Author: 1281664

Investigate & Design

The development of new software involves many different stages, and the Investigation and Design stage will be completed at the beginning of the process. The two job roles that I will explore are a Systems Analyst and a System Designer/ Architect.
Systems Analyst
The job of a systems analyst is to figure out what the software will need to do. They will have to use the knowledge that they have gained through many years of experience to understand and figure out what the purpose of the software is. They will also have to have a good understanding of the company/ organization/ industry that the software is being designed for. They will need to be very experienced in the area and also have good creative skills as they may have to think of ways in which the new software is better than the older version.
System Designer/ Architect
This role leads on from the systems analyst; once the analyst has decided what the software needs to do, the designer/ architect will design how the software will fulfill this. They will have to look at the ways in which the new software is better than the old and adjust their designs according to this. A System Designer/ Architect will need to be very experienced, have excellent creativity and also have a sound understanding of the techniques required to successfully design software.

Job Roles Within the IT Industry

Jemma Willis

Unit 2: Working in the IT Industry

P2

General IT

Hardware Specific

Software Specific

There are many Job roles within the IT industry, and also job roles that are specific to certain fields. In General IT, there can be different job roles; I will be exploring the roles of IT Service Management & Delivery and Network Management.
IT Service Management and Delivery
This is a very general job role, and also where a lot of people start when they begin their careers in the IT industry. This job role can also be known as ‘support’ as the people that work within it are usually there to answer and solve queries that people have. An example of where this job role can be found is in a food manufacturing company. Details such as sales and amount of produce sold will need to be recorded on a computer, and if any of the employees come across any problems, they will refer to the IT help department. Skills and characteristics that are important are ‘good people skills’ as you will be interacting all the time, patience as people will often make mistakes and good writing skills as you will have to give clear instructions.
Network Management
A network manager over sees and organizes a large network of hardware within a company. And example of where a Network Manager would be employed is at a College. They will be in charge of ensuring that the network is working properly, and problems are fixed and making changes to the network if need be. They will have to co– ordinate components such as printers and servers. Skills needed are good technical knowledge and problem solving.

There are also hardware specific job roles that involve working directly with hardware components, the examples that I will explore are Hardware Design Engineer and a Technical Product Manager.
Hardware Design Engineer
As suggested in the name, the role of a Hardware Design Engineer is to help to design hardware. They will have to come up with ideas about new products that could be made but also to think about how existing products can be improved. They will also have to work with other departments such as marketing as they will have to think of effective ways of selling their product. Skills and characteristics needed are good practical skills, problem solving and inter personal skills.
Technical Product Manager
A Technical Product Manager’s role is to oversee the production of new products and follow them as they grow and develop. They will need to make sure all of the aspects of the product are realistic, think about where it will be appropriate to market the product and who the target audience is. They will have to liaise with many different clients in order to get their product out into the market. Skills and characteristics needed will be the ability to manage a team of people, have a strong work ethic and the ability to think of ways to develop product ideas. They will also have to have excellent inter personal skills as they will spend a lot of their time with other people trying to market the new product they are managing.

Software specific roles involves or covers a wide variety of different job roles. This can be programming for example system programming or development for example creating and developing a website. The two job roles that I will explore are a System Programmer and a Website Developer.
System Programmer
A system programmer will have many different roles to fulfill. One example is that they will have to update operating systems when new hardware is developed, as the older version of the operating system may not support the new hardware component. Another example is that they will have to deal with security issues identified with an operating system; they will need to update the software so that the system cannot be infiltrated by threats. A system programmer will need to have excellent mathematical skills and the ability to solve complex problems.
Website Developer
A website developer will have to firstly design web pages and then create them using the appropriate software, if they are creating a website for, for example a clothes shop, they will have to consider many different aspects such as ways in which the user can select the items they want, how many items, payment methods and navigation to different pages on the website. The skills and characteristics that a website developer needs are things such as being creative, have a good understanding of the software they are working with and problem solving.