Career Details
15-1299.08 - Computer Systems Engineers/Architects
Design and develop solutions to complex applications problems, system administration issues, or network concerns. Perform systems management and integration functions.
Key Facts

Tasks

Core
- Communicate with staff or clients to understand specific system requirements.
- Provide advice on project costs, design concepts, or design changes.
- Document design specifications, installation instructions, and other system-related information.
- Verify stability, interoperability, portability, security, or scalability of system architecture.
- Collaborate with engineers or software developers to select appropriate design solutions or ensure the compatibility of system components.
- Evaluate current or emerging technologies to consider factors such as cost, portability, compatibility, or usability.
- Provide technical guidance or support for the development or troubleshooting of systems.
- Identify system data, hardware, or software components required to meet user needs.
- Provide customers or installation teams guidelines for implementing secure systems.
- Monitor system operation to detect potential problems.
- Direct the analysis, development, and operation of complete computer systems.
- Investigate system component suitability for specified purposes, and make recommendations regarding component use.
- Perform ongoing hardware and software maintenance operations, including installing or upgrading hardware or software.
- Configure servers to meet functional specifications.
- Develop or approve project plans, schedules, or budgets.
- Define and analyze objectives, scope, issues, or organizational impact of information systems.
- Develop system engineering, software engineering, system integration, or distributed system architectures.
- Design and conduct hardware or software tests.
- Establish functional or system standards to address operational requirements, quality requirements, and design constraints.
- Evaluate existing systems to determine effectiveness, and suggest changes to meet organizational requirements.
- Research, test, or verify proper functioning of software patches and fixes.
- Communicate project information through presentations, technical reports, or white papers.
- Complete models and simulations, using manual or automated tools, to analyze or predict system performance under different operating conditions.
- Direct the installation of operating systems, network or application software, or computer or network hardware.
- Train system users in system operation or maintenance.
- Perform security analyses of developed or packaged software components.
- Develop application-specific software.
- Develop efficient and effective system controllers.
Knowledge

- 95%Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- 80%Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- 79%Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- 77%Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- 69%Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- 66%Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- 64%Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- 62%Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- 57%Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- 54%Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- 51%Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Tools

- Blade servers
- Desktop computers
- Laptop computers
- Mainframe computers
- Personal computers
- Tablet computers
- Web servers
- Computer network routers
- Lightweight directory access protocol LDAP servers
- Graphics display cards
- Mass storage devices
- Motherboards
- Multi-conductor cables
- Radio frequency cables
- Smartphones
Technology

