The Needs of the End-User Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Needs of the End-User - Essay Example Despite the fact that most of the competencies required in IT environments are similar, they vary in a number of ways, albeit marginally. There are therefore, certain definitions and key behaviours and skills associated with each competency, for clarity purposes (Salvendy & Smith, 2009). The behaviors in this regard are the unique and observable actions by which one demonstrates his/her competency. Although there is a variety of models for IT technical competency, there is a general consensus on the stages that one need to follow while evaluating the necessary competency for a given IT management environment or position. First, it is important that an individual identifies the technical competencies applicable for the various IT management functions such as data management, emerging technology, information security, information technology service operations and network and telecommunications technology competencies. The IT management competencies one should have include dependability , ethics, motivation, professionalism, time management, technical skills, teamwork and adaptability (Salvendy & Smith, 2009). ... Just like any other developers, IT developers’ objective is often to produce the best and most applicable technologies and gadgets. They have consequently created rather sophisticated technologies that require a lot of technical knowledge to understand, operate and maintain. It is at this juncture that the end-user-developer knowledge problems begin. That is, while developers are focused on developing the most sophisticated technologies, end-users want technologies that are easy to operate and make their lives easier. However, appropriately or extremely technically knowledgeable audiences are well placed to handle complex information technologies. Developers thus require building IT technologies and systems that help end-users to solve real life/situational problems rather than being just sophisticated and fashionable. In other words, Information Technologies should not only do things that the developers are interested in but should also avoid any unnecessary appliances or opt ions that do not serve the interest of end-users (Watson, 2005). User-testing is one of the approaches used by developers to assess the usefulness of technologies, more so among persons not involved in IT technology projects. These people are then exposed to the gadget in question and their response to the serviceability and the goal-oriented nature of the gadget assessed. Importantly, there is need to promote effective communication between IT developers and end-users as this practice would help bridge the knowledge gap between them. By extension, end-users would be better placed to use IT and other technologies maximally if they are trained or educated on the said technology (Watson, 2005). There are several ways in which an IT