No new applications are being accepted to this program currently. The information on this page should only be used as reference for students who started the program prior to fall 2007.
Information technology encompasses all aspects of management associated with the planning, design, development, acquisition, implementation, and maintenance of both computer systems and telecommunications for the support of an organization’s products and services. The Executive Program for the Master of Science in information technology is designed around six seminars; each is important for managers in a technology-driven, globally competitive business environment. Seminars address the areas of information management skills, new and emerging information technologies, and information technology operations. Seminar six also serves as a capstone to integrate the lessons and objectives of the program. This program consists of six, 6-credit seminars.
The Executive Program for the MS in information technology is an accelerated program using the seminar format. Instructional methodologies include lectures, case studies, structured discussions, guest speakers, videos, computer exercises, written projects, and oral presentations. Seminars are held every other Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and are supplemented with UMUC's online instruction to provide maximum flexibility and convenience.
All classes in the Executive Program for the MS in information technology are held at the same location in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area throughout the program. This location may be the UMUC Inn and Conference Center in Adelphi, Maryland, the USM Shady Grove Center in Rockville, Maryland, or another facility in Northern Virginia or Washington, D.C.
All participants are required to have a notebook computer with the following minimum configuration:
Please note that the requirements on this page are for students who enrolled in the program prior to fall 2007.
Seminar 1 presents an overview of the information technology (IT) industry. Its goal is to impart an understanding of how the many elements of information technology work and what their limitations are. Mathematical and physical concepts helpful in thinking about the capabilities of information technology and its applications are presented. These topics include information theory, digitization, probability, transmission media, integrated circuits, and optical switching. Also, the seminar describes concepts essential to information security applications, such as various encryption schemes and measures for assuring personnel and physical security.
Students then apply strategic analysis techniques to business policy and organizational development. Emphasis is placed on linking technology policy with corporate strategy and the identification of technology options appropriate for the business or organizational strategy being executed. Strategy is covered both at the business unit and corporate (organizational) level. Topics covered include historical perspectives on strategic technology planning, external and internal strategic analysis, technology forecasting, benchmarking, corporate intelligence, knowledge management, and implementation and control strategies.
In Seminar 2, issues, theories, and procedures associated with the effective management of human resources in technology-based organizations are presented. Emphasis is placed on the integration of human resource planning with corporate strategic planning. Its purpose is to help each student appreciate the value of effective management of people in a variety of organizational settings, and to provide the methods to do so. Topics include leadership requirements for managing innovative and creative people, structuring teams, management of conflict and change, communication techniques, feedback and the processes involved in project management with a focus on group and team formation and group dynamics. Career decisions within technical organizations, including the requirements for transition to management, dual career paths for scientific/technical personnel, performance incentives, and the manager's role in subordinate appraisal and development, are discussed.
Project management concepts and techniques are then discussed. Project planning, organizing, team building, and effective control mechanisms are presented. The key management aspects and proven techniques that differentiate project management from other types of management are fully discussed. Topics include effective project management styles, critical factors for success, organizational support systems, project authority, and ethics in project execution. Cost, schedule and technical planning, and control are stressed. Project management software is used for creating a typical project plan and tracking the project. Finally, students identify processes to analyze and manage financial information in technology-intensive organizations with rapid product/service cycles and high value-added intellectual property. Students are introduced to the preparation of a variety of financial analysis tools from simple balance sheets to activity-based costing. The basis of asset valuation is discussed, including capital and technological assets, intellectual property, and intangibles.
In Seminar 3, the most successful strategies and approaches for achieving a high-performing organization are studied. Organizational effectiveness is examined with an emphasis placed on performance capabilities such as adaptability, flexibility, responsiveness, decisiveness, speed, quality, value, and customer satisfaction. Strategies and approaches of organizational effectiveness based on the latest research findings as well as "best practice" used by "world-class" organizations, are examined.
The proliferation of corporate databases and the development of telecommunication network technology as gateways or invitations to intrusion are next examined. Ways of investigating the management of the risk and security of data and data systems are presented as a function of design through recovery and protection. Issues of risk and security as they relate to specific industries and government are major topics. Examples are presented of how major technological advances in computer and operating systems have placed data, as tangible corporate assets, at risk. Quantitative sampling techniques for risk assessment and for qualitative decision making under uncertainty are explored.
In Seminar 4, the major hardware and system software components and underlying technologies that are the basis of the modern digital computer are examined. Major developments in the evolution of computers are reviewed. The similarities and differences between mainframes, minicomputers, and microprocessors are investigated. Supercomputer, parallel processor, and distributed system architectures are examined. Various types of storage media and input/output devices are discussed. An overview of system software elements, including operating systems and middleware, is also presented. Advanced topics such as optical computers and bio-molecular computers are also discussed.
Technology, engineering practices, and business economics behind the wide variety of modern software-intensive systems are then studied. Foundations of software engineering are examined. Classes of application domains including real-time systems and transaction-based systems are analyzed. The practices used in developing small-scale and large-scale software systems are evaluated. Modern issues including design of the human-computer interface, software product liability, and certification of software engineers are discussed. The seminar concludes by investigating the structure, environment, and possible future of the software industry.
Seminar 5 begins with a study of data communication fundamentals. These include digital and analog signals; modulation; circuit and packet switching; multiple access schemes such as Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA); and telecommunication standards such as the Open System Interconnect (OSI) Model. The course then moves to telecommunications networks with a review of Local Area Networks (LANs) including topologies, contention access methods, and internetworking devices such as bridges, routers and gateways. Also covered are Wide Area Networks (WANs) including the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), wireless networks such as cellular, Personal Communication Systems, and wireless data, the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), X.25, Frame Relay, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). Finally, we examine the network convergence issue; that is, one network for data, voice, images, and video.
The focus of the seminar then moves to the Internet, addressing both its technological basis and its applications. Internet technology, including packet networking, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Internet security, Internet 2, and IPV.6, are examined. Internet applications and its evolving use for multimedia transmission, private and leased service IP networks, e-commerce, data warehousing, data mining, and policy issues such as universal service and access are evaluated.
Seminar 6 begins with the study of Systems Engineering as an interdisciplinary approach to developing complex systems that satisfy a client mission in an operational environment. This topic is an examination of the systems engineering process with special emphasis on computers and software systems. Included is an overview of system theory and structures, elements of the systems life cycle, risk and trade-off analyses, modeling and simulation, and the tools needed to analyze and support the systems process. Case studies from the information technology domain will be used to illustrate the systems engineering principles.
The capstone integrates and applies the major concepts presented in all other course work. Using casework methods, students will identify best practices and appropriate technologies to implement effective IT decisions aligned with organizational goals. Strong emphasis is placed on viewing information technology issues in a context of both day-to-day and strategic management decision making based on applied research. Issues include competitiveness, information architecture, user needs, process reengineering, value chain management, collaborative computing, globalization, social impact, information policy, and ethics. Emerging trends in information technology are analyzed to understand their potential effect on the workplace and society.