CageBreak

I am a senior technical professional in the IT Services industry with 10 years of strong technical experience -  a mix of IT consulting and hands on technical work, including software development and project management. For my career growth I am considering a higher educational qualification. Please advice if an MBA is the best option?
-Roy, Bangalore

Roy, you have asked a classic question that most professionals who have not done an MBA will ask in their lifetime! The answer is always person specific. For example, I did an MBA (from a top school, and long-time back) but don’t recommend it to everyone because an MBA by itself doesn’t help in career growth.

Since you have 10 years of strong technical experience in diverse projects. I can help you by asking the right questions:

1. Would you like a CIO or CTO role? (if yes, then no MBA needed, you are well on track for this already. You should just read up and learn the essential/ basics of finance and business management, so that you can communicate better with the leaders of different business functions. )
or,

2. Would you like to manage a business unit (revenues & profitability: P&L) or start your own business of any type? (if yes, then some focused business studies can help — not necessarily a 2 year MBA — because that can be long duration at this stage of your career.

For your case, I will suggest professional development courses from any of the good b-schools, or a 1 year programme. For example INSEAD in France (and now Singapore) has a world class course for 1 year. Within India, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Lucknow have world class 1 year programmes to suit your experience. They will give you all the foundation and alumni networking, without taking too much time.