Bryan Sacks, MSIS’11, knew pretty quickly that he’d made the right decision to pursue an MS in Information Systems at Indiana University. He landed a fantastic internship the first semester—a stark contrast to the bleak employment scene when he finished his undergraduate degree from another university during an economic downturn.
“I went from not being able to get an interview with consulting firms to accepting a highly coveted internship,” he said. “The MSIS program provides opportunity, something that the student then needs to make the most of.”
Bryan’s performance in his internship lead to a full-time position after graduation, working in the cyber risk practice at Deloitte. Now, seven years after completing his MSIS, he’s chief information security officer for the State of Indiana. Bryan is responsible for establishing the vision and strategy for the state’s cybersecurity efforts. His responsibilities span the state’s Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IN-ISAC), the Security Operations Center (SOC), Security Operations and Engineering, as well as Risk & Compliance teams.
How did he get there so quickly? He points to Kelley’s MSIS program, where he thrived even though his undergrad was not IT-focused. Bryan came to Kelley as an out-of-state student but was confident that the MSIS program “would pay dividends for my career”—and it did so faster than he anticipated.
“It’s a progression,” he said. “The MSIS program prepared me to be a top tier consultant with a Big Four Firm. Without the coursework, case studies, business analysis, etcetera, I wouldn’t have achieved that level of success. One success births another.”