Nathalie
What is better? IT or CE?
So next year, I'll be going to Senior High and right now I want to know what technology field I'll get in order to get the right track. I want to know more about IT and CE and what is better and really highly recommended. #computer #technology #computer-engineering #information-technology
4 answers
Lionel Silberman
Lionel’s Answer
Hi Natalie,
Too early to decide for you I believe. However, to your question...
Computer Engineering is usually involved with product design. You work in-depth on a particular product, usually staying with projects longer than IT. Domain knowledge becomes increasingly important as you progress as well as technical skills. IT is more concerned with changing in technology.
I like to think in terms of legos. Think CE as a new lego design and IT as putting legos together (a bit oversimplified). The other major difference is usually CE is connected with revenue generation and IT is a cost center. That means IT people are viewed (unfairly perhaps) as a necessary evil and that means they are looked at first for cost cutting.
I'd be interested in other professionals view on this too.
best,
Lionel
Thank you Sir.
Nathalie
Very good answer Lionel. Well put
Christopher Boutros
Hi Dr. Silberman, I'm currently a rising sophomore in college, who is majoring in IT, and would like to understand what you mean by the phrases, "revenue generation," and "cost center." I'm also in the process on deciding my future career path, and am primarily focused on web and mobile development, but also I'm interested in getting to know more about the IT workforce. Would you mind sharing your experience so that students like me, and Nathalie, can better sense of what is Information Technology?
David
Hi David - Google is your best friend when looking up phrases like that. I just looked them up and can't do better. Might as well try it yourself, as it is now an essential tool for all of us.
As to IT, I think it depends on your personality. I am a mathematician by training and I like to focus deeply and prolonged on something and so product development fits me better than the constant churn in IT. Others, like the variety of technologies and shorter projects that IT brings. I'll post some concrete examples in another post. I'm limited to 800 characters in a comment.
Lionel Silberman
Lionel Silberman
Lionel’s Answer
Concrete examples:
Let's say you have an existing successful, product that backs up files on a corporation's employees computers. It has a lot of business functionality so that administrators can control your frequency and type of files that get backed up and settings for how long to save. Since corporate users are also personal users at home, they know about dropbox and google, and want to also share files as well as back them up. So, you want to add file sharing, but do that in the enterprise space and ensure the new features blend with the backup features. This takes a lot of thought about usage and algorithms and legal issues and competitive features. It would be a long-term project.
In the IT space, you are asked to change email servers from Outlook to Google to save cost. Your end-users will be very concerned if there is any disruption to their work. So, "migration" planning may be 90% of your work. It also will be done in a much shorter time-frame.
William Wong
William’s Answer
I would also like to add that a Computer Engineering degree focuses on both hardware and software, which will include Electrical Engineering concepts such as circuits. Another degree is Computer Science which focuses mainly on the software side.
I feel that this is a great time for you explore and take computer and programming classes at your high school. What is "better" really depends on what you want for your career and what you are interested in.
S M
S’s Answer
If you pursue a degree in computer engineering you will be exposed to more than just how to write software. It's a broader base to build on. Like selecting Electrical Engineering and Computer Science so you can try both to narrow down later in your education timeline if you would like to focus on becoming a software developer (IT) or also be involved in aspects of engineering that builds the product.