- 37signals Basecamp
- Ansible softwareHOT
- ConfluenceHOT
- Google AdWordsHOT
- Human resource management software HRMS
- Marketo Marketing AutomationHOT
- Microsoft OfficeHOT
- Microsoft ProjectHOT
- Microsoft SharePointHOT
- Microsoft Teams
- Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio ManagementHOT
- Oracle TaleoHOT
- Slack
- 3M Post-it App
- Adobe Systems Adobe Creative CloudHOT
- Adobe Systems Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe Systems Adobe Fireworks
- Adobe Systems Adobe Flash
- Adobe Systems Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe Systems Adobe PhotoshopHOT
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Microsoft ExcelHOT
- Microsoft PowerPointHOT
- Microsoft VisioHOT
- Trimble SketchUp ProHOT
- Adobe Systems Adobe AcrobatHOT
- Apache Subversion SVNHOT
- Atlassian JIRAHOT
- Dropbox
- GitHOT
- Adobe Systems Adobe ActionScript
- Adobe Systems Adobe AIR
- Adobe Systems Adobe Flex
- Advanced business application programming ABAPHOT
- AJAXHOT
- Altia Design
- Aonix Software Through Pictures
- Apache AntHOT
- Apache GroovyHOT
- Apache KafkaHOT
- Apache Maven
- Apache StrutsHOT
- Apache TomcatHOT
- Atlassian BambooHOT
- Backbone.jsHOT
- Borland VisiBroker
- BroadVision software
- C
- C#HOT
- C++HOT
- Cascading Style Sheets CSSHOT
- Chef
- Common business oriented language COBOLHOT
- DjangoHOT
- DrupalHOT
- Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
- Eclipse IDEHOT
- Enterprise JavaBeans
- Ext JS
- Extensible HyperText Markup Language XHTML
- Extensible markup language XMLHOT
- Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
- GoHOT
- Google AngularJSHOT
- Grails
- Groovy
- Hewlett Packard LoadRunner
- Hypertext markup language HTMLHOT
- IBM ILOG
- IBM InfoSphere DataStage
- IBM Rational Application Developer
- IBM Rational Build Forge
- IBM Rational ClearCase
- IBM Rational Rose
- IBM WebSphereHOT
- Integrated development environment IDE softwareHOT
- IONA Orbix
- JavaScriptHOT
- JavaScript Object Notation JSONHOT
- jQueryHOT
- JUnitHOT
- Jupyter Notebook
- LAMP Stack
- Microsoft .NET FrameworkHOT
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASPHOT
- Microsoft ActiveX
- Microsoft ASP.NETHOT
- Microsoft ASP.NET Core MVCHOT
- Microsoft AzureHOT
- Microsoft PowerShellHOT
- Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services SSISHOT
- Microsoft Visual BasicHOT
- Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBAHOT
- Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition VBScriptHOT
- Microsoft Visual StudioHOT
- National Instruments LabVIEWHOT
- Node.jsHOT
- Objective CHOT
- Oracle Fusion MiddlewareHOT
- Oracle JavaHOT
- Oracle Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition J2EE
- Oracle JavaServer Pages JSPHOT
- Perforce Helix software
- PHP: Hypertext PreprocessorHOT
- Practical extraction and reporting language PerlHOT
- PuppetHOT
- PythonHOT
- RHOT
- ReactHOT
- RubyHOT
- Ruby on RailsHOT
- Salesforce VisualforceHOT
- ScalaHOT
- SeleniumHOT
- Smalltalk
- Spring
- Spring FrameworkHOT
- SwiftHOT
- ToadSoft Toad
- Unified modeling language UMLHOT
- Verilog
- VMWareHOT
- Amazon DynamoDBHOT
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2HOT
- Amazon RedshiftHOT
- Amazon Web Services AWS softwareHOT
- Apache CassandraHOT
- Apache HadoopHOT
- Apache HiveHOT
- Apache HTTP ServerHOT
- Apache PigHOT
- Apache SolrHOT
- Apache SparkHOT
- BEA Tuxedo
- CA Erwin Data Modeler
- Customer information control system CICS
- Data entry softwareHOT
- DBTools Software DBManager Professional
- ElasticsearchHOT
- FileMaker Pro
- Google AnalyticsHOT
- Hibernate ORM
- IBM Cognos ImpromptuHOT
- IBM DB2
- IBM Infosphere Information Server
- LexisNexis
- Microsoft AccessHOT
- Microsoft Internet Information Service IIS
- Microsoft SQL ServerHOT
- Microsoft SQL Server Reporting ServicesHOT
- MicroStrategyHOT
- MongoDBHOT
- MySQLHOT
- NoSQLHOT
- Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise EditionHOT
- Oracle Eloqua
- Oracle JDBCHOT
- Oracle PL/SQLHOT
- Oracle softwareHOT
- PostgreSQLHOT
- Qlik Tech QlikViewHOT
- Relational database management softwareHOT
- Salesforce softwareHOT
- SAP Crystal ReportsHOT
- Structured query language SQLHOT
- TableauHOT
- Teradata DatabaseHOT
- Transact-SQLHOT
- xQuery
- Amazon Simple Storage Service S3HOT
- Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormationHOT
- CitrixHOT
- IBM Domino
- Local area network LAN software
- Storage area network SAN software
- Symark PowerBroker
- Wide area network WAN software
- Apple macOSHOT
- BashHOT
- Cisco IOS
- Hewlett Packard HP-UX
- IBM AIX
- Job control language JCL
- KornShell
- LinuxHOT
- Microsoft WindowsHOT
- Microsoft Windows ServerHOT
- Oracle SolarisHOT
- Red Hat Enterprise LinuxHOT
- Shell scriptHOT
- Ubuntu
- UNIXHOT
- UNIX ShellHOT
- Autodesk AutoCADHOT
- Autodesk RevitHOT
- Bentley MicroStationHOT
- Computer aided design and drafting CADD softwareHOT
- Dassault Systemes CATIAHOT
- Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKSHOT
- Epic SystemsHOT
- IBM SPSS StatisticsHOT
- MEDITECH softwareHOT
- MinitabHOT
- PTC Creo ParametricHOT
- SASHOT
- StataCorp Stata
- Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA softwareHOT
- The MathWorks MATLABHOT
- Blink
- Cisco Systems Webex
- ESRI ArcGIS softwareHOT
- Geographic information system GIS softwareHOT
- IBM Lotus SameTime
- IBM NotesHOT
- Microsoft ExchangeHOT
- Clarity Systems IBM ClarityHOT
- Delphi Technology
- Microsoft DynamicsHOT
- Microsoft Dynamics GPHOT
- NetSuite ERPHOT
- Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
- Oracle Fusion ApplicationsHOT
- Oracle HyperionHOT
- Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOneHOT
- Oracle PeopleSoftHOT
- SAPHOT
- SAP Business ObjectsHOT
- DockerHOT
- Eko
- GitHubHOT
- Microsoft Active Directory
- Oracle WebLogic ServerHOT
- Red Hat OpenShiftHOT
- Red Hat WildFlyHOT
- Skype
- Spring BootHOT
- VMWare ESX Server
- Web browser software
- Firewall software
- Intrusion detection system IDS
- McAfee
- SymantecHOT
- Virtual private networking VPN softwareHOT
- IBM Power Systems software
- Splunk EnterpriseHOT
- NagiosHOT
- Network intrusion prevention systems NIPS
- Snort
- Voice over internet protocol VoiP system softwareHOT
- WiresharkHOT
- Veritas NetBackup
Certifications

Licensing

Related Programs

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
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Several features of JMU's CIS program are distinctive:
- Outstanding placement of graduates: the JMU CIS program is viewed as a prime recruiting school by many leading employers throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
- Course work in a variety of specialties.
- Business intelligence
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- Excellent opportunities for internships and job-related work experience through JMU's Handshake program and an active JMU CIS alumni network of over 3,100 graduates.
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Credit for Prior Learning:Students in this program may be eligible for credit for prior learning. See an academic advisor or counselor for further information.
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A student expecting to major or minor in computer science should enroll in CSCI 111-CSCI 112 in the first year. If credit is given for one or both of these courses, then a student should enroll in CSCI 211 or CSCI 210. A student interested in future graduate studies should complete the two calculus sequences, MATH 131-MATH 132. A student interested in computer hardware is encouraged to select PHYS 210 to meet one of the collegiate science requirements.
Computer Science courses required for the Computer Science degree are available at the Chesapeake and Virginia Beach campuses.
Courses required for the Science degree are available on all four campuses.
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TCC is an Oracle Academic Initiative (OAI) Partner and an authorized Oracle training site. The courses in this program prepare students for the examinations leading to Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) and Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) industry certifications.