Upwardly Mobile!
May/100
Following on from our topic of the iphone v Nexus One, we thought it was worth taking time out to look at the mobile market on the whole.
With mobile phone sales on the increase year on year, clearly this is a profitable industry that has potential to drive forward our recovery.
Recent research conducted by the Gartner technology industry research group noted a 17% increase in mobile phone sales in quarter 1 of this year compared to 2009, with Smartphone models (phones with internet access) leading the way.
As expected, Nokia have topped the pole with 35% of the market, with Samsung trailing closely behind claiming a further 20.6%.
As for Smartphone sales, Nokia again hold the title with over 44.3%, whilst RIM, Apple and Google share the remainder of the market.
But what does this mean for you and me? Well we can already see the inevitable effect of profitable sales in the mobile market with O2 announcing 100 new jobs in the European HQ in Dublin. These new positions will act as a support function to 02’s expanding workforce. And that in my opinion is good news for all!!
Verkom’s 2010 Salary Guide launched today!
May/100
We are delighted to announce the launch of our 2010 Salary Guide! As part of the Premier Group, we continuously monitor market trends.
Since our 2009 Salary Guide the Irish employment market has clearly undergone significant changes and continues to experience very challenging economic conditions. In the midst of such uncertainty we have commissioned an “up to the minute” salary guide which we feel will be of significant benefit to both employers and job seekers alike.
The Premier Group guide is the best and definitive guide to salaries in the Finance, IT, Technical and Office Support sectors.
Find out the latest salaries and hiring trends for 2010 on http://www.verkom.ie/salary-guide-2010
Is Social Media a fad or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution?
May/100
- In 2010 Gen Y outnumbers Baby Boomers, 96% of them have joined a social network.
- Social Media is the #1 activity on the Web.
- 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media.
Years to reach million users:
- Radio (38 years)
- TV (13yrs)
- Internet (4 years)
- iPod (3 years)
- Facebook (100 million users in less than 9 months)
- iPod Application Downloads (1 billion in 9 months)
Some Interesting Facts:
- If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest country after China, India & the USA.
- Over 300 million use China’s QZone (QZONE.QQ.COM)
- 2009 US Dept. of Education study in 2009 revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction.
- 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum.
- 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees.
- The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old females.
- Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire population of Ireland, Norway & Panama.
- 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices. People update anywhere, anytime. Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
- Generation Y & Z consider e-mail passé.
- In 2009, Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen.
- What happens in Vegas, stays on facebook, twitter, orkut, bebo, flickr, digg, myspace, YouTube, etc.
- YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world.
- YouTube hosts over 100 million videos.
- Wikipedia has over 13 million articles. Studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopaedia Britannica. 78% of these articles are non-English.
- If you were paid $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia, you would earn $156.23 per hour.
- There are over 200 million blogs. 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily.
- 25% search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content.
- 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands. Do you like what they are saying about your brand?
- People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them.
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements.
- Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI.
- 90% of people that can TiVo ads do.
- Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams to 373 million in April 2009.
- 70% of 18-34 year olds have watched TV on the web. Only 33% have ever viewed a show on DVR/TiVo.
- 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video on their phone.
- 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle.
- 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation.
- We no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
- In the near future, we will no longer search for products and services; they will find us via social media.
- Social Media isn’t a fad; it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.
- More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook daily. It’s a people-driven economy.
- Successful companies in social media listen first and sell second.
- Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators and content providers than traditional advertisers.
- Welcome to the world of socialnomics.
You can find out more at http://www.enoov.com/ytplinternet.html
D&B Jobs in Dublin!
Apr/100
D&B, formerly known as Dun and Bradstreet, officially launched in Ireland on 9th February 2010. They are the worlds leading supplier of business information and will be setting up their hub for Irish operations in Sandyford, Dublin.
D&B is the world’s leading and longest-established business information company. For 166 years they have been providing business, credit, receivables and marketing information to more than 140 million clients spanning over 200 countries. D&B provides solution sets that meet a diverse set of customer needs globally to mitigate credit and supplier risk, increase cash flow and drive increased profitability.
