In the 1960s and 1970s, the term information technology (IT) was a
little known phrase that was used by those who worked in places like
banks and hospitals to describe the processes they used to store
information. With the paradigm shift to computing technology and
"paperless" workplaces, information technology has come to be a
household phrase. It defines an industry that uses computers,
networking, software programming, and other equipment and processes to
store, process, retrieve, transmit, and protect information.
In the early days of computer development, there was no such thing as a college degree in IT. Software development and computer programming
were best left to the computer scientists and mathematical engineers,
due to their complicated nature. As time passed and technology advanced,
such as with the advent of the personal computer in the 1980s and its
everyday use in the home and the workplace, the world moved into the
information age.
By the early 21st century, nearly every child in
the Western world, and many in other parts of the world, knew how to
use a personal computer. Businesses' information technology departments
have gone from using storage tapes created by a single computer
operator to interconnected networks of employee workstations that store
information in a server farm, often somewhere away from the main
business site. Communication has advanced, from physical postal mail,
to telephone fax transmissions, to nearly instantaneous digital communication through electronic mail (email).
Great technological advances have been made since the days when
computers were huge pieces of equipment that were stored in big, air
conditioned rooms, getting their information from punch cards. The
information technology industry has turned out to be a huge employer of
people worldwide, as the focus shifts in some nations from manufacturing
to service industries. It is a field where the barrier to entry is
generally much lower than that of manufacturing, for example. In the
current business environment, being proficient in computers is often a
necessity for those who want to compete in the workplace.
Jobs in information technology are widely varied, although many do require some level of higher education.
Positions as diverse as software designer, network engineer, and
database administrator are all usually considered IT jobs. Nearly any
position that involves the intersection of computers and information may
be considered part of this field.
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