Jim Zorn asked:


Electronics Engineering Technology distance learning courses are flourishing, making use of the low entry-level requirement of a 2-year Associate Degree to become an Engineering Technician, and the further career advancement to an Engineering Technologist (or Applied Engineer) possible in the field by pursuing a 4-year Bachelors Degree. Among all Technicians and Technologists working in USA, Electrical and Electronics Engineering professionals make up more than one-third, which is a clear indication for their demand. And this demand is nowadays driven more by the high-tech industry’s need for Electronics Engineering Technicians, rather than the conventional industries’ need for Electrical Engineering Technicians.

Why Electronics Engineering Technology?

All of today’s booming industrial sectors like telecommunications, medical equipment, control systems, automotive systems, navigational systems, and of course, the consumer appliances sector are bringing out everything from mobile phones to home theatres, and require expertise in Electronics Engineering more than anything else, which explains the demand for Electronics Engineering professionals.

However, to attempt the field through an Engineering Degree can be taxing to those students who are not interested in taking advanced level mathematics (calculus) courses that an Engineering Degree requires, or to endure its long 4-year time frame. For such students, Electronics Engineering Technology is a great option, with its stress on applied or hands-on Electronics Engineering rather than the mathematics-dense and research-oriented Electronics Engineering. The time frame also is much shorter, with an Electronics Engineering Technician requiring only a 2-year Associate Degree to enter the field.

The job opportunities too are tilted in favor of Electronics Engineering Technicians when compared with Electronics Engineers; there are 182,000 Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technicians working in USA, compared with only 143,000 Electronics Engineers. The only drawbacks – a lower level in the hierarchy and the lower starting salaries than Electronics Engineers – can be overcome in the long run, since interested Electronics Engineering Technicians can study further for a 4-year Bachelors Degree, thus qualifying for the senior position of Electronics Engineering Technologist, who enjoys a position and salary comparable to Electronics Engineers. Average salary for Electronics Engineering Senior Technicians / Technologists is US $46,000, very comparable to salaries for Electronics Engineers at US $52,000.

Why Electronics Engineering Technology Distance Learning?

It is estimated that job opportunities for Electronics Engineering Technicians and Technologists would grow at up to 17% every year, for nearly the next 10 years. The requirement of an Associate Degree for entering the field is a relatively recent phenomenon, and a significant percentage of working Electronics Engineering Technicians doesn’t have such a formal degree. The industry preference to degree holders is encouraging such working professionals to get an Associate Degree, and electronics engineering technology distance learning becomes the natural choice. Also, due to the boom in the sector, those already having an Associate Degree will go for a Bachelors Degree so that they can work as a Technologist. And, of course, the growth prospects in the sector are attracting working professionals from other fields to Electronics Engineering Technology. These three factors are driving the huge demand for electronics engineering technology distance learning courses.

Earlier, there were technological hindrances to deliver such a hands-on course through a distance or online model. However, with the development of state-of-the-art systems like National Instruments’ LabVIEW/ELVIS (Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite), which can be used by remote students through a web browser, to virtually perform any electronics experiment, the demand for Electronics Engineering Distance Learning courses are at an all-time high.

Universities and Colleges Offering Electronics Engineering Technology Distance Learning

Electronics engineering technology distance learning courses offer both 2-year Associate and 4-year Bachelors Degrees. While Community Colleges and Institutes dominate the Associate Degree scene, Universities and Polytechnics are the primary sources for Bachelors Degrees. While searching for electronics engineering technology distance learning courses, it should be kept in mind that many US institutions still call the subject Electrical Engineering Technology.

Associate Degrees

Many Community Colleges and Institutes offer 2-year Associate Degrees for electronics engineering technology distance learning, but fully accredited courses are fewer. Whether for employment as an Electronics Engineering Technician or for further pursuance of a Bachelors Degree, it is always better to go for an accredited course. Cleveland Institute of Electronics (CIE), Penn Foster Career School, and Grantham University are three institutions that offer accredited Associate Degrees in the subject.

CIE’s Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Electronics Engineering Technology boasts of many unique features. Designed from the ground up as a distance learning course, rather than an online adaptation of a regular course, the CIE A.A.S. provides everything that an electronics engineering technology distance learning student might require, in a packaged fashion – complete with printed courseware for over 250 self-paced lessons, videos, and detailed instructions for the over 300 hands-on lab experiments. The only thing missing will be access to an Oscilloscope, and the CIE Bookstore even sells Oscilloscopes at discounted prices to its students! One-to-one instructor support is always available for students. Even the exams can be taken online. A really unique feature of the course is that interested and capable students can complete the course in half or even quarter time, and need only pay for that!

