I came across this article from siliconindia when I was thinking of stuffs to update in my blog. My last post also getting older and older and my in-born laziness and regular work did not give up few minutes to update my blog… hmm hope you understood 
decided to give some work for ctrl+c and v. But really very nice and informative article, So decided to share with you all… Thanks to Smarttechie publisher.
Here is the summary of that article…
There are still a few things left that Google can’t search, software can’t solve and mortals don’t understand. One such mystical thing is the perfect career. When it comes to something as important as your career, there is plenty of advice on offer and yet, there really is no sure shot at success. We at The SmartTechie have often wondered if management training was one way to ensure a good career?
Do techies need a Master in Business Administration (M.B.A) degree? Who better to answer that question than the gurus themselves…the people who have done the same thing you did, a little ahead of your time and went on to do wonders in the IT industry—the same industry that you probably work for.
Our findings were stunning: More than 80 percent of the bigwig techies or the gurus managing Indian and multinational IT companies do not have an M.B.A. Just one percent of the total IT jobs for engineers require M.B.A. And finally yet futuristically, with IT companies starting to offer product to Indian market, the MBA trend will snowball.
Just being B.E
It is clear that an M.B.A is not a requirement for engineering roles. Often engineers at the developer roles do not involve themselves in understanding and enhancing the business needs of an organization. “If an engineer has an intense desire to learn more about business side of the organization, then perhaps he should move on to do an M.B.A,” says Himanshu Singh, Executive Director, India & SAARC, Cadence Design Systems, who attended a four-month certificate program in management from Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur. He feels it gives a comprehensive understanding of businesses.
It is necessary to understand that a mid-rung position within an IT organization is often the forte of technology managers. These technology managers who handle responsibilities of project management and team leads need to have a strong footing on program and project management techniques. So, often a project management course is of greater use than an M.B.A.
Employees at the technology management level most often need great people management skills, which does not really need an M.B.A. Obviously implying that for the role of a project manager or operational manager, and people management skills can be acquired on the job too. Managers who go out to do an M.B.A at this juncture, come back to add value to their companies. Although the value is immense, they often lose out on the other aspects of a management degree like finance, business law—eventually forgetting due to non-usage. If they learn immediately after B.E.
One should know that in the IT industry, management is not just management of business per se but technology management also. Typically in a technology product company about 20 to 25 percent of its revenue is spent on research and development, which is counted as engineering activities such as coding, customer specification, designing, architecture amongst others. Hence, there is great opportunity for technical-managerial roles with the rest 75-80 percent. But an M.B.A is not a must.
Customer dating roles
As you grow within the organization, it is a clear sign that the organization is growing too. No longer would one just be doing isolated technical functions, like they did in start of their career. Seven years, on an average, after commencing an IT career with a pure technical role one would definitely be involved with clients and delivery. When one touches those boundaries, it is often advisable to take up an M.B.A.
For techies moving onto higher responsibilities it all boils down to people and time management, along with resources and cost management. Clearly these demand a different skill sets acquisition than pure technical knowledge.
For roles such as tech marketing, where customer interaction is their bread-and-butter business, an M.B.A will add a significant value.
Even in roles such as a delivery manager, an M.B.A is a plus point. To execute a project with the right delivery processes, a thorough knowledge of contract negotiations, and margins is required.
Killing your technical instincts just for some buzz surrounding managerial roles is often the biggest mistakes techies do. Avoiding herd-mentality and deciding whether you are fit for the technical track or management track is the call techies need to take. And this call, techies should understand, is based on ones aptitude and more importantly attitude.
Simple test for techies
Are you in love with the technology you work with? Are you inspired by the Bill Joys of Sun, Jerry Yangs of Yahoo, Sergey Brins and Larry Pages of Google? Do you love being part of the international techie community where you stand for something and love being recognized? If a techie nods the head in affirmation, then the candidate should continue doing what he’s doing and look for advanced technical degrees, especially in a particular technical domain and be the worldwide expert in that domain.
“Examples of Andy Grove, Craig Barrett of Intel will tell you that in high-tech industry it is not an M.B.A that counts but a PhD,” says Chinnu Senthilkumar, MD of SanDisk India, who does not hold an M.B.A. PhD gives you a great focus and specialization in one particular field, but M.B.A makes one a jack of all and master of none.
If the above doesn’t hold true for you then you are inclined towards business and M.B.A is a good option.
SWOT test
The other way to analyze what you need to be doing is a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threat) analysis. That is a good sign of knowing oneself better and being more adroit in handling themselves. But don’t forget to count your passion in.
Dr Vivek Mansingh, head of Dell R&D (India) advises to have a plan for your life like every organization has a plan with measurable timeframes. Follow the plan with perseverance and correct it when needed. Manage your own Inc. Collect the skills to make your Inc. succeed. The professional world is a complex collection of unique individuals, all struggling to advance their careers at all costs. But the successful ones should walk backwards from their vision and let not MBA be the end of the vision.
How does one know that he/she is a better manager than a techie?
“This can only happen via two basic processes. The informal intuitive one leads a person on to a path that defines itself over time. It comes from within. The other is a formal one where an organization or a mentor/tutor provides feedback that defines what you are and where you will go. Neither are perfect. Finally only time will tell,” Shiv Nadar, Founder HCL, Chairman & CEO HCL Technologies.
Does MBA mean higher pay scale?
The different pay scales for engineers possessing MBAs and those not in IT companies have been a hotly debated topic. There is a general perception that most Indian companies offer higher compensation to engineers holding an MBA. At the entry point a differentiation has to be made because of the additional qualifications possessed. However once the person is on the job it depends on how they deliver.
There are techies who earn more than some managers do. Some like Vijay Prasad, a senior developer at Siemens believes that management guys get paid double to that of a techie with the same experience. However, Raghavendra Prasad, Technical Marketing Manager at Sasken strongly disagrees that money doubles with just another management degree beside one’s name.
“IT engineers with an engineering and M.B.A degree will command 20 percent of premium 8 to 9 years after their entry into the industry. This was the same in Bay Area when I used to work a couple of years back,” says Vinod Mankala, HR Manager Cisco Systems India. And some of the country heads, without an MBA, earn close to Rs10 million (Rs 1 crore) annually!
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