Information Technology Professional Interview

IT Professional Interview
Student’s Name
Institution
IT Professional Interview
Introduction
I got the chance to interview an IT professional at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and his responses were key to completing this paper. It is important to recognize that information technology has become an integral part of today’s organizations, particularly those in the health sector. As informed by Cipriano, Dailey, Dykes, Lamb, and Naylor (2013), health information technology (HIT) helps in making information timely, portable, actionable, accessible, and easily modifiable. With increased access to information, inefficiencies can be significantly reduced. The IT professional offered some important project management information that is integrated into this paper.
Project Development Methodology
The project development methodology used by the professional to complete tasks is agile methodology. According to him, agile methodology is not only flexible but is also suited to working with teams. It is important to note that teamwork characterizes projects to a great extent. Therefore, according to the IT professional, the agile methodology allows the project teams to be flexible to new demands. Rapid changes as new developments characterize the field of technology are always coming up. Therefore, the flexibility that comes with agile methodology is well suited for IT projects in the hospital. He gave an example of web projects, most of which require the coordination of many stakeholders and parties. The agile methodology applied in these projects allows for the successful completion and evaluation of smaller projects while at the same time ensuring continued growth. These sentiments are agreed upon by Kalaimani (2015) who note that agile methodology allows for flexibility and therefore when requirements change, control is still possible. It allows for the conception and execution of tasks as situations demands. Therefore, the agile methodology used by the IT professional helps the project teams respond well to the unpredictability that characterizes a technological environment.
The Role of a Business Analyst
A business analyst plays a significant role in health IT projects. According to the professional, a business analyst bridges the gap between the IT project team and healthcare requirements. The business analyst uses data analytics to evaluate processes, define requirements, and offer recommendations guided by data. They engage different stakeholders, including users of health data in order to seek ways to improve value and efficiency. Engaging different stakeholders helps them recommend changes to software and hardware, processes, and services. The business analyst has to communicate the ideas to the IT project teams while at the same time trying to balance them against what is technologically and financially feasible. The professional pointed out that the life of a business analyst revolves around prioritizing functional and technical requirements in order to ensure that the project deliverables meet the needs of stakeholders. It is thus deducible that a business analyst plays an integral role in health IT projects and without them, project teams would be delivering outcomes that are not consistent with user req...