B.Com (Information systems) (1 Viewer)

[-pari-]

hey guys

i'm currently interested in doing a degree in commerce, and am thinking of majoring in marketing + information systems

i wanted to know more about this information systems thing though.

i know that it comibines IT and business, and with IT being part of everything these days i thought that if i do a degree in commerce it'd be good to have some background knowledge in IT as well.
but at the same time i don't want to take anything too IT orientated coz i'm REALLY not into IT much...

have any of you done information systems?
could you tell me a bit more about what it involves and also, having done it, what can i do with an IS background? what kind of occupations/careers/fields can i go into..does it only open up IT related options?



cheers
​

 

[sunny]

but at the same time i don't want to take anything too IT orientated coz i'm REALLY not into IT much...

INFS subjects are not technical at all - they are all taught at a very high level, so theres very little technical detail at all.

 

[chris_c28]

At this point in time, I wouldn't want to touch INFS courses. Unfortunately, it's a core component of my degree (SENG), hence couldn't avoid it much. Like sunny said, they're very high level and you need to be able to write a lot of because you can produce system designs which do not even have to work, just sounds sensible and looks nice. It's a complete dumbed-down version of whatever COMP offers, basically. The only advantage would be the lower workload and higher marks awarded (compared to COMP).

I believe that by complementing it with some decent electives, you could end up as a systems analyst, database analyst/programmer/designer, etc. INFS would be suited to those who would like to gain some knowledge of information technology in business without delving into much details. I think a computing student (with some business knowledge) would have better opportunities as they would have wider career options in IT compared to a pure IS student.

 

[ace]

The only advantage would be the lower workload and higher marks awarded (compared to COMP).

That's a context dependent assumption. I think comp subjects whilst they have more work offer greater chance of you applying your knowledge in the exam environment and thus striving to success with high marks. As opposed to INFS, the better you can bullshit buzzword unbelievable things the better your mark.

 

[Affinity]

from what I heard and as far as I see it.. INFS is watered down computer science.
Whenever a university course states that they are combining this and that and that.. you know they aren't doing anyting properly

 

[chris_c28]

As opposed to INFS, the better you can bullshit buzzword unbelievable things the better your mark.

I was going to say this, but I risk offending the true IS people. Well, that's what we think. I'm not sure if IS students would agree.

 

[-pari-]

hmmm....well what about from the perspective of someone more into the commerce side than IT?

i dont really want to go into any IT orientated fields, but thought that some IT background might be useful in commerce?

 

[Raginsheep]

Alot of commerce will just mostly deal with excel though. If you want to go into marketing though, I don't think IT is really all that necessary.

 

[blackfriday]

^^yeh thats pretty much spot on. is there any reasoning behind that combo or you just thought it sounded nice? i know some BIT co-op grads, they've been in the job for 2-3 years and they havent gone anywhere with what they have.

 

[Raginsheep]

I have a number of friends who are both BIT and InfoSys co-ops. As far as I can see, the BIT co-ops go through a much more rigourous ( and harder ) IT degree compared to the InfoSys people.

 

[blackfriday]

by infosys co-op, do you mean ISM?

 

[Raginsheep]

Probably.

 

[-pari-]

yeah, ISM ....... (thats not difff to IS on its own i don't think?!)

is there any reasoning behind that combo or you just thought it sounded nice?

and i chose those majors coz i kinda thought those majors would complement each other? or rather IS would complement marketing...not really the other way around

but according to whats been said that would be a really off track notion?

 

[Affinity]

try marketing+finance or marketing + accounting

maybe marketing + business economics works too

 

[pikablu0530]

BIT Co-op is more technological oriented and requires COMP courses (it's B.Science, under faculty of commerce). Seeing that you'd prefer more commerce side and would like to combine with Marketing, it's better for you to do IS (or ISM Co-op), as BIT Co-op doesn't allow you to combine with other commerce courses, while ISM allows you to double major with any of the other commerce majors.

So basically your options are:

BIT Co-op (B.Sci single degree)
ISM Co-op (B.Comm single degree, but can combine with ANY other commerce majors)
B.Sci (BIS) combined with B.Comm (double degree)
B.Comm (double major IS and Marketing)

Note that Co-ops are not allowed to do double degrees, but may do double majors if you're ISM.
Also note that IS is the non-Co-op version of ISM, and BIS is the non-Coop version of BIT.

About INFS subjects, i guess it suits you because it doesn't require a high level technical knowledge, compared to COMP subjects. Comparing BIT and ISM, when graduated both have the same areas of expertise and can find the same types of jobs, however if you double-majored ISM with something else, then you can find jobs in that other area as well. (while BIT are stuck with IT-related field)

PS. I'm doing ISM/Finance btw.....