Key Skills for Information Technology Professionals - 
How up to date are your technical skills ?


Virtualization

If you are a network administrator and do not have skill with virtualizing servers, you are becoming a minority.  Even some of the small companies for whom we provide training have virtualized their server environment.

Those who are versed at virtualization have come to appreciate the ease of being able to quickly move and back up servers.

We are starting to see some of our customers integrate desktop virtualization into their infrastructure.  We feel this trend is at the early stages.  You may soon be tasked with learning this element as well - if you have not already.

Mobile Applications Development

In the past four quarters, we have had requests for individuals who can develop applications for mobile phones and tablets.

Java and C++ programmers have a head start in this arena. Porting their skills to developing applications for Droid and Apple devices is a shorter route than for those without these programming skills.

Being that Windows Mobile applications use software that many businesses already own (e.g. SQL server) and play on skills they already have (e.g. .Net programming), we project that this tool will be readily used by business.

Your best bet here is to volunteer for a mobile development project to see how it uses your current skills and / or develop a test application on your own.

We expect to see that those who have skill developing and maintaining mobile applications will have strong job security for at least the next three to five years. 

Managing Projects

We continue to see clients who are losing money and missing deadlines on projects. They realize their staff needs stronger skills to improve their ability to get projects done on time and within the allotted budget.

We normally see two problems.  One is that there is no clear (and experienced) project manager assigned to manage the engagement.  The second is that individuals who are not well versed in managing projects or lack the sufficient time to do so (e.g. a business analyst, a programmer) are assigned the responsibility. 

Those individuals who have augmented their primary skill (e.g. network administrator, systems analyst) with project management skills are ahead of the pack.

Security

For a moment, think in general terms about cyber criminals.  In simple terms, they hire individuals to spend their days stealing worthwhile data (e.g. bank account numbers, social security numbers) that they resell.  They develop a business that reaps substantial profits - especially if your labor costs for the hackers is done by individuals in a low labor area whom they pay on a commission basis (e.g. $$$ for each social security number). It is a clean business with low costs of entry.

You, on the other side of the fence, are fighting against these thousands of cyber criminals.  They have more time than most of you do to study and improve their skills.  

Now that high profile breaches have been in the news, we in the industry are more keenly aware of the need to fight on this crime front. It is a battle that invigorates many of us "good guys".

We project that individuals who are well versed in helping keep information technology environments secure (or at least more secure than their neighbors) will be in demand for at least the next five years - and probably longer.  Think about how many years the policing authorities have been fighting against illegal drug trafficking. 

Making sense out of the terabytes of information

For those of you familiar with Dunnhumby, you know how fast they are growing.  And what is it they do.  One of the key things they do is help companies like Kroger and Tessco hone their marketing initiatives to increase sales.  They are smart about business intelligence.

Now that many companies have terabytes of information about their customers, they are continuing to work to get more clarity on how to use this information to more effectively reach and help their customers.  That is where you come in.  If you are good at using business intelligence tools (e.g. Microstrategy), they want you.  Again, like the need for I.T. security professionals, the demand for business intelligence experts should be healthy for years to come.