With 16 years’ experience doing everything from coding to systems management, Scott Nease thought he was ready to step up to the big chair. But when he enrolled in a six-month executive education program geared for teaching business skills to IT pros, his worldview changed.

“I thought IT was all 1s and 0s, and the CIO was just the person with all the answers on the technology side,” Nease says, information systems manager at Axis Dental, an equipment manufacturer. “But being CIO is really about how to manage the business from a technology standpoint, and determining the right tools and solutions to implement. [The courses] opened my eyes to a level of IT structure I didn’t know existed.”

Nease was one of the lucky ones -- his employers sent him to Technology Leadership Essentials, a 12-course program offered by Carnegie Mellon University and Tatum Partners in 35 U.S. cities. When most IT pros go back to school, they do it on their own. According to a survey by the Computing Technology Industry Association, 88 percent of IT pros pay for all or part of the training themselves, and four out of five aren’t compensated for the time they spend in class. Not surprisingly, more than half say they’re looking for better jobs with other employers.

Some, like Nease, go back to school seeking the business acumen that will allow them to reach the next level. Others hope to develop the skills to survive in an increasingly global IT environment. That includes both learning how to manage employees spread halfway across the globe, and making themselves more marketable in case their own jobs end up being outsourced. 

The MBA payoffs

More and more, getting ahead in IT means hitting the books. And although an MBA may be essential for getting that C-level job, an increasing number of schools -- like Carnegie Mellon, Northeastern, and Walden University -- are offering specialized high-tech MBAs. 

Designed for students with heavy computer science backgrounds and work experience, these programs focus on the unique challenges presented by integrating constantly changing technology into core business functions.

At Northeastern’s College of Business Administration in Boston, which offers a high-tech MBA degree, a typical student has been working at least seven years, has a degree in computer science or electrical engineering, and is already managing a small team at work, says Marc H. Meyer, one of the MBA program’s three directors and the school’s Matthews Distinguished University Professor.

“The beauty of the program is that half of our courses are project-based,” Meyer says. “Students can apply what they learn to real live projects inside their own companies, and not to some generalized Harvard Business School case.”

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John Tremblay, vice president of marketing for Tatara Systems, says he picked Northeastern for its IT-centric focus.

“I had a strong engineering and technology background, and didn’t want an MBA program where we studied toilet paper companies and things not relevant to my expertise,” says Tremblay, who received his MBA in 1998. “There’s a range of problems specific to how fast technology moves, whether you’re in business development or launching new products, that a classical MBA wouldn’t teach you.”

After stints at a couple of small wireless startups, Tremblay took his tech MBA to Tatara, where he helps companies such as Disney and ESPN package content for cell phone customers.

“You need to understand technology but also have the skills to work the business case,” he says. “You need to be able to tell Disney why convergence is important, how much revenue it can generate, and how it fits into their existing technology.”