What does Cloud Computing mean for IT Jobs?
Sep/100
Everyone who knows anything about Cloud Computing is fully aware of the many advantages for companies of going down this route. Results like cost-saving, increased capability, agility and flexibility.
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.
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
Tablets to become biggest computing category??
Jun/100
Before Computex the worlds second-biggest IT trade fair kicked off earlier this month, the hype about which tablet personal computer would challenge the ipad was in full swing!
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
The Data Explosion
Jun/100
Data Growth has continued to explode over the last year with a new report claiming a worldwide rise of 62%. With so much information streaming into and out of organizations from call centers, customer Internet forms, point-of-sale contact information, Web-based applications and other customer information systems, data quality and integrity play an important part in every company’s data warehousing efforts.
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.
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!!
CRM Is On The Up!
Mar/100
Historically Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions were associated with large corporations with aggressive sales teams. Today the use of CRM is becoming more and more frequent as companies of all sizes are availing of this software-as-a-service. This increased presence is beneficial to companies as it leads to a higher level of customer service which enables companies to maintain their customers in these tough times.
This rise of CRM usage is due to the evolution of the “customer” in a client’s eyes. A customer no longer refers to someone who buys a product, but simply someone who makes contact with a company – whether they are buying something from them, making an enquiry or logging a complaint. Thus a relationship exists and therefore needs to be managed. With the rise of virtualisation and cloud computing, hosted CRM solutions are allowing smaller firms to avail of CRM solutions and thus opening up a bigger market for CRM providers to sell into.