Articles
Software development is the translation of a user need or marketing
goal into a software product. Software development is sometimes
understood to encompass the processes of software engineering combined
with the research and goals of software marketing to develop computer
software products. This is in contrast to marketing software, which
may or may not involve new product development.
It is often difficult to isolate whether engineering or marketing is
more responsible for the success or failure of a software product to
satisfy customer expectations. This is why it is important to
understand both processes and facilitate collaboration between both
engineering and marketing in the total software development process.
Engineering and marketing concerns are often balanced in the role of a
project manager that may or may not use that title.
Because software development may involve compromising or going beyond
what is required by the client, a software development project may
stray into processes not usually associated with engineering such as
market research, human resources, risk management, intellectual
property, budgeting, crisis management, etc. These processes may also
cause the role of business development to overlap with software
development.
IT Security
Information security means protecting information and
information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure,
disruption, modification, or destruction. The terms information
security, computer security and information assurance are
frequently used interchangeably. These fields are interrelated and
share the common goals of protecting the confidentiality,
integrity and availability of information; however, there are some
subtle differences between them. These differences lie primarily
in the approach to the subject, the methodologies used, and the
areas of concentration. Information security is concerned with the
confidentiality, integrity and availability of data regardless of
the form the data may take: electronic, print, or other forms.
Governments, military, financial institutions, hospitals, and
private businesses amass a great deal of confidential information
about their employees, customers, products, research, and
financial status. Most of this information is now collected,
processed and stored on electronic computers and transmitted
across networks to other computers. Should confidential
information about a businesses customers or finances or new
product line fall into the hands of a competitor, such a breach of
security could lead to lost business, law suits or even bankruptcy
of the business. Protecting confidential information is a business
requirement, and in many cases also an ethical and legal
requirement. For the individual, information security has a
significant effect on privacy, which is viewed very differently in
different cultures.
The field of information security has grown and evolved
significantly in recent years. As a career choice there are many
ways of gaining entry into the field. It offers many areas for
specialization including Information Systems Auditing, Business
Continuity Planning and Digital Forensics Science, to name a few.