Penn Foster Career School offers an Associate in Specialized Technology (AST) in Electronics Technology, that can be completed fully online, with access to an internet-connected computer being the only requirement. Tuition includes well-written and amply-illustrated printed courseware, tools and equipment for experiments, and unlimited instructor support through website, phone, email, and regular mail. Online open-book exams and end-of-semester proctored exams are other features of this course. The course is self-paced, with longer than 2-year durations allowed.

Grantham University offers an Associate of Science (AS) in Electronics Engineering Technology through the distance mode. The tuition package for the course includes textbooks, lesson guides, grading of all tests, mailing of materials and graded tests from the college, consultation with instructors, and required software. Proctored exams are conducted at the end of every semester, which lend more credibility to this course. Consultation with instructors is available through phone, fax, email, and regular mail. To better facilitate the distance mode of the course, Grantham University even provides a discounted option for its students to buy computers from Dell. However, the main advantage of this course is that full credit transfer is possible to Grantham’s Bachelors Degree in the subject. Grantham is especially popular with military students.

Bachelors Degrees

When it comes to Bachelors Degrees for electronics engineering technology distance learning, even courses with accreditation from the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (ABET) are available.

Old Dominion University offers its Bachelor of Science (BS) in Engineering Technology, with Electrical Engineering Technology as Major, and Electrical Systems Technology as optional. The course name follows the earlier US convention of naming Electronics Engineering courses as Electrical Engineering courses. This B.S. indeed has significant stress on Electronics Engineering Technology. In-depth coverage of Electronics includes Linear Electronics, Digital Controls, Microprocessors, Communications, Control Systems etc. High-tech delivery methods like virtual laboratory, streaming video, and satellite broadcast for 1-way video and 2-way audio, are fully utilized. The course is accredited by TAC of ABET.

World College, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cleveland Institute of Electronics (CIE), offers a Bachelor of Electronics Engineering Technology (BEET) through the distance mode. Features include over 300 lab experiments, online exams, and toll free phones and email for consultation with instructors. Subjects covered include Electronics, Computer Technology, Telecommunications, Electrical Power, and Control Systems. Access to a computer and an oscilloscope are necessary.

Grantham University (described above, under Associate Degrees) also offers a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Electronics Engineering Technology.

The only current limiting factor for electronics engineering technology distance learning seems to be the high costs for implementing virtual labs that can be simultaneously accessed by a large number of students, and once this is solved by better and economical hardware and software, electronics engineering technology distance learning will be provided by more and more Universities, Colleges, and Polytechnic Institutes.



Kansieo.com

Timothy Nuckles asked:


Commercial buyers of information technology products and services are locked into a self-defeating pattern of behavior when it comes to negotiating contract terms and conditions with technology vendors, and it is time to move on to a better approach. Better technology vendor negotiations produce better contracts for a technology project, and better contracts produce better project outcomes. So, break the mold and move on to a better way of negotiating contract terms and conditions for your next technology project.

Vendor Contracts – Timing Is Everything

Let us assume that by now you have done a lot of planning and information gathering for your proposed technology project, you have completed a vendor selection process, and now it is time to document your deal with your chosen vendor.

At this stage in the technology procurement process, the most common practice—indeed the almost-universal practice—is to distribute the vendor’s proposed contracts to your project team for review and comment. Then, as if by instinct, everyone starts looking for vendor bias in the contracts. No one has been given this specific directive. You simply assume and expect that everyone knows the drill. Folks on your project team begin striking certain biased provisions and scribbling notes about amending others. For sure, removing or limiting vendor bias in the contracts is a worthwhile exercise, but now is not the time to perform this exercise.

Light bulb on

I had to get several technology deals under my belt before I realized this, but at this early stage of the contracting process, you really need to focus first on terms and conditions that are important to you, not the terms and conditions that are important to your vendor. We know your vendor has included in its specimen contracts (as modified prior to presentation to you) all the terms and conditions of your deal that are important to your vendor. In fact, they are very easy to identify. They are all the contract terms with vendor bias. These provisions are so important to your vendor that it has purposely added bias to them, often with obvious exaggeration and redundancy. Even if your vendor has to bargain down somewhat from these provisions, your vendor is still in a safe position because the starting point was so extreme.

What you should do instead

At this initial stage of contracting, you should ignore your vendor’s proposed contracts. Simply set them aside for the time being, and do this for two reasons.

First, in order to express in writing the terms and conditions that are most important to you, you must actually think of what those terms and conditions might be. Likeable as your vendor may be, your vendor will not have already added to its proposed contracts the terms and conditions most important to you for your particular project. You will have to come up with this stuff on your own.

Second, until you know what terms and conditions are most important to you

for your particular project, you are in no position to challenge your vendor’s biased provisions except in attempt to remove or limit the bias. “I don’t know exactly what impact this provision has on our project, but I know it’s not a provision that helps our cause.” Challenging these provisions in a vacuum does not really help you.

