I see mostly everyone distinguishes between being a Software Engineer and being in IT on the jobs sections of their site. What are the definitions of each, and the distinction between them?
asked Dec 26, 2010 at 19:37
Comments disabled on deleted / locked posts / reviews
|
3 Answers
IT (Information Technology) is a catch-all for the industry at present, any job that is primarily to do with the operation of computers or developing for them is within the "IT industry/sector".
However, within the UK at least, job descriptions and adverts tend to reserve "IT" within a job title, as administration, procurement and technical support for company computing resources. Everything from sysadmin work, to frontline technical support, or hardware repair and procurement/policy for internal IT.
Software Engineering specifically means developing software, analysis, design, programming - creating new software, or maintaining/altering existing software. This is very different to a technical role. The skill set is quite different, technical support guys are not necessarily programmers and (contrary to a lot of non-IT peoples' belief structures) software engineers are not necessarily any good at technical support. Though Software Engineers are within the "IT sector", which confuses the matter slightly in the job market.
In Morocco, to be an IT, it's required to study programming in general for 2 years.. but to be an engineer , you must study at least for 5 years , technically... the software engineer is somemone who not only writes programs, but he takes security, flexibility and reusibility in mind. An IT can only be specialized in either security,flexibility or reusability.
-
1It is not meaningful answer and actually false. Schooling does not imply anything you wrote. Besides when one is writing software he always should consider all listed things, no matter education. Wishful thinking and putting people inside boxes.– MateuszFeb 3, 2014 at 9:31
-
It's been 3 years since I posted this answer, anyway... what I wanted to say is that "In Morocco" because I'm Moroccan, to be an IT one must study for 2 years in one area, but to be an engineer, he has to study for 5/6 years . Generally speaking, An Engineer is more professionally advanced than an IT. My answer was posted in 2010.– SmootQFeb 5, 2014 at 11:23
-
@Mateusz , I know... I'm speaking in terms of formal education (5 years to have the title of an Engineer, and 2 years to be an IT), in many countries (france, morocco, etc..) an Engineer is called "Ingenieur d'etat" , an IT is a "Technician Specialisé"– SmootQFeb 5, 2014 at 11:27
-
@Mateusz, If I studied programming for 2 years at school, I'm formally an IT, people will call me an "IT", even if I take engineering lessons at home, even if I know what engineers don't actually know. I'm still an IT, and my salary will be less than that of an engineer. The solution??, get back to high school, and study for other 3 years, to be an engineer, and increase your salary. Yes, what you know is important, but your graduation is not less important for your reputation in your professional life.– SmootQFeb 5, 2014 at 11:35
-
1@SmootQ You have a point there. It is the same as in Poland. I've seen guys with technical education loosing jobs to people with higher education. But that is the reality of job market not something specific to IT industry.– MateuszFeb 5, 2014 at 13:01
IT is a department within a company like Human Resources or Marketing. This covers the backbone in a sense of some companies as what a company uses is maintained by IT. This includes a bunch of analysts, developers and administrators that create and manage systems.
Software Engineering in contrast has the narrower focus of how to create the abstract set of instructions used in building various systems. Note that the software can have various purposes as it could be a game, operating system, or part of something used to run a business.
As an example, where I work there are at least a couple of different sets of software engineers: Product Development and Information Systems. The latter is what most would call IT while the former is the group that helps design and build the software the company sells to customers. My work in IS tends focus on systems that others within the company will use rather than products or services the company sells to the public. Hopefully that provides a bit more clarity.
-
1To add: A company that produces software as part of its offering (whether they directly sell it, or it's embedded in a physical product they sell) will tend to have a separate Product Development department (that does software engineering). Any company may also have software developers within their Internal IT department, who are building systems for internal use (whether by the IT group for operational support, or internal financial systems, etc). A company that only has developers in IT is obviously more likely to just call it all "IT".– gregmacFeb 5, 2014 at 20:20