Business Process Management: Simply a buzz phrase?
Feb/100
Business process management (BPM) is a management approach focused on aligning all aspects of an organization with the wants and needs of clients. It is a Holistic Management approach that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility, and integration with technology. Business process management attempts to improve processes continuously. It could therefore be described as a “process optimization process.” It is argued that BPM enables organizations to be more efficient, more effective and more capable of change than a functionally focused, traditional hierarchical management approach. (wikipedia)
By definition it would appear to be an essential part of the future of any business. However, last month’s announcement that Progress Software acquired Savvion for $49million on the back of the previous month’s acquisition of Lombardi by IBM would appear to mark a turning point for BMP.
Savvion and Lombardi were 2 of the 4 vendors at the forefront of BPM.
IBM and Progress have obviously identified the potential in this market and have taken advantage of the slower economy to take a large chuck of it for what will be considered at some point in the future, not a lot of money.
BPM is regarded by most to be a key driver in the future of Business & Technology and as Business & Technology continues to merge closer and closer it will only become more and more important. It is far from just a buzz phrase!
Most Sought-After Skills on the Web Market
Feb/100
Recently there has been a continued growth of online web agencies. This growth has stemmed from major companies outsourcing their web development and advertising campaigns to specialist firms. These companies are advancing at a rapid pace and are now sourcing the best and most highly skilled developers on the market. Currently there is a shortage of expertise to match this demand. What does this mean for developers and designers? Are there opportunities in the web market? The answer is Yes!! The best way to take advantage of these opportunities is through up-skilling!
Cakephp and flex are the hottest web skills on the market. Flex is an open source program for developers and maintains open source web applications while Cakephp is a framework that offers an extensible architecture for developing, maintaining, and deploying applications. It reduces development costs and helps developers write less code which is a valuable tool for online agencies.
The growth of online agencies will continue and this is a competitive market with high demand for specialised web developers and designers!
January 2010 – Ireland sees third consecutive month of job market growth
Feb/100
The latest Premier Group Irish Employment Monitor covering January 10 figures was published this morning.
This month’s highlights include:
- During January 10 the number of new job vacancies in Ireland increased by 15% compared to December 09 – the third consecutive monthly increase
- Compared to the same month a year ago, new job opportunities increased by 12% in January 10
- The number of professionals looking for a new role in January 10 increased by 67% month-on-month – following the seasonal dip in December 09
- There was a 6% increase in professionals looking for new jobs in January 10 compared to January 09
The full release can be viewed on the Verkom website
In addition, the Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor covering January 10 has also been published.
This issue generated a significant amount of media interest. This month’s highlights include:
- New financial services job opportunities in January 10 rose by 60% compared to January 09 a month when hiring in the sector was at one of the lowest points since the ‘credit crunch’ began.
- Following the typical decline in job vacancies in December 09 due to the Christmas period, January 10 registered a 105% month-on-month increase in roles as hiring resumed the gradual pattern of growth that was built up over the course of 2009.
- The number of financial services professionals starting their job search in January 10 increased by 54% compared to December 09
- January 10 saw a slight increase (3%) in the number of individuals looking for new roles compared to the same month of the previous year (January 09)
- The average City salary remained stable with a decrease of 1% on December 09 but an increase of 1% on the same month last year.
The full release can be viewed on the Morgan McKinley website
IT Still Strong Focus for IT Firms in 2010
Feb/100
Good news for IT professionals in today’s Business And Leadership news. IT is still very much an important part of Irish business with 47% of companies surveyed saying they will be maintaining their current level of IT staff over the next 12 months (survey by Irish Computer Society).
IT Budgets and spending, however, will be reduced in many companies with many planning to make reductions through contractor salaries.
Trends point to an increase in funding in 2010 to areas like Cloud Computing, Security and Social Networking. Bigger spend is also expected in data storage, network infrastructure and server hardware. Upskilling is also an area of interest.
Overall the IT sector remains positive with a high percentage of Senior IT Managers and Executives saying they are happy with their profession and that they would recommend a career in IT.
Premier Group: Appointed Recruitment Partner for D&B
Feb/100
We are delighted to announce that Premier Group has been appointed Recruitment Partner for US Firm, D&B.
Business information firm D&B is to set up operations in Dublin, creating up to 100 jobs over 18 months.
The US-based company, formerly known as Dun and Bradstreet, provides commercial information and insight on businesses. Its global commercial database contains more than 140 million business records in over 200 countries.
Recruitment will begin in the coming months and we are very excited to be a part of this new operation.
To read more go to http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0209/breaking38.htm