Page 42 - BusinessWest January 9, 2023

“Everybody in
the world is completely and totally integrated with computers, and everybody’s work is supported by technology. So, regardless of the organization, you have a need for IT support staff or IT support functions specifically.”
TRICIA CANAVAN
and totally integrated with computers, and everybody’s work is supported by technology,” she told BusinessWest. “So, regard- less of the organization, you have a need for IT support staff or IT support functions specifically.”
Matthew Smith, director of Cybersecurity Graduate Stud- ies at Bay Path University, agreed, noting that IT is one of those unique arenas that touches every industry: technology, financial services, healthcare, education, law enforcement, and more. And he stressed that cybersecurity is one of the most important sectors of IT at the moment.
“There’s not one industry that’s not touched by technol- ogy or cybersecurity,” Smith said. “And if you think you’re not, you’re fooling yourself because you’re just one intrusion of your company away from going down. Everybody is getting attacked.”
IT still grapples with a significant gender gap, with girls tending to lose interest, compared to boys, around middle school, though Bay Path, as a women-only college on the undergraduate level, is working to change that trend locally.
In Bay Path’s graduate studies, men and women are able to learn from both teachers and IT professionals about the tech- nical world around them.
Smith explained that, in technology, especially in cyberse- curity, the information changes rapidly, so before running each course, and even during the semester, he and his colleagues look at the content and tweak or change it to what’s currently relevant.
Just like Tech Foundry, Bay Path is preparing students for the workforce, providing internship opportunities for real- world experience. And any experience is important, as many corporations are requiring a bachelor’s or master’s degree to even get an interview, or requiring two to five years of experi- ence for those who don’t have a degree. So a degree alongside actual workplace experience is a definite leg up.
For the past 25 to 30 years, there has been an ongoing debate over whether certifications or a degree is better for the IT industry. But certifications only cover certain niches. Smith
explained that someone who secures a Microsoft certification and works for someone that uses Microsoft is in good shape. But if they apply for a job that uses strictly Apple sources, they may be out of luck.
“It’s kind of like you’re hanging all of your hats on one cert, but if you get your degree, it’s more broad, more spectrum ... and then you can jump into that specific corporation, and they train you internally on what they’re using and what they can embed in,” he said.
Smith went on to tell BusinessWest that knowledge and experience outweigh everything. For example, in 30 years, an expert with only a high-school education is still an expert, but times have changed; people changing careers to secure oppor- tunities in the IT workforce have to know more than people did 30 years ago.
And times certainly are changing in other ways. After the pandemic, more companies are relying on hybrid work mod- els, allowing their employees to work more from home. But this creates a whole new set of issues.
Serve and Protect
The emergence of COVID-19 early in 2020 brought sudden demand for remote access. Fortunately, advancing technol- ogy made it easier to access a corporation’s network from any device at home or even on the go.
“Prior to that, I think people were a lot more resistant to remote workers. And it seems to be hanging on,” said Charlie Christianson, president of CMD Technology Group in East Longmeadow. “I think that, for a lot of our clients, the concept of a hybrid environment is where it’s going to settle out.”
Sean Hogan, president of Hogan Technology in Westfield, agreed. He told BusinessWest that he allowed remote work “before it was cool,” and that working for a smaller IT-support business in Western Mass. allows flexibility for his employees because of how often they are on the computer. As long as they have good security and bandwidth, they can work from
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JANUARY 9, 2023 << TECHNOLOGY >> BusinessWest