INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Careers in Information Technology (IT) sector has boomed all over the country. With the efforts of the government to put India at the forefront of IT revolution the IT companies are all set to turn their employees into young millionaires.
In the era as information explosion, if one is not “net savy”, one is likely to be left behind in the race. Bringing about changes in our lives are the professionals in IT companies and the ever-sprouting dot com companies. If one wants to be part of this fast paced industry, ready to work with or develop cutting edge technologies, one could consider to become an IT professional. Areas within the IT Sector that one could look at are wide and varied- IT enabled services, Internet technologies are the next growth sectors within the IT industry. The various career choices is IT are listed below:-
IT ENABLED SERVICES:
(1) CALL CENTRES: EXECUTIVE-CUSTOMER RELATIONS:
A call centre provides round the clock information support to customers, these
centres are manned by trained personnel with access to a wide data base of information and a thorough knowledge and the product or service being offered by the company.
The employment base in the call centre business is expected to touch 2.5 million by the year 2007-08. Many call centre businesses of Australia and the U.S.A. have started setting up base in India.
How do you become one?: Graduates are preferred for this option. Basic skill required to join a call centre is language understanding (accent and dialect). The recruiting companies provide on-the-job training.
Where do you get in: Companies like ICICI, GE & Bechtel have set up in house call centres and provide support to own employees worldwide.
Salaries:
Call centre operators can expect more than Rs.4,000/- at entry level. With two years experience one could grow to a supervisory level and draw around Rs.8,000- 10,000 per month.
(2) GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS:
Government Departments, telecom companies and utilities are increasingly
depending on GIS data for environmental resource analysis, land use planning, network analysis, etc. marketing and distribution strategies. The job would involve conversion of data (maps, records, aerial photography, etc.) to digital data that can be used for modelling and analysis.
How do you become one? : A BE graduate with knowledge of operating systems is eligible for such an opportunity. Knowledge of tools like C& C++, specific GIS package or CAD is an advantage.
Pixel Infotech, Bangalore provides a course for 3 months for those keen in entering this area. The GIS certificate course offered by Pixel is Rs.10,000 and the two and half month. GIS certificate course offered by Pentasoft is Rs.50,000.
Where do you get in ?: One can get recruited in GIS solution providers, research institutes, the Government Sector and the GIS user industries. A few companies
recruiting personnel for GIS are Rolta, Intergraph, Seimens, L&T information Technology and Pentafour.
Salaries:
Entry level salaries range from Rs.6,000 to 8,000 per month. In two to three years, one can expect to earn over Rs.18,000-20,000 per month.
TELECOM TECHNOLOGY :
With advancement of technology the telecom sector is heavily dependant on internet technology. Starting from WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) Service to satellite communication, telecom technology has extended its wings. Telecom Engineers specialising in information technology are on high demand. B.E. graduates with telecom engineering are preferred. Leading multinational companies like Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson, Panasonic etc. need telecom technologists. Generally the entry level salary ranges from Rs.18,000 to Rs.20,000 per month.
INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES:
􀂾 WEB DESIGNER: A Web Designer is responsible for creating an appealing web site
that is easy to navigate.
“Web Designing requires high level of skills and people with both creative and computer friendly skills come at a very high cost to any organisation”.
How do you become one ? :
Fresh graduates with creative skills can start as designers. Graduates equipped with a diploma/certificate course in Internet Technologies can get into this field. Skills required: ASP, XML,HTML, Cgi, Perf, VB script, Java script, TCP/IP. A typical 9 months Diploma in Web engineering offered by Arena Multimedia is around Rs.27,000; 3 months Diploma in Multimedia Course by Pentafour is around Rs.21,000.
Where do you get in ? One can find recruitment in ‘dot com companies’, advertising agencies, companies specialising in web designing , Internet Service Providers etc. Pentasiu.com is one such company recruiting web designers.
Salaries :
Entry level salaries are in the range of Rs.5,000 to 10,000 and goes over Rs.15,000 at middle level.
􀂾 NET WORKING :
Careers :
Network designer, Network Manager, Network data Administration, Network Services and Support Manager, LAN service/Support Manager.
