Another success story of IIT- Mahendiran Prashanthan, Senior Manager, IT Advisory at KPMG
View(s):“Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT-www.iit.ac.lk) is unique among futurists because they understand that getting to the future is never a linear event. They have a wonderful ability to encourage our insight and intuition and give us opportunities to gain experience to take us forward into our desired futures. Today I have reaped immensely from those benefits” were the sentiments voiced by Mahendiran Prashanthan a former student of IIT.
Having obtained his BSc(Hons) in Information Systems from IIT with 2nd class upper in 2004 Prashanthan currently holds the position of , Senior Manager, IT Advisory at KPMG.
Explaining why he chose IIT as the institute of his choice Prashanthan stated “After completing my G.C.E. Advanced Level from S.Thomas College Mount Lavinia in the year 2000, I wanted to follow a recognized degree in Information Systems from a prestigious university. At that time there was less number of foreign degrees awarded by private institutes in Sri Lanka. IIT was one of the most renowned private institutes awarding internal degrees from prestigious universities in the UK through direct collaboration, at an affordable cost. The course contents and curriculum of the degree was very attractive and the job market for IIT graduates was pretty impressive, which made me select IIT.
Speaking of his experience at the institute he further elaborated “IIT course curriculum was structured in such a manner where there were lectures followed by tutorials and lab sessions, which helped the students to understand the subjects better and also to discuss with the lecturers on the subject matter. Further the individual and group assignments were mostly research based and helped me to improve my confidence, self studying capabilities and also to function effectively within a group. It also helped me in improving my documentation, presentation skills and no doubt in making me a better team player. IIT also had frequent student events which improved the social ability with students from different backgrounds. I was also benefited by the library, computer labs and other value added services provided by IIT. He also pointed out that “Further the third year industrial placement also helped me to understand my strengths and what avenues are available in the industry, when I graduate”. Having done his internship at Informatics International Limited as a Junior Analyst Programmer. Prashanthan was involved in development, testing, training and implementation of software solutions.
Another feather in his cap was the experience he gained in his final year project which was on “Contact Centres” an automated communication system with minimum human interaction. It was a research project focused on enhancing limitations in the traditional call centres by considering the real world call centres. The project was independently evaluated by leading call centre professional in Sri Lanka and was highly rated in terms of functionality and usability. In addition to this BSc(Hons) in Information Systems, Prashanthan is also an Associate Charted Management Accountant (ACMA), Fellow Member of British Computer Society (FBCS), a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). He stated that “No doubt my first degree in Information Systems was the stepping stone to all my other qualifications. Further, during my current and previous employments, my course curriculum has helped me to perform my duties effectively. Also the soft skills I gained during my degree have helped me tremendously in my professional career.” Prashanthan is also the CISA Director of the ISACA Sri Lanka Chapter. With his ambition being to be part of a leading IT Consultancy firm in a prominent position and stay up to date with changing trends in technology, Prashanthan stated. “A recognized foreign degree offered by a reputed institute was a plus point for me to get into a global big four firm such as KPMG. My current job as a Senior Manager in the IT Advisory division of KPMG Sri Lanka, mainly involves IT Consultancy and IS Auditing. Prashanthan affirmed that “Since IT has many avenues which the students should be aware and need to carefully select which path they would like to progress in their career. Students should read and be up to date with the latest trends in the field of IT which is quite dynamic. They should make use of their industrial placement period to learn about the industry and new technologies. Taking all this into context IIT is the ideal training ground for such initiatives. This is the reason that IIT has been the proud recipient to be endorsed by many of its students including me as an institution with academic excellence and imparting quality skills that are essential to organizations in the present context.
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