Specialized Master in Management of Information Systems and Telecommunication Networks: The alumni speak out

Jérôme Fourmont and Younès Ouajid completed the Specialized Master in Management of Information Systems and Telecommunication Networks in 1995 and 1998 respectively. They describe their career choices and motivation.

“The Master’s management focus was extremely valuable for me…”

Jérôme Fourmont, with a MIAGE degree (Maîtrise d’Informatique Appliquée à la Gestion des Entreprises – Master’s in Computer Science Applied to Corporate Management) and a Master’s from the ESSEC/TELECOM ParisTech Master’s in Information Systems and Telecommunication Networks program, class of 1995, is currently Director of the IS department at Christian Dior Couture.

In retrospect, what do you feel was the added value of the Master’s program?

With a few years’ hindsight, I now realize that the Master’s was an excellent investment in that I am now able to appreciate its short and mid-term contributions. At the beginning of my career, the Master’s label helped me join Deloitte & Touche, first as an auditor, and then as an IS consultant in a highly selective company. It was a demanding job. From a strictly financial point of view, the degree “paid for itself” in less than two years!

And mid-term?

The Master’s management culture was very useful to me, first of all as Director in organizing the Intermarché IS system, and then as Chief Information Officer with Christian Dior Couture. Today, in addition to my daily job, the basics I learned during the Master’s program help me design the Dior information system, currently distributed in the United States, Japan, and southern Asia in a technically and technologically unstable context.

What do you expect from the Master’s in the future?

With respect to the dynamic contribution of professional clubs or simply the usefulness of the alumni directory, I remain convinced that my investment in the Master’s still holds many opportunities for my career…

“I lacked a strategic vision of information systems and new technologies…”

Younès Ouajid, with an engineering degree from ESI (Ecole Supérieure d’Informatique) and an ESSEC/TELECOM ParisTech Master’s in Information Systems and Telecommunication Networks degree, class of 1998, is currently a consultant in information systems, telecommunications, and networks with Alcatel.

What motivated you to join the Master’s program initially?

During the first part of my career, I was constantly seeing technologies and the market evolve. I saw companies becoming increasingly computerized. And something new as well – information technology has become a tool for modernization and optimizing profitability. I already had solid experience on a technical level, but I lacked a strategic vision of the field. This is what drove me to enter the Master’s program.

What changed for you during the program on a professional level?

Right at the start, I went from the position of project coordinator to manager of part of the development systems within the IS department at Alcatel. A year later, I joined the Alcatel consulting department to research my professional thesis on “a study on implementation of a trusted third-party” within a large French industrial group.

What is your job today?

Today I act as a consultant for large corporations and telecom operators on strategic projects such as organization, job processes, audits, new technologies, marketing and sales strategy... The Master’s gave me the perspective I needed for this type of position and strengthened my career goal to become a top manager in information systems, telecommunications, and networks in innovative companies.