Convergence of technologies primarily calls for a networked environment. In such an environment, network engineers are required to keep the system up and running all the time.
A net working professional should have well-honed technical skills, specialisation in certain areas is preferred. Technical skills are considered more important than conceptual skills at the entry level. The entry level personnel are likely to be focussed on tasks like trouble shooting, monitoring LAN performance and its security, adding or deleting of users, adding on new servers.
How do you become one :
BE graduates could opt for this career option. BE in computer science, electricals communication preferred. In Addition certification programmes are available from Microsoft, IBM, Novell and Lotus Development Corporation.
The Microsoft certification curricular (22 days) costs around Rs.28,000; Lotus Certification Curriculum (26 days) costs around Rs.20,000.
Where do you get in :
Scope appears to be unlimited in the IT Sector, telecom companies, manufacturing and service sector. A few companies who have recruited people for networking include WIPRO, Microland, BFL Software and Infosys.
Salaries :
Entry level salaries are upward of Rs.10,000 and can go up to Rs.20,000 at mid level.
􀂾 E-COMMERCE :
E-Commerce is the emerging paradigm in the world of business today. Most IT companies appear to be focusing on building e-commerce capabilities.
An e-commerce professional’s work would involve understanding operations of companies, web enable their businesses and connect them with their vendors and customers. It would essentially means reorient businesses to be performed on the Net.
How do you become one ? :
Basic qualification required is B.E./B.tech, DCA/MCS. In addition, knowledge of VC ++, Oracle, SQL, ASP, HTML, Java, Servtets, EJB,CORBA, COM/DCOM is essential.
Most computer institutes offer the above courses. Some of the reputed institutes offering e-commerce courses are STG, NIIT, APTECH, OCAC etc. A six month e-commerce programme in a reputed institute costs Rs.50,000 upwards.
Where do you get in ?
IT companies working in the area of E-commerce, companies which are developing e-business solutions and the user industries would recruit e-commerce specialists.
A few companies that have recruited the e-commerce specialists are CBSI, BFL, Satyam Infotech, Mastek and Infosys.
Salaries :
Entry level compensation packages can start anywhere between Rs.10,000 to Rs.14,000. In two to three years one can expect to draw around Rs.18,000 to Rs.20,000 per month.
􀂾 DATA WAREHOUSING :
Data warehousing, which is a repository of organised data, facilitates on-line analytical processing, decision support and data mining data marts are smaller versions of the enterprise data warehouses.
Data warehousing essentially helps users in drawing conclusions from a set of data, which are not necessarily logical.
The popularly known data warehousing tools are the Rapid data, SQL bench and Red Brick (a product of Informix).
How do you become one ? :
ABE Computer Science/B.tech/MCA with a minimum of one year experience in the IT industry are preferred, knowledge of RDBMS is essential.
Institutes like RCS Education, Bangalore (offers courses on Red Brick) and OBSI, Chennai are now offering product specific training.
Where do you get in ? :
You could join any of the data warehousing solution providers or user industries. Currently data warehousing companies like TCS, Sonata, Tata Infotech and IBM do recruit data warehousing professionals.
Salaries :
The salaries start upwards of Rs. 15,000 and for some one with more than two years experience it can go up to Rs.25,000 to 30,000.
􀂾 SYSTEMS :
Systems Software specialists continue to be in demand. However, specialisation is the need of the day. Hence right from the start one needs to focus on areas in which one would like to specialise. For instance, telecom software would involve writing programms, coding and module testing of sub-systems, source code documentation in the areas of digital signal processing, wireless application and related telecom domain areas.
How do you become one ? A B.E./B.tech in electronics, communication or computer science or M.tech with specialisation in systems are preferred. In addition, basic knowledge of skills like C, C ++ is a must. Some specific technical skills preferred include GSM, TDMA, CDMA, WLL, etc.
Where do you get in ? :
Companies working in the systems domain are likely to recruit such professionals. Motorola, Philips, Lucent, Texas Instruments and SAS are some such companies.
Salaries :
Starting salaries range from Rs.12,000 to 15,000 per month. After two to three years in the industry, salaries could be more than Rs.25,000. Most companies are now adopting performance-based packages.