November, 9 2009

CS101 PresentationCS101 Presentation

About Me (so, who is this guy?):About Me (so, who is this guy?):

Tony Shuba

Enterprise Solutions Manager @ BlueStorm Technologies, Inc.

Experience Miller Aviation / Miller Information Technologies – 6 years Corning Data Services – 4 years BlueStorm – 6 years

Education B.S. (Computer Science) – Binghamton, Watson School 1994 Multiple Industry Certifications (IBM, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems)

Why am I here todayWhy am I here today

First, Important to hear from the outside

Focus on C.S. Graduates in Corporate I/T

What a great time to be in Computer Science!

What a great time to be in Computer What a great time to be in Computer ScienceScience What once cost $1,000’s to $10,000’s is now free

Development Environments Servers Operating Systems Virtualization Software

Truly a Mission-Critical component in today’s enterprise

Many, many career choices within the Industry

Renewed focus on value of I/T (Post dot com world)

Ability to change the world! (in a positive way)

In context, CS today is not too shabbyIn context, CS today is not too shabby

When I was your age…

Stand Alone Legacy Applications (Main Frame)

Windows Applications – Stand Alone

Windows Applications – “Client Server”

Windows Applications – “N-Tier”

Windows Applications – Collaborative AppsWeb Applications – Java Enterprise

Web Applications – Stand Alone (Simple Sites)

Web Applications – Portals

Web Applications – Distributed Web Services / SOA

Web Applications – Web 2.0, Mobile, etc…

And it won’t stop there…. What’s next?

Eclipse

But, at least I missed these…But, at least I missed these…

Agenda 1. Company Overview

3. Pace and Nature of Change in I/T Industry

4. Career-Long Learning

5. Trends and Directions in the I/T Industry

6. Conclusion and Questions

2. CS Graduate Success in the Corporate World

BlueStorm Company OverviewBlueStorm Company Overview

Incorporated in 1999

Headquartered in Binghamton, NY

Focused on Enterprise Solutions

Customers across the U.S.

Projects in countries such as: Sweden Germany Brazil U.K.

How we see ourselvesHow we see ourselves

BlueStorm is a Systems Integrator / Solutions Provider Focused on I/T Needs of an Organization Provide On-Demand Infrastructure Develop Enterprise-class solutions Provide secure, reliable, scalable solutions Integration, Integration, Integration

We are a Services company

Heavily focused on Java / JEE

A Company that… 1. Attracts and Retains Top People

3. Maintains High Standards and High Expectations

4. Is Respected by our Customers and partners

5. Fundamentally changes the way our customers do business

6. Provides a Competitive Advantage to our customers

2. Attracts and Retains Top Companies

From our Vision StatementFrom our Vision Statement

What we have achieved so far:What we have achieved so far:Customers

Our Primary PartnershipsOur Primary Partnerships

The Services BusinessThe Services Business

I/T Services vs. Internal I/T Trends

Excitement

Customer, Customer, Customer

Value, Value, Value If we aren’t significantly better, why hire us?

Expected to keep up with the industry What is going on in our space and outside of our

space

Industry Certified Experts

40h

Skill CategoriesSkill Categories

Hard Skills Traditional / Typical Computer Science skills Get you to the table

Soft Skills Interpersonal skills – how people relate to each other The skills you need to succeed Possibly more important over the longer term Get you in the door

Hard SkillsHard Skills

“Get you to the table”

Employers: Expected set of skills for CS Grad. Knowledge and base Proficiency Examples:

○ Programming Languages, Data Structures, Software Engineering, Operating Systems, etc.

Are there Differentiators? Academic: Grades, Project Work, etc. More important: Additional knowledge and skills

Hard Skills – Additional KnowledgeHard Skills – Additional Knowledge

In My Experience… Missing Skills:

Context – Understand the bigger picture○ Move toward I/T Architect skills

Application – Applied and Demonstrated Skills

“Harder” Skills:○ Additional “Concrete” skills that tip the balance in your favor

Let’s look at a few Concrete Skills that employers look for…Let’s look at a few Concrete Skills that employers look for…

Additional Skills – Concrete SkillsAdditional Skills – Concrete Skills

Database Development Knowledge and application of SQL Fundamental database design (Entity-Relationship Diagrams) Relational Theory and Normalization

