However, what does Cloud Computing mean for IT jobs? As most of the work involved in Cloud Computing can be done by 1 person and the machine, is it likely to lead to a decrease in demand for certain IT skills.  In short, the answer is “yes”.  IT Administrators are likely to be less in demand as the services and servers move into the cloud.

A recent survey in the UK showed results where the majority felt that cloud computing would not be good for IT jobs.  In fact, only 28%  felt that it would be good.  However, some 70% did agree that possessing Cloud skills would make them more employable with the downside being that it is not yet clear which specific skills will be useful for Cloud Computing.  Others suggest that an increase in Cloud Computing will also lead to an increased demand for Application Support professionals.

Of course, all of the above is dependent on how many companies decide to go down the route of Cloud Computing.  It would appear that they are not jumping into it as quickly as was initially thought with most being extremely cautious with their IT investments.

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

Jen-hsun Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, the specialist graphics company that is also a big supplier of chips for tablet PCs kicked things off by making the prediction that within five years “tablets will be the world’s biggest computing category”. Huang said tablets could even surpass netbooks and notebook PCs in terms of volume.

This a very bold claim given that Gartner expects only 12 million tablet-like devices to be sold this year and even the most optimistic of predictions say tablets would only take up 50-60 million of the 700 million PCs sold worldwide by 2014. It was also a dig at Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini who earlier said that tablets would not “eat the netbooks and notebooks lunch”

And Huang isn’t the only one thinking along these lines. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that personal computers running rival Microsoft’s Windows operating system are in a permanent decline and that only a fraction of current users will still rely on them in the future.

In a rare onstage interview at the D: All Things Digital conference, Mr Jobs compared the fate of the PC to trucks in agrarian America. The dominant vehicle when farming was the way most people earned a living, they were vastly outnumbered by cars when the country became more urbanised.

The same thing will happen with PCs, where “one out of every x” people will continue to use them, he told the Dow Jones event hosts. The shift “is going to make us nervous”, speaking of multiple generations used to the machines.

And with Apple selling over 3 million ipads in the first 80 days of release Mr.Jobs and Huang may very well be proved right

With an increased focus on Data, we are seeing a huge increase in demand for skilled Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence professionals.  Common roles include Data Warehouse Support, Business Objects Consultants, Business Intelligence Developers and Data Warehouse consultants.  Many companies are formalizing their Information and Data Management strategies and assessing current systems support of information needs.  As a result, people with significant knowledge of Data Warehouse concepts are in high demand along with those who have experience of managing Data Intensive initiatives.

The security industry is also set for a busy time as a result of the spotlight on data and information.  It is predicted that by 2020 the amount of files needing higher levels of security would be 50% of the total, up from an estimated 30% this year.

Those in the Cloud Computing business will be happy with these findings as this report also predicts that a third of all data will be residing in the cloud by 2020.

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.

 After a tough year of restructuring across all areas of businesses there has been a slight shift towards re-hiring in this market. Consultancies are slowly but surely bulking up their professional services team with high-end skills such as Virtualisation, Storage and Network Security.  This will ensure that they are positioned correctly in the marketplace to secure any major upcoming contracts as IT budgets are slowly increased. From an internal prospective, IT support functions are growing again. Companies have begun to increase their operational staff, and as this happens it is being mirrored by the support functions.

Although it is a minimal growth, it is still a positive at the end of a very “taxing” year.