Their Dublin-based operation will serve customers through a range of technology and operations functions. It will be responsible for the collection and processing of data on subject companies. As part of this operation they will be looking for highly skilled java developers at all levels for permanent positions. They will be recruiting for over 200 positions within the next 18 months for the Sandyford office and so have partnered up with Premier Recruitment.
IT Certifications: Are they held in high regard?
Apr/100
SearchDataCenter.com have conducted a survey on IT certifications which is quite an interesting read!
According to this survey, regard for IT certifications has taken a nosedive with 80% of respondents saying that IT certifications had no impact on their hiring, promotion or salary. According to research from Foote Partners LLC, and IT job research firm, the pay for noncertified IT skills now averages more than pay for IT certifications.
According to David Foote, CEO of Foote partners, exceptions have been a selection of security, networking, systems and database certifications, plus a few in the architecture and project management areas that are showing solid pay growth numbers.
One of the main exceptions is in the area of Virtualization. “People that were smart in 2004 saw virtualization coming. Today everybody wants employees with three to four years of virtualization experience,” Foote said. “Certifications can be valuable, but you’ve got to combine them with a judgment of the market. What’s going to be important in three to five years?”. To read this article in more detail go to www.searchdatacenter.com
Here at Verkom we still see a demand for IT certifications in roles coming in. Certifications that continue to be in demand are CCNA, MCSE, ISEB, ITIL, CISSP, Prince 2 and one that is becoming more and more popular is VCP. These certifications are still held in high regard by clients we work with across Ireland.
What do you think?
Innovation: The Way Forward
Mar/100
A recent government report released earlier this month, Innovation Task force Report, has led to a major emphasis on innovation in the Irish economy. The Report is an important element of the Government’s Plan, Building Ireland’s Smart Economy, for dealing with the challenges facing the Irish economy in a changed world. The Report sets out some key recommendations and steps to allow Ireland to be transformed into a Global Innovation Hub. Can innovation provide a solution to our troubled economy? Can technology provide the best solution?
Innovation can come from anywhere, anyone and at any time. It’s a case of moulding an idea and enabling people to take that idea and give them a platform to drive and develop it. Technology may provide the best answer. There has been continued growth in video based platforms online. One such area that could develop within this growth is working remotely. The idea of working remotely is familiar concept, but the development of video conferencing, web cams and Webex can allow for new opportunities for both employers and employees. For employers it’s an adaptation of workforce practices, trust, and enablement in the employees you are hiring and modifying the way we think successful workers work. It offers numerous opportunities for the Irish work force to export their knowledge globally. Historically, Ireland has been known as a hotbed for educational excellence, this excellence could be exported via technology, via TelePresence, or Webex to countries that struggle to attract the right level of quality that Ireland possesses.
The government report also highlights the need for investment in national infrastructure. This is a key factor in the development of video based solutions. Investment in infrastructure and the support of the private sector and service providers will assist access to workforce throughout Ireland.
Innovation can provide the next step in the road to recovery for the Irish economy. The next bright idea could provide a pathway to a smart Irish economy.
http://evertb.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/report_of_the_innovation_taskforce.pdf
Positive growth trend continues in Ireland’s professional jobs market
Mar/100
The latest Premier Group Irish Employment Monitor covering February 10 figures was published this morning.
This month’s highlights include:
- In February 10, new professional job vacancies increased by 34% compared to February 09
- Month on month, the number of new job vacancies rose by 7%
- This is the fourth consecutive month of increase in the number of new jobs available for professionals
- In February compared to January, the number of new professionals beginning a new job search increased by 19%
- There were 58% more professionals beginning a job search in February 10 compared to the same month last year
The full release can be viewed on our website:http://www.verkom.ie/Irish-employment-monitor-February-2010
In addition, the Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor covering February 10 has also been published.
- New financial services job vacancies in February 10 rose by 13% month-on-month
- Compared to the same month last year, job numbers were up 67% in February 10, a similar uplift to that seen in January 10 vs. January 09
- The number of professionals entering the jobs market in February 10 increased by 29% on January 10 and also rose by 29% compared to February 09
- The average City salary stood at ₤51,560 – a 2% month-on-month increase
- For those considering changing jobs in 2010, career development rather than remuneration was identified as the key reason (57%)
The full release can be viewed on
http://www.morganmckinley.co.uk/Employment-Monitor-February-2010
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