Best MBA for technology

I've managed to glean a ton of information from this site, and am proposing the following scenario (well, OK, it's MY scenario) for your opinions to finalize my final list of MBA programs to which I will apply:

I am a Sr. IT Consultant for a leading international tech consulting firm. I need an MBA to be competetive for a VP/Manager track. I travel nearly 100% and am thus only looking at online options. Similarly, my travel schedule requires that any viable program for me should have the following:

1. Preferably no proctored exams (or as very few as possible)
2. Asynchronous learning schedule - I travel all US time zones and sometimes internationally to Europe and Asia - I can't be locked into set times for online classes, etc. on a regular basis.
3. No frequent or lengthy residency requirements (a few days here and there or a "capstone week" in the program would be OK)
4. AACSB accreditation (employer only reimburses AACSB programs)
5. I'm 36 with 14 yrs experience in IT and have a non-business undergrad degree (Biology) with a 3.4 GPA from a well-reputed, rigorous liberal arts school. I'd rather not have to take foundation courses or a ton of prerequisites if at all possible. My GMAT prep exam scores should put me in the 650-670 range for the real deal.

Any recommendations from the field? Many thanks in advance!

 

I can't help by suggesting specific programs, but in addition to the info you've provided (which is great btw I'm sure it will be very helpful to those providing advice) you may want to mention how whether your company will be paying or not? (ie, how big of an issue is cost?)

Usually the starting point for AACSB accredited MBAs would be the GetEducated list:
Best Buy Online MBA AACSB Accredited | Ratings & Rankings | GetEducated.com

Only one specifically mentions technology, and that's the SUNYIT program:
MBA in Technology Management
Unfortunately it doesn't say much about the delivery format, whether it's asynchronous or not. (That actually might make a good sticky ... a list of fully asynchronous MBA programs?)

I did a quick Google search and found the Northeastern University MBA, which offers a specialization in "High Technology Management". (Not just Technology Management ... High! ) It sounds from the description to be fairly asynchronous ... not completely so, but it doesn't sound like you have to be online at specific times during the week:
Northeastern University online MBA program
It also says you can get a MSc in Finance for another 4 courses in addition to your MBA, if that would appeal to you at all.

 

You should look at Auburn University.

Distance Learning Off-Campus

 

I'm going to be the obnoxious guy who promotes his own school and suggest you look into one of the Fuqua EMBA programs, most likely the Cross-Continent MBA. However, it's not a prefect fit - we need to discuss this:

Are you absolutely sure that you can't be flexible on this point? You're looking to use an MBA as a way to round out your resume with the hopes of being promoted in the near future. I'm assuming, although you didn't say it directly, that you're hoping to find a somewhat prestigious program, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned a target GMAT score.

As a general rule, the more prestigious a program is, the more likely it is to have both:

1. Group Work
2. Scheduled Class Sessions

You didn't mention anything about group work in your list of requirements, so I'll leave that subject alone except to mention my personal belief that an MBA program that can be completed without interacting with other students to be worse than useless.

Scheduled class sessions were a very important part of my MBA experience, and were not the burden that you might think - both my wife (who earned her MBA from Fuqua in the class before mine) and I worked jobs that required a lot of travel while we were in b-school, and were able to attend the majority of the class sessions. Fuqua does make it about as easy as you can get - the program was paced at two classes per term, and class meetings were held once a week on Saturday mornings. Three hours and you were done, but it was plenty of time to interact with the professor and your fellow students. If you had a particularly good team that term, you could get together before or after class and knock out most of the weeks work in a single day.

If you absolutely can't give on the "no scheduled classes" thing, I'd encourage you to check out the University of Wyoming's Executive MBA program (still promoting my own school, I went to UW for undergrad!), as it meets all your criteria. It's not as prestigious as Duke, but it's a good school with a solid business faculty, and you'll learn a lot there.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

 

Thanks everyone who's posted so far - this is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get. The University of Wyoming did catch my eye - and seemed to be welcoming to students with a non-business undergraduate background. I'm not sure if I addressed this in my OP, but my employer will reimburse this MBA, but there is a yearly cap of $15k, I believe. Given that, the Geteducated.com site has been a good source for me in finding schools that would fit tuition-wise so that my own out-of-pocket or student debt obligations would be null or minimal. I do have a large family (5 kids), 2 of whom will be going to college themselves within the next 5 years, so cost is going to be a consideration for me. While I would LOVE to consider the Fuqua MBA (Duke), it's simply not going to be financially feasible for me. I'm still open to your recommendations and opinions! Lay 'em on me! I'd love to hear personal experiences as well - always good to get a first-hand report from someone who's doing it or has done it. Thanks all, and keep the great posts coming!

 

Texas A&M - Commerce

It sounds like this program may be of interest to you. The program is fully online, AACSB accredited, and they offer an MBA with a minor (often called an emphasis, concentration/specialization, or focus area) in Technology Management.

They also offer an MBA with a minor in MIS, which may also be of interest to you.

As you do not have a business undergrad, you will be required to take the foundation level courses prior to starting the program.

Below is a link to the program.

Texas A&M University Commerce - History & Traditions


Also, if cost isn't an issue then the Northeastern online MBA program would be a good choice as well.

Good luck to you.

 

Why does it have to be an MBA, what are the credentials of the employees that currently hold your target position, and more importantly how does the competition look? If the firm you work for is educentric, and judging by the AACSB requirement it is, then you may need to attend a prestigious school to compete.
With 25 years in the IT field working in technical, managerial, and consulting capacities at firms such as AT&T Bell Laboratories, Pfizer, Lehman Brothers, and Nomura Securities I’ve often observed that advanced degrees are not needed for senior IT positions (managing director, CTO, CIO) within a firm. In fact the people that I do know in these positions hold either an AAS or BS in a technical field such as computer science or electrical engineering. One person that I worked for at Nomura that held an MBA from Wharton was fired and replaced by a person that held an undergraduate business degree from a local school. The former CIO of Lehman Brothers who I started with in 1991 as a UNIX Systems Administrator became CIO in the course of 10 years holding only an AAS from a local community college. She moved up through the ranks competing against Ivy League graduates in both business and technology.
After all my babbling I guess what I’m trying to say is that the ability advance in IT to senior management positions relies on many things that a graduate degree, regardless of the school, will not provide. It's often the talent of knowing how to play the game.

 

SUNYIT MBA in Technology management

I was in the same situation when I was looking for online MBA schools. I do not get reimursement, so my requirement was to limit the cost to 15K for the entire program. I was accepted at Keller, Babson, Cornell, but was not offered any scholarship; without the scholarhsip the cost is too high! So, I narrowed it down to SUNYIT, Morehead state univ, Univ of north dakota, Univ of south dakota, and jaksonville univ. Since I reside in NY state, I opted for SUNYIT (looks more ligit on the resume and recruiters will not question it)
This program is completely online with the exception of spending one weekend on campus during the last strategy course. The experience varies depending on the teacher, which is probably the case at any university. There are teachers that are giving isntant responses and feedbacks and you don't even feel that the progrma is online, while others will take their time to respond. I chatted with current students and gathered feedback on teachers and am registering based on that. So far, so good.
Hope this helps!
Good luck with your studies!