The big picture

Now is the time to start with a fresh, big-picture perspective, and then fill in lots of detail. Circle back to earlier stages of your procurement process and revisit your decisions, your assumptions, and the various things you have learned. As a result of your many meetings and discussions, there may be things that you are now taking for granted: special vendor qualifications, how a particular piece of your project will be orchestrated, acutely risky aspects of your project, and so on. Bring to mind other similar projects within your organization and apply what you learned from those experiences.

Re-acquainting yourself with prior thought processes, discoveries, assumptions, and experiences will help you remember aspects of your project that you previously deemed important—whether because they are critical to project success, they pose a substantial risk within your project, or perhaps both—and it will force you to consider the importance of other elements for the first time. This process will help you build out the terms and conditions for your deal that benefit and protect you, terms and conditions that maximize the probability of project success and minimize project risk.

As part of this process, make a detailed list of list of terms and conditions that are important for your particular project, and:

1) Categorize them by subject matter.

For example, requirements development and prioritization, data mapping, business process issues, software development, application integration, database integration, system integration, testing, implementation, buyer protections, vendor management tools, warranties, etc. When you get around to negotiating the items on your list with your vendor, your project team will have important reference points. “Does this contract item touch implementation? If so, let’s look at our implementation items.”

2) Add qualifiers for each item.

Among other things, qualifiers can include a ranking of particular item’s relative importance within your project (critical to project success, represents substantial risk, wish list, etc.). When you get around to negotiating the items on your list with your vendor, your project team will be less inclined to treat all items on your list as equally important. Almost certainly, not all will be equally important. Your team will have a sense of how hard to push on a particular item, and in terms of the give and take that occurs in any negotiation process, they will have sense of what items to compromise (and by how much) or concede outright if met by strong resistance from your vendor.

3) Add relevant notes and comments for each item.

Among other things, relevant notes to attach to your list items include comments about accountability. Who within your project will be accountable for accomplishing the particular item: your vendor, your internal staff, or some combination? And what should happen if the party with accountability drops the ball?

With this kind of list in hand, you are in a much better position to review your vendor’s proposed contracts. Perhaps most important, you are no longer reviewing the contracts in a vacuum. You are equipped to conduct a truly meaningful review of your vendor’s proposed contracts.

Is there a gap in the vendor’s proposed contracts; that is, an item from your list has not been addressed at all? Is there an inaccuracy in the vendor’s proposed contracts; that is, an item is addressed, but its present treatment does not match your understanding, preference or requirement? Are topics within the contracts miscategorized? Are interrelated items not treated as such? Are accountabilities not clearly established?

An even better approach

Although breaking the mold and adopting the above approach to technology vendor contracting will certainly help you produce better contracts for your next technology project, which contracts should facilitate a better project outcome, there is a way to help yourself even further.

Instead of starting with and working from your vendors’ proposed contracts for your next project, think about developing your own standard agreements to include within your technology procurement process (usually at the RFP stage).

First, develop a neutral or somewhat buyer-favorable Software License Agreement. Find a standard Software License Agreement and neutralize or remove the elements of vendor bias. Then add the buyer-side content that you would normally find yourself negotiating with a typical vendor (were you working from the vendor’s standard Software License Agreement). Next, find a standard Consulting Services Agreement and do the same thing.

You can add your newly-developed standard agreements to your next technology RFP and request that responding vendors either approve your standard agreements as-is, or cite alternative language for provisions they do not find acceptable.

By incorporating your standard agreements into your technology procurement process, you will achieve two important things. First, you will be able—probably for the first time—to evaluate vendor candidates based on one of the most important factors for project success, terms and conditions. You can guage a prospective vendors appetite for terms and conditions that are important to your for your particular project BEFORE you have selected a vendor. It is much harder to win favorable terms and conditions AFTER you have selected the vendor for your project. And second, you will greatly reduce negotiation cycle times.

More and more commercial information technology buyers—of all sizes—are using this approach. It may surprise you to learn that many reputable technology vendors will not only entertain the possibility of working from your standard agreements instead of theirs, they may even welcome the prospect because it saves them time and expense as well.

A word of caution

When you develop your own standard agreements, exercise some discipline. Do not convert a terribly vendor-biased agreement into a terribly buyer-biased agreement. This will not help your cause. Instead, shoot for balance. Software developers, for example, have to protect their rights in their intellectual property, and there a certain limits beyond which they will not venture; for example, an excessively broad license grant. Understand vendor limitations and be fair. Add buyer bias judiciously and only if it is truly important to your organization.

Meet Nuckles at http://www.NucklesLaw.com or visit the firm’s sister site at http://www.TechnologyBuyersAdvocate.com.

© 2008 All rights reserved. Olive Consulting Group LLC / Nuckles Law Firm



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