Going Corporate: A Geek's Guide

Going Corporate: A Geek's Guide shows technology workers how to gain the understanding and skills necessaryfor becoming an effective, promotable manager orsought-after consultant or freelancer.

Technology professionals typically dive deeply into small pieces of technologylike lines of code or the design of a circuit. As a result, they may have trouble seeing the bigger picture and how their work supports an organizations goals. But ignoring or dismissing the business or operational aspects of projects and products can lead to career stagnation. In fact, understanding the larger business environmentis essential for those who want a management job, a consulting gig,or to one daystart a business. Its also essential for those who have been promoted and find themselves flailing for lack of a business education.

Going Corporate: A Geek's Guide to the rescue! This book is designed to help readers gain management skills, insight,and practical understanding of essential business and operational topics. Readers will learn to develop project and program management skills, deliver service efficiently and improve processes, implement governance, analyze financial statements, and much more. After reading this book,technology professionals will understand such things as enterprise architecture, IT operations management, strategic and financial managementand how each relates to the others. Detailed case studies help cement an understanding of how an IT organization and its workers succeed in the 21st century. This book:

• Illustrates how pieces of the business puzzle fit together to form a robust enterprise
• Preparesreaders to get promoted into management
• Explains the key management skills and knowledge required for a successful IT career

• The skills and knowledge it takes to be an effectiveproject, program, or mid-level manager, in-demand consultantoreven a C-level executive
• How your current job fits into the bigger picture
• What your organization must do to create customers and make a profit
• How good governance turns strategy into effective action
• How understanding financescorporate or departmentalcan help unlockbusiness potential
• The toolsnecessaryfor making soundoperational decisions

• Workers in the technology trenches wondering how to improve career potential
• Technology professionals aiming for management positions
• Fresh graduates startinga career in the corporate world
• Recently promoted managers with little or no business education
• Students in technical or business programs

This book will also be useful for practicing engineers and managers as a refresher course on operation...