(US and Canada) Dr. Andy Igonor, Academic Program Director, Associate Dean, College of IT, WGU, Ohio. speaks with Dr. K.L. Allen, Chancellor, WGU Ohio, about his role in the innovative technology field, and the mindset required to attain success in IT.

Igonor’s career spans a couple of decades and has mostly been in the area of IT, cyber security, and cloud computing. He has worked across countries, and his current area of responsibility at WGU Ohio is in IT and the cloud. Before that, he worked for a smaller institution in Columbus overseeing business and an IT program.

He says that it was his passion and love for innovation that kept him in the IT field all these years.

“I love solving problems, and I feel like IT is about solving problems and it involves a lot of critical thinking. And it’s actually driven by innovation. There’s always something that we’re doing that has IT, from phones to the Zoom technology to communicate and collaborate,” Igonor says. “So, IT really is at the center of innovation, and we’re seeing it — in the airline industry, banking, finance, manufacturing, etc. — actually improving customer service excellence.

“The passion that I have for solving problems was just something that I would naturally gravitate toward,” he adds.

At WGU they are using technology to provide opportunities for people to learn new skills in their own time. They can do assessments on their own and have the flexibility and the ability to manage their lives their way. “We support them throughout that process, but it’s technology-mediated,” Igonor says.

For individuals who are thinking about getting into IT but are hesitant about it, he offers this advice: It’s important to have the right mindset in place before attempting a career in IT.

“Success doesn’t happen when you get something tangible or something physical. It is actually a mindset. It starts with you having a conviction that you can do it. The moment you say I can’t, you’ve already built an artificial barrier and you need to break down that barrier first. The people in IT are not smarter or better than you. It doesn’t have anything to do with the color of your skin. But when you make up your mind you’re going to succeed, you will find the support and the resources you need to help you move through.”

He goes on to challenge people, urging them not to stand in their own way of success. “It’s not going to be easy, but you can do it. If you don’t try IT, you’re not going to know. It’s better to try and fail than to never try at all,” Igonor concludes.