MSIM helps professionals shift gears

The stay-at-home mom getting back into the working world; the professional looking for a leg up over the competition; the small business owner hoping to revive his business after the recession: each found the boost they were looking for in the MSIM program.

The stay-at-home mom getting back into the working world; the professional looking for a leg up over the competition; the small business owner hoping to revive his business after the recession: each found the boost they were looking for in the Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) program. Ranked number 3 among online graduate business programs (excluding the MBA) by U.S. News & World Report, the MSIM helps students interested in technology develop critical leadership skills. The program is available on campus or online in 12- or 16-month lock-step cohort programs. Students combine the latest techniques and methodologies, hands-on experience and relevant case studies to learn how digital innovations, data analytics and information systems are transforming the business world.

Press refresh

Attending the MSIM program helped Diana Boatwright press the refresh button on her career. Boatwright was ready to return to work after staying home with her children, but learned the working world was quite different than when she left it. “I decided I wanted to go back into my field but quickly realized I was a dinosaur,” she said. Not only had the IT world changed dramatically but the office environment was very different, she said. She realized she needed a fresh perspective on technology and business. Boatwright thought the MSIM would fit perfectly with her IT and statistics background. Boatwright said the decision was the right one. She was impressed with the program, the professors were knowledgeable and the material was appropriate and organized. “Was it worth my time? Was it worth my money? It absolutely was and I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she said.

Boatwright graduated in May 2015 and is now a performance auditor for the Office of the Auditor General for the State of Arizona. In her job she focuses on evaluating state agencies and determining how to improve their performance, resources and efficiency. She said she uses the course material from the program regularly in her job. “It has been a wonderful preparation,” she said. “I could not have gotten this job without the great courses in the MSIM program.” Many students, who may be unemployed or underemployed, come into the program to reboot their careers, said Alan Simon, a senior lecturer and faculty director for the MSIM program. “This program is primarily for working professionals looking to advance their career, jump start it or kick start it to the next level with a master’s degree,” he said. Some of the classes in the program include "The Strategic Value of Information Technology," "Business Intelligence" and "Emerging Technologies." Students in the program work in groups and individually, with a heavy emphasis on case studies, looking at real problems for real companies and finding solutions. The program concludes with a capstone project. “If you were to look at overlapping concentric circles — here’s business, here’s technology — it’s squarely in the middle where those two areas overlap,” Simon said.

Making a statement about information technology

Recent MSIM graduate Ben Silverman was looking for just that. He was working in the technology industry and saw a need for more specialized business credentials. He considered getting an MBA but decided it was too generic for his needs. “Looking at the curriculum I saw almost the perfect balance between business topics and technology topics,” Silverman said of the MSIM program. Silverman wanted a program that made a statement about his commitment to information systems and technology, what he said is his calling in life. The MSIM program was a “win-win” for him, he said, he saw no cons. “Everything that I wanted to be as a leader, things that I wanted to know, it was all matching up with ASU’s MSIM program,” he said. Silverman said the program married technology and business with a central theme of information management running through the entire program. The MSIM program builds its students up, Silverman said. “I do owe a lot to the program,” he said. After graduation, Silverman took a position in Silicon Valley as a systems architect with Mirantis Inc. working on cloud computing. He also contributed to a book as the technical reviewer; he said the degree program helped him get back into writing. “The MSIM gave me that confidence. Now I have this business acumen, I can speak to the c-suite, I have a whole new set of tools in my tool belt, I’ve got a whole new set of terminology, things I didn’t know about the business,” he said.

Reviving business

Chester Qualls was also looking for confidence and an advantage that would get his foot back in the door. When the economy took a hit in 2008, so did Qualls’ company. His IT consulting business, based in Washington, catered to construction companies, specifically home builders. “Their world changed so mine did too,” he said. “I tried to shift my company but ran out of time. Since most of my referral network dispersed or retired, I had to get new customers and the current conditions to get in front of new customers required more than experience.” To rebuild his business he quickly realized he needed to do something to make a big impact, he needed education and credentials to get in front of the new decision makers. Qualls found the MSIM program and is currently enrolled. “The MSIM program focuses on management with a solid IT focus,” he said. Qualls had the technical know-how. He needed more management and business skills and the MSIM was the perfect balance for his needs. “I have found that fellow students with an IT background find the program to be very business intense, but those without an IT background think the program is IT intense … this tells me it is well balanced for both,” he said.

Qualls also liked the fact that the program was geared toward working professionals with a good amount of experience so job placement was on the management level, not entry-level positions. “I expect this program will help me break through current barriers and talk IT to business customers in a way that makes sense to them,” he said. Qualls hopes to revamp his business after completing the program this May. He said the program is already helping him make better decisions. “Going forward, everything I do will be less focused on my own IT skills and more about bringing together various disciplines to help my employers and customers make better — information informed — decisions,” he said. Qualls said that losing his business was a hard way to learn. He’s hoping the master’s degree program will give him the knowledge to avoid bumps in the road in the future. “I have learned that life lessons are expensive,” Qualls said. “Previous business lessons have cost me millions. This degree is a lot cheaper.”