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Missouri State University Introduces New Degree in IT Service Management


WEBWIRE

Co-Developed With IBM, Emerging Discipline to Integrate Courses in Science, Engineering and Technology



SPRINGFIELD, MO and ARMONK, NY.-Missouri State University and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that the university will offer the first Bachelor of Science (BS) in IT Service Management in the U.S. The new degree program, created in collaboration with IBM’s IT Service Curriculum (ITSC), will be conferred by the Department of Computer Information Systems in the College of Business Administration.
The new curriculum addresses the expansion of the services sector, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics says now represents more than 75 percent of the U.S. economy and is continuing to grow. According to the Bureau, 83 percent of all employees in 2005 were in service jobs and they predict that this sector of employment will encompass 90 percent of all new jobs by 2012.

IT Service Management is an emerging discipline for the management of IT services, resources and systems. IBM defines an IT service as any service process delivered by an IT department to support critical business functions. Through the new curriculum, students will learn to use technology for service delivery and support to better manage people, processes and assets. Graduates of Missouri State’s IT Service Management program will possess marketable skills for jobs across a range of industries such as financial services, healthcare and retail. They will be prepared to work as consultants, IT architects, IT managers, project managers, IT specialists, marketing and sales leads, entrepreneurs, and executives.

“Our new degree program will give students employable skills that they can put to use in diverse business environments,” said Ronald Bottin, Dean of the College of Business Administration, Missouri State. “In an increasingly global workplace, IT professionals are being called on to help businesses understand and use technology for competitive advantage all over the world.”

IBM will support this degree through its ITSC program by supplying methodologies and course material in IT Services, including lab exercises, class assignments and case studies. Basic concepts will be reinforced using cutting edge teaching methods and tools donated through IBM’s Academic Initiative program. These tools include the IBM ISM Simulation tool, an experiential learning aid that teaches students how technology can be used to address customer pains and business interests. This unique role-playing device gives students scenarios of how customers handle IT outages, changes, and upgrades.

Businesses based in Missouri are applauding the development of the new BS degree. “As a corporate partner, Cerner Corp. is pleased to see the university offer students the opportunity to learn about service management in a real-life environment,” said Dale Knapp, CernerWorks Production Executive. “Cerner actively searches and recruits talented individuals with skills that will allow the company to continue to lead the market with innovative healthcare technology solutions around the world. Missouri State’s introduction of the IT Service Management degree allows Cerner to continue recruiting top talent from the university.”

Making an Impact in a Global Environment
The changing nature of the world’s economy is opening up a wealth of opportunities in the worlds of technology, science and business. To remain competitive, individuals have to adapt and apply integrated skills from all three of these fields.

“In the 1950s, IBM helped establish computer science as a new academic discipline working with Columbia University. Today’s economy requires individuals to cultivate new expertise and skill sets,” said Jai Menon, IBM Fellow, VP of Technical Strategy, and Vice-Chair of the IBM Academy of Technology. “In a world where the means of production and distribution are increasingly available, differentiation can only be achieved through skills. IBM co-developed the IT Service Management program with Missouri State to empower students to capture all the opportunities associated with the growing services industry.”

Missouri State requires students to complete courses in the natural world, social science, creativity and vision, along with pre-required courses in computer information systems, business administration, and IT Services. The future of skills in the workforce includes a mix of deep technical skills and “soft” business skills.

The IBM ITSC program was developed to help universities establish courses and degree programs that produce graduates having for architecting, engineering, implementing, managing and delivering skills in demand for information technology services. The ITSC program is a specific implementation of Service Science Management Engineering (SSME) where the developed skills match those required by information technology managers and implementers.



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