What Can You Do with a Master of IT Management Degree?

Information technology (IT) is vital to organizations. Not only do IT teams manage critical technology systems to effectively and securely optimize and support operations, they also keep an eye on what’s ahead. How is technology changing? How will those changes impact their organization and stakeholders? And what should be done to prepare and respond?

As change agents spearheading digital transformation, IT leaders play an important part in their respective organizations. But today, digital transformation extends far beyond the technology itself. There is an urgent and growing need to connect the roles and responsibilities of IT to the larger objectives of the organization. In a recent survey, tech leaders said they’re increasingly asked to prioritize business/digital strategy (35%)—in addition to tech innovation (22%) and driving organizational tech fluency (15%).

These priorities demand a broad understanding of how IT management integrates with and informs every aspect of the organization—from communications to finance to sales as well as from human resources to risk management to business ethics.

A master’s in information technology management (MITM) can be instrumental in developing this holistic mindset, training today’s IT leaders in an important balance of technology management, business, and leadership skills. Here’s a closer look at what you can do with an MITM degree.

Master of IT Management Degree Benefits

An MITM degree intentionally combines technology and business skills to develop a generation of IT leaders who don’t go to work in a silo—focused solely on servers, networks, and applications. With the knowledge and skills they earn, they become active, strategic participants in key conversations and decisions happening across the organization.

“Getting an MITM is like having the best of both worlds,” said Dr. Dwayne Hodges, academic director of Wake Forest University’s online master’s in IT management. “You can dig into the technology itself, but it’s also crucial that you learn business fundamentals, which raises your leadership profile within your organization.” 

This kind of forward-looking, human-centered leadership is what helps IT leaders stand apart, and it’s why an MITM develops competencies in students that complement and enhance IT management, such as: 

• Change management: Help lead the organization in implementing and managing wide-scale change by guiding, directing, and assisting individuals and teams across departments.
• Communication: Message with transparency and responsiveness to stakeholders—both internal and external. 
• Decision-making: Navigate complex organizational structures within the broader cultural, social, and economic landscape, and ensure an ethical approach to decision-making.
• Negotiation and conflict management: Identify the underlying causes of conflict, and apply proven methods and frameworks of successful negotiation.
• Ethics: Understand the breadth of public concerns around tools like AI, and collaborate with other teams in the organization to address concerns responsibly.

Possible Career Paths with a Master of IT Management

A Master of IT Management can open doors to a variety of jobs and career paths—from manager positions all the way up to the C-suite, from IT-centric work to work that branches out into sales and production. 

Here’s an exploration of some of these career opportunities:

• Chief technology officer: Oversee technology for the entire organization—including the management of IT, data, internal tech processes, and product and service development. Improve and innovate the customer experience with technology.
• IT manager: Coordinate, secure, and maintain digital operations. Provide troubleshooting and support across the organization, and develop and deploy risk management strategies and protocols.
• Information security analyst: Assess security threats and protect the organization’s data, networks, and systems from security breaches. Design and implement organizational policies that address, mitigate, and reduce cybersecurity risks.
• Industrial production manager: Maintain safe production processes on the factory floor to protect employees. Analyze production data to optimize factory operations and resources, and monitor production budgets and schedules.
• Design quality engineer: Ensure quality at every stage of a product’s lifecycle. Validate design inputs, oversee and enforce quality protocols, troubleshoot and problem-solve, and report on the product’s performance in the market using data analysis and statistics.
• Technical sales engineer: Make complex technical products accessible to potential clients through easy-to-understand sales presentations and materials. Collaborate with product designers and engineers to customize products to customer needs.

“With Wake Forest’s online MITM, skilled graduates can enter the workforce prepared and able to pursue their individual career interests,” Dwayne said.

“You get to use your tech skills and your business skills to align IT with your organization’s goals and help steer its trajectory.”

Enhance your knowledge of technology leadership with the online Master of Information Technology Management from Wake Forest University’s School of Professional Studies (SPS). Request information today to get started.