The way I have seen things going, at least over here, is that your IT qualification is your passport to your chosen area of the IT industry, whilst your MBA is your key to senior management positions.

When I started out (and one had to avoid dinosaur turds on the sidewalk back then ) there were precious few IT degrees and even fewer "certifications". In fact, there weren't any PCs as such, and there was no internet as we know it.

Industry recruited its people from existing sectors such as engineering, finance, marketing and so on. In other words, they took people with business/commercial expertise and trained them in computing.

Anyone here remember the IBM System3, S/32, S/34, S/38, 4300, 3080?.............. scraped up dinosaur droppings with 80-column punched cards?

My point is that back then, they took people with business knowledge and taught them computing. Now they take people with IT training and expect them to learn business. The "requirement" is the same, but the whole thing has gone full circle.............almost "chicken and egg"?

Another way of looking at it is if I get my first degree in accountancy, then pass my CPA (ACA over here) exams, which would involve three years articled to a professional accountancy firm (in the UK at least)..............what would be the point in getting a masters or doctorate in accountancy, unless I wanted to be an academic?

Just my thoughts