Center for IT & eBusiness

The Society for Information Technology and eBusiness (SITE) was proud to host Orysia D’Aurelio, managing director of COMSYS and CITe advisory board member, as the first guest speaker of the semester. D’Aurelio talked to the group about what employers want to see on your resume and how they want you to act in an interview. The group was provided with a crash course to resume building, looking at some previous examples and discussing how to effectively sell yourself.

Some of the tips involved positive self-marketing — think of yourself as an emerging IT professional instead of just a recent graduate. Furthermore, job seekers should identify their strengths and weaknesses so they are prepared to answer these questions in an interview. D’Aurelio also stated that joining and participating in student organizations was a desirable asset for your resume.

After the session a small group stayed behind and talked about becoming a business analyst. D’Aurelio provided information about a group called IIB (International Institute of Business Analysis) that meets monthly in Cleveland. SITE is exploring the possibility of attending one of the IIB meetings to network and learn more about opportunities in the field.

For information on getting involved with SITE visit their website or contact Jess Pomfret at site.akron@gmail.com.

Topic: Is your company ready for Windows 7 and Office 2010 deployment?

 Microsoft recently announced that Windows 7 has surpassed the 150 million unit sales. That means 15% of all the PCs in the world (nearly a billion) are now running Windows 7, making the new operating system (OS) the fastest adopted OS in history.

 But the good news for Microsoft may not be the same for your IT department. A PC refresh will not only take time and cost money, but proper planning and prioritization with other complex projects like deploying Office 2010 is critical.

 If these are some of your IT dilemmas, IT Executive Exchange (ITEE) will be holding a discussion on September 10, 2010 that should be of interest to you. The next ITEE meeting will discuss some of the features and best practices to help you make the decision to upgrade to Windows 7/Office 2010 or not.

 Where: Taylor Institute (Room 562), Polsky Building, The University of Akron

 When: Friday, September 10, 2010

 Time:   12:30 pm to 1:30 pm – Networking Lunch

            1:30 pm to 2:00 pm – Tour of Saurez Lab

            2:00 pm to 4:00 pm – An expert from Microsoft will make a short presentation and will answer any questions you may have

 Please RSVP to Paul pse2@zips.uakron.edu

 B. S. Vijayaraman Ph. D.

Professor of MIS | Director, CITe | http://www.linkedin.com/in/vijayaraman

College of Business Administration | The University of Akron

vijay@uakron.edu | 330.972.8224

CITe in conjunction with Project Grad Akron provided a dynamic and enjoyable educational opportunity for Buchtel High School students called IT Career Camp held during the week of June 7-11. The week-long summer camp program provided students with a glimpse into the exciting world of information technology. The students  participated in a robot building, programming, and racing competiton provided by NASA. The second day of the program encompassed a discussion about computer hacking and viruses, conducted by Tom Headman of Antares,  followed by an outstanding afternoon field trip to the Smuckers Corporation where the students learned about business processes by outlining the steps involved in making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The third day of the program began with a hands-on demo provided by Microsoft Corporation regarding the new Photosynth program used in making panoramic photos. The students took pictures around campus and then created panoramic photos using this exciting and innovative new tool. Later, Scott Jobe from VM Ware provided the students a hands-on opportunity to create a G-Mail account, utilize Google Docs, create RSS links, and start a DropBox account. The fourth day of the program encompassed a demonstration on how to build a web page followed by an IT careers discussion led by Anthony Jakab, a former student. Later, the students visited the Akron Business Accelerator and enjoyed presentations by Knotice and Summit Data Systems. The students were able to interact with the staff of both firms and pose questions. The final day of the program consisted of the students developing a power point to be used in an afternoon presentation to the CITe board and a discussion about social media conducted by Susan Burton Lowry of Square One Consulting.

After the student presentations to the CITe board, the students received the laptop computers that they used throughout the week as gifts for their participation in the program. Initial shock and disbelief among the students gave way to tears of joy and celebration as the students absorbed the magnitude of the gift. IT Career Camp was an outstanding week-long event sure to provide lasting memories for all participants and staff.

On April 22, 2010, The University of Akron held its first annual Information Technology (IT) Day. As a distinguished panel of judges consisting of business executives and faculty perused the displays, students from the College of Business Administration (MIS) program along with students from the Computer Science program showed off their skills by presenting concepts advancing the frontiers of Information Technology. After the judges absorbed the content of the presentations and assigned a score, an awards ceremony commenced and prizes for first, second, and third followed.

CITe is pleased to announce Manik Dhawan as the First Place winner! Manik is a graduate student pursuing a MSM-IS degree at the College of Business Administration. He is also a graduate assistant with CITe and will be entering an internship with Sherwin-Williams Corporation over the summer. Congratulations to Manik and best wishes!

ITIL and COBIT- do we need another framework?

This session of the IT Executive Exchange will address how companies are implementing Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Control Objectives for Information Technology (COBIT) frameworks. An expert will seed our discussion with introductory remarks, and we will address questions such as: How does an IT organization go about adopting and integrating ITIL and COBIT? How are they different? Is it expensive? What are the challenges and benefits of implementing both?

According to Wikipedia, ITIL is a set of concepts and practices for managing Information Technology services, IT development and IT operations and COBIT is a set of best practices (framework) for information technology management created by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and the IT Governance Insitute (ITGI) in 1996.

CITe is pleased to announce the addition of Greg Cordray to the CITe Board of Directors. Greg is the President of Keystone Technology Consultants, Inc. of Bath, Ohio. Keystone Technology Consultants is a privately held firm operating in the computer networking industry. Greg has a degree from the College of Engineering at Ohio State.

CITe is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Sasi Pillay as a new board member. Dr. Pillay serves as the Chief Information Officer at the NASA Glenn Research Center. He is responsible for advocating, managing, and implementing Information Technology investments and infrastructure. He also serves on the Center’s Strategic Management Council and the Operations Management Council.

Dr. Pillay is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal and the Outstanding Leadership Medal. He is also the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award recognizing him as a Meritorious Executive in the U.S. federal government. In November 2008, he was recognized as the CIO of the Year by the North East Ohio Software Association (NEOSA.)

Dr. Pillay received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, M.S. and PhD. degrees in Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He also has a Master’s degree in Management of Technology from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Anita is a University of Akron graduate and CITe board member who recently received distinction as one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. Anita is the founder and CEO of Small Business Trends. Small Business Trends is a popular business blog, website, and community that helps readers stay on top of trends in the small business market. Small Business Trends was named to the 2005 and 2008 Forbes Best of the Web. In addition, Anita is host of her own weekly talk radio/podcast program. Currently, Small Business Trends has 29,453 followers listed.