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Recommended Citation: Wilkins, M L and C L Noll.  Critical Skills of IS Professionals: Developing a Curriculum for the Future.  In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2000, v 17 (Philadelphia): §112.
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Critical Skills of IS Professionals: Developing a Curriculum for the Future

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Refereed
 		Marilyn L. Wilkins    [a1] [a2]
School of Business
Eastern Illinois University    [u1] [u2]
Charleston, Illinois, USA    [c1] [c2]

Cheryl L. Noll    [a1] [a2]
School of Business
Eastern Illinois University    [u1] [u2]
Charleston, Illinois, USA    [c1] [c2]

A study was conducted to determine the expected skills and knowledge required for Information Systems professionals in three general staffing groups: programmers, analysts, and end-user support. A survey instrument was developed asking respondents to rate the importance of each knowledge/skill area three years from now for each of the staffing groups. The results show that Information Systems knowledge relating to the entire organization and overall business knowledge will be important with less emphasis being placed on specific Information Systems such as Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Executive Support Systems (ESS). More importance will be placed on web-based languages rather than more traditional languages such as COBOL. The so-called 'soft skills' such as teamwork, collaboration, writing and presentation delivery, and interpersonal and management skills will be critical for success in the Information Systems profession.

Keywords: curriculum development, information systems skills, information systems knowledge, programming skills, analyst skills, end-user support skills

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