Chao Li, MS’14

Chao Li
Chao Li

Senior IT Auditor

Chao Li is a UT Dallas ITM program alumni graduated on December 2014. After graduation with her ITM master degree, she worked for PwC New York office – SAP enterprise solution team for almost 3 years. Now Chao is a Senior IT Auditor in an international famous air conditioner and heat craft manufacturing company. Here is her story:

Back to 2012, Chao decided to pursuit her post graduate degree in ITM after 2 years Oracle ERP system consulting experience in China. At that time, she did research and applied several universities in US. But she chose UT Dallas and mentioned the following reasons:

  1. There are around 2000 SAP Alliance universities around the world, however, UT Dallas owns the program under a very great reputation business school – Naveen Jindal School of Management (JSOM). So students no matter in which major can share all the most competent professor, academic and research resources in this excellent business school. For example, Chao deeply noted that, nowadays, graduates with a combined IT and business knowledge background are the most popular candidates for any big companies.
  2. Since UT Dallas ITM major is directly guided by SAP Alliance program, the education provided here is more practical, specific and job oriented. Students can choose classes related to their interested modules in SAP, for example, FICO, SCM or Security modules. All the case studies and home works are directly need to complete by using the SAP sandbox which run through a database supported by SAP directly and all the cases are from real business environment.
  3. In UT Dallas, each of these directions under ITM programs has its own clubs, students can attend these clubs based on their own interests. If you can actively attend and join the club events and volunteer works, it will be a great opportunity to get leadership and team work skills which are really important in work environment.
  4. Chao became a member of SAP users group club in her first semester and she actively join the club events, for example, volunteering in the playground events* and helping organize and contribute to the guest speakers’ events. Every single professors and staffs in JSOM are devoting their career life to better help and serve students. As an ITM program – Enterprise system direction alumni, Chao was so grateful when she talked about all these professors and staffs in JSOM who helped her find the program direction and career path.

More from MS Information Technology Management Testimonials

Samrudhi Yergude, MS ITM ‘24

Samrudhi Yergude, MS ITM ‘24

The opportunities for growth, exposure, and networking at UTD were exceptional. The MSITM program at JSOM is an outstanding platform for anyone with an SAP background looking to advance their career. I highly recommend it to fellow students aspiring to excel in the SAP field. It's truly the best place to build a solid foundation for your future.

KUMAR GAURAV, MS ITM ‘17

KUMAR GAURAV, MS ITM ‘17

I embarked on a transformative journey at the UT Dallas, seeking to break free from professional stagnation. With 4 years of experience in project management and data analysis, I yearned for fresh skills and perspectives. The MS ITM program became my gateway to revitalization. Immersing myself in data warehousing, in-memory processing, and mastering data modeling, statistics and visualizations, I emerged equipped to seize challenging opportunities as a data engineer. The friendly environment, stellar faculties, and impactful courses have truly been the pillars of my successful transition and ongoing growth in the dynamic field of information technology.

Tushar Mumbaikar, MSITM ’23

Tushar Mumbaikar, MSITM ’23

Combining my robust SAP Sales and Distribution background with a strategic choice, I enrolled in JSOM's MS-ITM curriculum at UT Dallas. Opting for the SAP Alliance-guided Enterprise System track was deliberate, as it offers a diverse range of SAP courses and valuable SAP TS410 certification. This has significantly enriched my functional and technical expertise across multiple SAP domains. UT Dallas' alignment with industry standards ensures a solid foundation and coupled with my existing skills, positions me well for roles requiring functional understanding and technical implementation within SAP.

Mani Atukuri, MSITM’ 23

Mani Atukuri, MSITM’ 23

HIRS Analyst | Paccar

Hello, my name is Mani Deep Atukuri. I pursued my master's degree from ITM with a concentration in Enterprise Systems. My journey with SAP began when I worked at my first job with SuccessFactors, which piqued my interest and led me to pursue higher studies in the same field. During my first semester, I took the ERP with SAP course under the guidance of Professor Lou Thompson.

Arun Ravichandran, MS ITM’ 23

Arun Ravichandran, MS ITM’ 23

SAP Solution Engineer
Kaar Technologies Inc

I am happy to write a testimonial about the SAP Users Group and Professor Lou Thompson, the Director of the Enterprise Systems Graduation Program. My experience with both the SAP Users Group (SUG) and Professor Thompson's courses has been nothing short of transformative.

Information Systems Degree Options


The Bachelor’s in Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence prepares students to solve analytics problems embedded in a business context. Empower yourself to seek analytical roles by combining fundamental ideas in economics, finance, information technology, marketing, operations management and statistics with various analytics concepts using a range of tools and programming languages.

BS Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence

The Bachelor’s in Information Technology and Systems (ITS) program is a unique blend of technical and business curriculum. This STEM designated degree program provides students with practical and theoretical training in information technology. Graduates from the program are in high demand because of their diverse technical skill set and their ability to understand how technology affects business processes.

BS CIS-TECH

The Master’s in Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence program (BUAN) is a 36 semester credit hour STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) designated degree program. This highly-ranked program provides students with the practical and theoretical knowledge needed to pursue careers involving a wide variety of data science, data engineering, and data analytics roles within a number of business domains.

MS Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Options

The Master’s in Information Technology and Management (ITM) program is a 36 semester credit hour STEM designated degree program ranked 17th in the US by US News and World Report. The MS ITM degree prepares students for careers as IT professionals working in a variety of industries and roles. The program features a state of the art curriculum, online or class room delivery options, and the ability to complete the degree on a full-time or part time basis.

MS ITM

Develop strong research skills that are especially relevant for students interested in an academic career. Research seminars are held regularly, and each year the Information Systems area sponsors a speaker series to bring researchers from other universities to UT Dallas.

PhD in Management Science, Information Systems Concentration