Virtual is the new Reality!
Jul/100
Virtualization is one of the fastest growing areas in the current I.T. market. Deemed as “Green IT”, it is providing opportunities to improve computer performance and end user productivity as well as cutting costs.
Virtualization at the server level is more established, however, desktop virtualisation is gaining ground. Virtualization’s value comes from its simplicity – the ideal that there will be one desktop operating system, one copy of each application and one instance of each server workload. The most obvious benefit is that the operational costs in the area of technical support will be reduced for companies. However, continuous innovation in desktop virtualization will also start to provide firms with a more flexible and adaptable desktop environment, allowing users access to the workplace from out-of-office locations at any time.
Virtualization and the companies involved in it are getting recognition at industry level for their advances into this type of technology. VMware collected awards for “Green IT Initiative of the Year” as well as “Technology Industry Company of the Year” at this year’s ICT Excellence Awards. At the same time, the Microsoft Ireland Virtualization Campaign won the “Technology Marketing Campaign of the Year”
So how is this affecting job opportunities in the current market? Well first of all, there is a definite increase in the numbers of roles in IT Infrastructure and Support that require Virtualization skills, with familiar job titles such as ‘Technical Support Engineer’ being replaced with ‘Virtualization Engineer’. Secondly individuals have wisely invested time and effort into achieving Virtualization certifications in order to meet the changing needs of current and potential employers. And thirdly, recruiters need to ensure that they understand the virtualization technologies that their clients are expecting in order to identify the most appropriate candidates.
Virtualization is here to stay and keeping up to date is the key to unlocking the potential in this area of IT.
Source : ComputerScope June 2010
O! say can you see – O! save us I.T.
Jul/100
“… Ireland exited the recession during the first quarter of 2010”; I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the newsreader announce the bulletin on Wednesday morning when I was scrambling to get ready for work. I envisaged skipping to work as my fellow Irishmen and women hooted with joy and punched the air in victory having made it through one of the worst economic years in memory – a little optimistic maybe, but the outlook is definitely looking positive.
Our figures estimated a quarter-on-quarter rise of as much 1pc in Irish economic growth during the first three months of the year, which technically points to the end of the recession. What can we attribute our success over the dreaded recession? One area that has held strong throughout 2010 was Foreign Direct Investments from the US. Despite the odd wobble like Dell and Pfizer, FDI has remained quite strong throughout 2009 for Ireland and IT has proved to be a good source of employment.
HP, McAfee, EA and Blizzard are just some of the companies that have created multiple positions for highly skilled IT professionals last year. Verkom, part of the Premier Group has secured exclusive recruitment contracts with companies such as D&B and BSB who are hiring multiple highly skilled Java developers and IT /other professionals for their new Dublin based hubs. As we globally emerge from recession it is fair to say that we are turning a corner, smiling at the USA and grateful for our highly-skilled IT workforce.
http://www.irishexaminer.ie/ireland/figures-show-recession-ended-at-start-of-year-123837.html