David Broeckelmann
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President, Strategic Network Consulting, L.P.
What does Zen Buddhism have to do with MIS? David Broeckelmann found a way to link the two on his path to becoming a leader in information technology. He started his undergraduate career at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX, where he wanted to study everything and almost did! David took classes in Physics, Math, Sociology, History, Music, and Religion. He shares, “It was when I signed up for Zen Buddhism that I got ‘checked’ from my folks about the next semester’s check! After a suggestion from Dad, I swapped the Zen Buddhism class for ‘Introduction to Data Processing’ and loved it!” At the same time, UT’s School of Business introduced what is now the MIS major, then called Data Processing & Analysis. David applied for and transferred into the program during his junior year in 1981.
After graduating and spending time as a PC support analyst, network engineer, and senior systems consultant for several IT outfits, David is now the president at Strategic Network Consulting, L.P., in Houston. He chose this career path to have the freedom to serve his clients as well as he knew he could. David also saw working in the IT field as a way to benefit directly from financial and technological achievement. As president, David enjoys developing teams that take care of their customers. He also works hard developing industry partnerships and networking with other business owners. Many of those skills began taking shape while he was a UT student.
David’s undergraduate degree combined on- and off-campus jobs within IT to provide for a broad range of skills. “The UT MIS experience offered relevant technologies such as the IBM 370, Digital VAX, CDC, and even the ‘new’ Xerox Star (grandfather to the MAC)!” David also proctored in the Cobol/TI 990 lab and gained valuable experience in leadership. He recalls a time helping out a student trying to handle 600 COBOL punch cards split between two hands. Both stacks shot out to the floor on the student’s feet at Taylor Hall at midnight. He adds, “She learned the importance of numbering her cards!” In addition to his lab work, David found Eleanor Jordan’s Systems Analysis & Design course valuable because it forced students to apply everything they had learned, in teams, to a real business with a real problem. When asked about what he misses most about the MIS Program, David says, “The challenge and the awe of a new discipline taking shape.”
What advice does David have for current MIS students and recent graduates? (1) Learn how to write well. (2) Develop the ability to think independently. (3) Get exposure and experience in Microsoft and Open Source Software technologies, Network Systems Hardware and Communication technologies, general IT Hardware/Software technologies, and Solution Development Methods. In his role as president, David looks for these and other qualities in potential employees. IT professionals should demonstrate an ability to strategize and communicate verbally and in writing, and have a solid understanding and appreciation of infrastructure and application technologies. Additionally, he says that experience in general business and financial administration can only help IT professionals.
David came across one such potential employee when he met Joel Diaz at an MIS Steering Committee meeting in the summer of 2003. Joel was a senior in the MIS program at the time seeking new contacts and insight into the new industry he was about to embark on. “The MIS Steering Committee is a wonderful opportunity for potential employers and students to meet and address various issues concerning the MIS program at UT,” David contends. Shortly after, David offered Joel a summer internship with his firm in Houston. Joel is now going on his second year at Strategic Network Consulting and David has realized that his education has now come full circle. He now directs and manages capable young professionals that he once strived so hard himself to be 20 years earlier.
When David isn’t developing and growing his company, his wife of 15 years and four children between the ages of 13 and 16 keep him plenty busy. He also serves as the current Grand Knight in St. Vincent’s Knights of Columbus.
