by Andrew Abolafia        

Modern business and government is inundated with computer related information. Terms like "infrastructure," "Java," "Cobol II," "CICS," "SAP," "Shark," "Oracle," "VST" and "middleware" are only a few of the vast repertoire of terms in the computer professional's arsenal. A thorough knowledge of these concepts and how they work and relate to business and government cannot be accurately acquired without the expertise of a computer scientist.

Not only must a computer scientist have a thorough understanding of the IT profession he must be able to communicate his knowledge to a non-technical audience in order to be effective. Business concepts such as outsourcing, strategic planning and intellectual property are also important concepts to understand so that a fundamental comprehension of how computers relate to business and government is also thoroughly understood. Once again technical virtuosity is wasted if it cannot be relayed in a way that is comprehended by the least common denominator.

The question that may arise in the decision-maker's mind may be, "has the expert met with success in the computer business and government environment?" That is a legitimate question. The system is a merciless selector of the successful from the failures. A case in point is the dot.com debacle. How reliable is the judgment of a computer professional if he fell victim to the lure of Internet riches to find himself without a job and without the prospect of a job. The valuable expert is the one who knows the limitations, potential and practical applications of computer resources and invests himself in the languages, hardware and concepts that, although they are constantly in flux, are consistently valuable in the real world. In essence his expertise is relevant and current with a firm grasp of the fundamentals.

Finally, computer code is often enormously intricate and complex. Windows has millions of lines of code. Yet the misplacement of even one comma can prevent the software from functioning properly. The early introduction of programming and computer expertise can translate and distill important issues from insignificant ones. The expert can translate what is much like a complex puzzle into transparent fact.

About Andrew Abolafia.