EMTM Profiles by Industry:
Computers/IT/Telecom

In an era when IT and telecommunication technologies touch nearly every aspect of every business, success is often determined by understanding how to assess and leverage the technology you have... and how to plan for the technology you will need. EMTM prepares leaders who can bridge the gap between business strategy and technology potential.

Managers who are able to ‘speak both languages’ — who understand the fundamental drivers of business, coupled with a working knowledge of key IT and telecommunications principles — are the leaders who will create the greatest competitive edge for themselves and their organizations.

“Excellent technical solutions are routinely discarded by the industry and consumers because they ignore or aggravate the non-technological forces that constrain the industry,” says Mark Pecen, EMTM’05, Vice President, Advanced Technology at Research In Motion, Limited. Mark credits EMTM with enabling him to better evaluate the financial impact of long-term investments. “Most companies treat research like development. But the payoff from research is long-term.” Given the cost of capital over these periods, there is a need to keep experiments small and use options. This approach helps avoid the over-commitment that is a common problem in investing in new technologies.

EMTM’s range of course offerings in IT and Telecommunications are designed to provide managers (whether or not they come from a technical background) with the knowledge to understand, assess and lead in the development of innovative IT and telecommunications solutions. But even more than this, EMTM students and graduates tell us it’s the program’s unique blend of technology and management and the exposure to perspectives from so many different industries that really makes the difference in how they are immediately able to apply EMTM to their work and give new direction to their careers.

“EMTM gave me exposure to senior executives and an understanding of how management works. With my degree I felt very comfortable taking the next step, and from there things moved fairly quickly for me,” says Rhonda Buehler, EMTM’96, Vice President, Global Solutions Definition at GXS.

“The reason I joined the EMTM program is because my background was mainly technical. EMTM opened my eyes to thinking about how to deal with innovation,” says Karl Schlieber, EMTM’02, Director of Architecture Governance at AT&T. EMTM helped Karl better understand the business issues involved in making investments in the face of uncertainty. “Building infrastructure is a critical decision for carriers to make — and it is not cheap. You need to make sure you are doing it at the right time.”

“What makes EMTM’s environment so incredible is this constant energy of new ideas, and new creative ways of doing things,” says Sam Kim, MBA, EMTM’05, Worldwide Director of Product Generation at Hewlett-Packard Company. A program manager focused on HP’s deskjet printers when he started EMTM, Sam began applying his learning immediately, with dramatic results for his team and the company. “The richness of the experience comes from the quality of the students and professors. Almost every class was an awe-inspiring event.”

Related Links
> Focus on: IT and Telecommunications
> The Future is Calling: 4G and the New Age of Wireless
> IT Security & Privacy
> IT Challenges: Empowering IT Professionals to Cope with Global Technology Change
> Technology Commercialization

Representative Organizations
Companies and organizations where EMTM students and graduates have worked include:

If you are interested in EMTM and would like to speak with a graduate or current student in this career field, please contact us.