Chicago IT Businessman Shows Connection In Both Worlds
Outside of IT managers and owners of technology companies, business management and internet technology don't always meet. But with a growing trend of data scientists and operations research analysts, this may be where the two will interact the most.
"It's very important for business management people to understand what data is, how to manage data and what kind of data is important," said Chaitanya Bandi, an assistant professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "Data analytics is not IT. They're not just writing software."
Data scientists use their analytical knowledge to be able to sift through data from various sources and try to make sense of complex results. Instead of just reporting common statistical behavior, they use their computer science skills to help businesses find new ways of gaining a competitive edge or resolving business problems by looking at what hasn't been discovered already.
Bandi, who proudly admits that he "loves to solve puzzles" in the IT world, also had an interest in the business world.
"I worked at Lehman Brothers, and that just showed me how I could apply my computer science skills to solving business problems. I wanted to do a Ph.D. in the intersection of computer science and business management. That's how I came across operations research, which combines research from both of these fields."
Bandi earned a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in India and a Ph.D. in Operations Research in the Business Management program.
In both business and IT, there's an abundance of information that is either fallacy or fact. This is one of the reasons that Bandi believes traditional education leads to better results for both job industries.
"The amount of online information out there has exploded. When you have an explosion, you need some kind of formal setup to identify which parts of these are really useful. Business in a formal framework would help [decipher] what's good to learn and what's just a waste of time. Business management [students] need to understand data. IT [students] should know about economics. If they do not understand how the economics of a company work, they'll not be able to effectively use their skill set."
Shamontiel L. Vaughn is a professional journalist who has work featured in AXS, Yahoo!, Chicago Defender and Chicago Tribune. She's been an Examiner since 2009 and currently writes about 10 categories on Examiner.com.
