate Success in the Corporate World 3. Pace and Nature of Change in I/T Industry 4. Career-Long Learning 5. Trends and Directions in the I/T Industry 6. Conclusion and Questions
BlueStorm Company Overview
Incorporated in 1999 Headquartered in Binghamton, NY Focused on Enterprise Solutions Customers across the U.S. Projects in countries such as: Sweden Germany Brazil U.K.
How we see ourselves
BlueStorm is a
Systems Integrator
/
Solutions Provider
Focused on
I/T Needs
of an Organization Provide On-Demand Infrastructure Develop Enterprise-class solutions Provide secure, reliable, scalable solutions
Integration, Integration, Integration
We are a
Services
company Heavily focused on Java / JEE
From our Vision Statement
A Company that… 1. Attracts and Retains
Top People
2. Attracts and Retains
Top Companies
3. Maintains
High Standards
and
High Expectations
4. Is Respected by our Customers and partners 5. Fundamentally changes the way our customers do business 6. Provides a Competitive Advantage to our customers
Customers What we have achieved so far:
Our Primary Partnerships
The Services Business
I/T Services vs. Internal I/T Trends Excitement Customer, Customer, Customer 40h Value, Value, Value If we aren’t significantly better, why hire us?
Expected to keep up with the industry What is going on in our space and outside of our space Industry Certified Experts
Skill Categories
Hard Skills Traditional / Typical Computer Science skills
Get you to the table
Soft Skills Interpersonal skills – how people relate to each other The skills you need to succeed Possibly more important over the longer term
Get you in the door
Hard Skills
“Get you to the table”
Employers:
Expected set of skills for CS Grad
.
Knowledge and base Proficiency Examples: ○ Programming Languages, Data Structures, Software Engineering, Operating Systems, etc.
Are there Differentiators?
Academic:
Grades, Project Work, etc.
More important:
Additional knowledge and skills
Hard Skills – Additional Knowledge
In My Experience… Missing Skills:
Context
– Understand the bigger picture ○ Move toward I/T Architect skills
Application
– Applied and Demonstrated Skills “
Harder
” Skills: ○ Additional “
Concrete
” skills that tip the balance in your favor Let’s look at a few Concrete Skills that employers look for…
Additional Skills – Concrete Skills
Database Development Knowledge and application of SQL Fundamental database design (Entity-Relationship Diagrams) Relational Theory and Normalization Web Development Skills Minimum: HTML and JavaScript Web Programming – Corporate Focus Java Language, API Basics, Web Development Higher Level Design e.g. Design Pattern Concepts
Soft Skills
“
Get you in the door
” For many: The Missing Piece Many students are unprepared – foreign concepts For Employers: Provide ROI (Return on Investment) ○ ○ To bring you onboard an employer is making a
significant investment
(Money, Time, Effort, …) “New” employees vs. “Seasoned” employees Revelation:
Writing code is a small part of what you will do day-to-day
Soft Skills Examples
Documentation Skills Presentation Skills Problem Solving Skills Self Management Time Management Team Building Participation Motivation Respect Responsible
Work on the Soft Skills
Take the Next four years to work on these skills If you are motivated, you’ll find a way Every document, every project is important!
* Take a public speaking class * Take a technical writing class Yes, it’s painful, but worth it Take courses that have group assignments and presentations Participate in projects outside normal coursework (Research) Industry / Corporate Experience: Co-op Internship Part-time
Two More…
Business Skills General business knowledge Business Acumen Helps with: ○ Business Application Development ○ ○ Conversing with Customers Sound Project Decisions Research Skills Surprisingly Lacking Many, many, many sources of information today
Ability to Research
The Greatest Thing to happen to the I/T World:
Change
A Constant in this field Need to analyze new technologies What is the longevity?
How does it fit within the organization?
How to introduce?
Agent of Change Balance today’s organizational needs with technology needs Always reading, always researching, …
My Observations
The best embrace change
To them change doesn’t seem like “change” Already “up” on what’s going on Have strong foundational elements in place already
The best have the concept of “Play”
“I’m playing around with…” Don’t lose the initiative of Play Try things ○ ○ ○ Write code Build things Try out new technologies
The best develop opinions on new technology
Within the context of organizational needs
Learning
Life-time Learning!
Formal and Informal training Most of it will fall on you Responsibility Often no formal training available Utilize Books, Play, Google, etc.
The best: Are in a constant state of learning Never let themselves fall behind
Challenges
Everything is Speeding up… Number of Development requests Timeframe to complete Critical nature Complexity is increasing Complexity Application and System Complexity Development environment complexity ○ Example: Java
Complexity Example: Java
Java the Programming Language Object Oriented Programming Java the Virtual Machine Java the Standard Edition API’s (Java SE) Java the Enterprise Edition API’s (Java EE) HTML JavaScript JavaServer Pages Java Servlets JavaServer Faces (JSF) Enterprise Java Beans 3.0 (EJB3) Java Persistence API (JPA) ORM Web Services XML Ajax Web Framewoks (ADF, Seam, Spring, etc.) etc., etc., etc.
“Do we need to
know Java?
”
-- anonymous
At the same time…
The number of resources available is unprecedented: Google Blogs Wikis White Papers Books Free, open source, downloadable software If you have the initiative, it’s a great time to be in C.S.!!!
Moving Forward – Some thoughts…
Less Focus on Writing Code More Focus on: ○ ○ ○ ○ Component Reuse Services and API’s (Service Oriented Architecture - SOA) Visual Modeling and Design Visual Development of Systems Developer and Team Productivity E.g. Eclipse Mylyn Project Scripting Language Components e.g. Jython, Ruby, etc.
Improved Application Frameworks e.g. Oracle ADF Framework Security Integration Web Services, SOA, Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) Web 2.0 Concepts Mobility (again) Virtualization
Final Thoughts
Be ready for the amount of work required It’s like writing a term paper or project all the time Be prepared for the speed and amount of change Don’t be afraid to ask for help… … but do the research first You are not expected to be the expert… yet.
And finally…
Be Passionate – Do something you love to do!
Questions?
BlueStorm Technologies, Inc.
20-24 Wall Street Binghamton, NY 13901 http://www.bluestormtech.com
Contact: Tony Shuba [email protected] 607-762-5401