Web Development Skills Minimum: HTML and JavaScript Web Programming – Corporate Focus

Java Language, API Basics, Web Development

Higher Level Design e.g. Design Pattern Concepts

Soft SkillsSoft Skills

“Get you in the door”

For many: The Missing Piece Many students are unprepared – foreign concepts

For Employers: Provide ROI (Return on Investment)

○ To bring you onboard an employer is making a significant investment (Money, Time, Effort, …)

○ “New” employees vs. “Seasoned” employees

Revelation: Writing code is a small part of what you will do day-to-day

Soft Skills ExamplesSoft Skills Examples

Documentation Skills Presentation Skills

Problem Solving Skills Self Management Time Management Team Building Participation

Motivation Respect Responsible

Work on the Soft SkillsWork on the Soft Skills

Take the Next four years to work on these skills If you are motivated, you’ll find a way

Every document, every project is important! * Take a public speaking class * Take a technical writing class Take courses that have group assignments and presentations Participate in projects outside normal coursework (Research)

Industry / Corporate Experience: Co-op Internship Part-time

Yes, it’s painful, but worth it

Two More…Two More…

Business Skills General business knowledge Business Acumen Helps with:

○ Business Application Development○ Conversing with Customers○ Sound Project Decisions

Research Skills Surprisingly Lacking Many, many, many sources of information today

Ability to ResearchAbility to Research

The Greatest Thing to happen to the I/T World:

ChangeChange

A Constant in this field

Need to analyze new technologies What is the longevity? How does it fit within the organization? How to introduce?

Agent of Change Balance today’s organizational needs with technology

needs

Always reading, always researching, …

My ObservationsMy Observations

The best embrace change To them change doesn’t seem like “change” Already “up” on what’s going on Have strong foundational elements in place already

The best have the concept of “Play” “I’m playing around with…” Don’t lose the initiative of Play Try things

○ Write code○ Build things○ Try out new technologies

The best develop opinions on new technology Within the context of organizational needs

LearningLearning

Life-time Learning!

Formal and Informal training

Most of it will fall on you Responsibility

Often no formal training available Utilize Books, Play, Google, etc.

The best: Are in a constant state of learning Never let themselves fall behind

ChallengesChallenges

Everything is Speeding up… Number of Development requests Timeframe to complete Critical nature Complexity is increasing

Complexity Application and System Complexity Development environment complexity

○ Example: Java

Complexity Example: JavaComplexity Example: Java

Java the Programming Language Object Oriented Programming Java the Virtual Machine Java the Standard Edition API’s (Java SE) Java the Enterprise Edition API’s (Java EE) HTML JavaScript JavaServer Pages Java Servlets JavaServer Faces (JSF) Enterprise Java Beans 3.0 (EJB3) Java Persistence API (JPA) ORM Web Services XML Ajax Web Framewoks (ADF, Seam, Spring, etc.) etc., etc., etc.

“Do we need toknow Java?”

-- anonymous

At the same time…At the same time…

The number of resources available is unprecedented: Google Blogs Wikis White Papers Books Free, open source, downloadable software

If you have the initiative, it’s a great time to be in C.S.!!!

Moving Forward – Some thoughts…Moving Forward – Some thoughts… Less Focus on Writing Code

More Focus on:○ Component Reuse○ Services and API’s (Service Oriented Architecture - SOA)○ Visual Modeling and Design○ Visual Development of Systems

Developer and Team Productivity E.g. Eclipse Mylyn Project

Scripting Language Components e.g. Jython, Ruby, etc.

Improved Application Frameworks e.g. Oracle ADF Framework

Security

Integration Web Services, SOA, Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

Web 2.0 Concepts

Mobility (again)

Virtualization

Final ThoughtsFinal Thoughts

Be ready for the amount of work required It’s like writing a term paper or project all the time

Be prepared for the speed and amount of change

Don’t be afraid to ask for help… … but do the research first You are not expected to be the expert… yet.

And finally…

Be Passionate – Do something you love to do!

Questions?Questions?

BlueStorm Technologies, Inc.BlueStorm Technologies, Inc.20-24 Wall StreetBinghamton, NY 13901

http://www.bluestormtech.com

Contact:

Tony Shubatshuba@bluestormtech.com 607-762-5401