Specialization vs. Diversification

Question

I have read a few of the questions asked on this topic, here on StackOverflow, but most of them focus on different areas within Computer Science.

I am currently working in a start up unit in a large financial company. Our whole team just finished our MSc. or PhD. in our various fields, however, none of us have a lot of real world experience.

I am currently faced with the choice of either diversifying my education by completing various financial courses to catch up with what the actuaries know as to assist them in their financial modeling; or I can specialize in business application development (i.e. Business application software architecture, becoming intimately knowledgeable with the various systems, technologies and languages we use to develop and keeping up to date with the newest software models and practices).

I would love to hear your opinions on the topic.

Thanks

Answer 1

I would go the financial courses route.

Business knowledge is extremelly important when developing applications, and the more you know about how your clients work, the better the solutions you develop for them will be.

Also business application development is something you can probably learn as you go.
(Depending on your current skill level. So is not as important.)

I would kill right now, to have in depth accounting knowledge.

Answer 2

Languages come and go. Technologies come and go. Today's hot new technological silver bullet will be a distant memory five or six years from now.

But the core business practices have stood the test of time. Learn them. Learn the lingo, learn how to effectively communicate with clients, managers, executives, and the folks in th trenches. That knowledge is worth far more than the world's fastest algorithm for sorting data.

But that's just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

Answer 3

Either way you are specializing into the financial application area, I believe. The finance courses could help provide some domain knowledge so that if someone is talking about something very specific within an accounting package you know what that is, while the other option would have you looking at the financial specialization of various systems as I'd imagine the business application development would focus on applications for financial companies rather than general software.

I guess if I had that choice, I'd view it from the perspective of whether I plan on staying within software development so that the business application path may be better, kind of a way of wanting to stay technical no matter what, or would I want to be more well-rounded and learn about various finance concepts and terms that may well be part of my vocabulary in the near future.