CNT/Software Developer Series Concepts
Areas of Responsibility:
Organizational: Define technologies to address functional goals.
Operational: Delivery of system or service, with responsibility for consequence of failure.
Technical: In depth knowledge/experience, resulting in technical service or architecture design.
CNT I
| Organizational | Under close supervision1 , works on defined tasks in organization of any size without involvement in goal-setting or prioritization2 ; no budget or supervision. |
| Operational | Performs routine tasks in support of an operational service.3 |
| Technical | Duties defined at level of module level implementation, some design and user support or application support with low resources, defined tasks, narrow scope7, low impact4, simple projects (sequences of tasks, not a formal "project"). Routine, task-oriented work with limited complexity5 and few resources. |
CNT II
| Organizational | Works under supervision, some self-definition of tasks, larger scope7 or large impact4 (perhaps both), limited involvement in goal-setting or prioritization2. |
| Operational | Responsible for operation of services3 based on standard solutions6 and stand-alone technologies for a single, small constituency or segments of a single, large constituency.7 May have some budget or supervision of lower level employees or students. |
| Technical | Duties include component level and interfaces, some design and analysis or application support involving some configuration and interaction between apps but minimal customization or programming, OR support of more complex projects. Greater independent action than a CNT I involving technical decisions but not functional ones; if II level complexity and freedom-to-act are not present, then scope/impact is not a determiner; multi-tasks "projects". |
CNT III
| Organizational | Under general supervision, has some involvement in goal-setting and prioritization2; defines tasks to meet technical goals, has broad scope7 and/or large impact4 of technical services, OR significant involvement in prioritization and goal setting2 for small scope7. |
| Operational | Implements services in a moderately complex5 IT environment for diverse constituencies. May have budget and supervision or technical project leadership. |
| Technical | Responsible for: full system design and implementation and development of services, OR technical project or team leadership of technical services or projects involving complicated applications or significant customization or programming. Up to moderate scope7 and critical impact4. |
CNT IV
| Organizational | Under direction, performs at CNT III level involving either broad scope7 and large impact4, or high complexity5 and resources, OR has significant involvement in prioritization and goal setting2 with large impact4 for medium scope7 organization. | |
| Operational | Responsible for managing multiple integrated technologies in a complex IT environment with diverse constituencies. May have large budget and expanded supervision. | |
| Technical |
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CNT V
| Organizational | Under general direction performs at CNT IV level involving broad scope7, large impact4, high complexity5 and resources, OR leads prioritization and goal setting2 for large scope7 organization with large impact4. |
| Operational | Overall management of a complex, integrated service system whose design requires integration with other campus services. Will typically serve major campus constituencies and engage in consultation and coordination with other providers of campus IT services. Budgetary oversight and supervision of staff are likely at this level. |
| Technical | Leads/ manages integrated multi-system or highly distributed environments or process changes OR demonstrates architectural/conceptual leadership in area of responsibility. Develops and implements project management methodology and establishes project management processes. Technical project direction/management of projects of very large scope/complexity, or management of multiple projects of medium scope/complexity, and oversees other project leaders. |
CNT VI
| Responsible for technology leadership, definitions and enterprise / campus-wide considerations. Leads prioritization and goal-setting2 process for an organization responsible for services with broad scope7, large impact4, high complexity5 and extensive resources. Overall organizational responsibility for providing a multitude of diverse, integrated services for large, campus-wide constituencies. Decision-making typically has campus-wide impact4. Significant budgetary and supervisory responsibility expected at this level. Provides strategic leadership for the integration of multiple architectures and a broad range of technologies. Establishes project management methodology and the need for a technical project management process. Coordinates with campus IT peers on campus-wide project initiatives. It is expected that a CNT VI will have organizational and operational responsibilities in addition to any high level technical responsibilities. |
1supervision/direction:
from general HR definitions
2goal setting and prioritization:
involvement = participates in discussions with unit leadership or committee(s) significant involvement = brings issues to unit leadership or committee(s) primary participation = calls meetings and sets agenda for unit prioritization discussions.
3operational service:
tech-based tools, applications, or support with ongoing active use.
4
impact:
the importance of the service for the continuity of business processes of the users. (When judging impact by consequence of failure, the ability to mitigate the failure is a valid factor to consider; i.e., a failure that cannot be mitigated makes that service a higher impact than a failure that can be mitigated.)
5complexity:
moderate complexity = non-homogeneous platforms, OS, applications; traceable interaction between independent systems/services.
complicated applications: e.g., requiring specialized expertise, detailed configuration to match environment and/or performance requirements, actively managed interactions with other applications.
high complexity = multiple separate solutions, subtle interaction between systems/services.
high complexity and resources: an environment with various inter-related complex (see above) systems, using multiple servers and other devices to provide services.
6standard solutions:
tech needs solved with common, well-known tools; e.g., email, web hosting, file service.
7constituency/scope:
small: the constituency size does not require automation of routine tasks (usually <100);
medium: the constituency size benefits from automation of tasks (usually <1000)
large: the constituency size requires automation of routine tasks (usually > 1000); or, there are multiple heterogeneous constituencies. very large = campus-wide constituency, all students, or all staff, or all faculty
8Technical architecture:
the design of standards, definitions, processes, common structures/models, and implementation approaches to meet organizational strategic goals. There is some level of technical architecting in any large scale implementation; for the purpose of classification, this refers to efforts that lead to technical architecture models as an end in itself.