Positive outlook in the Support & Infrastructure Market
Dec/090
There has been a definite increase in job orders in recent times in the Dublin & Cork market, especially from October onwards. This upturn in registered jobs has been significantly noticed in the support and infrastructure market. This market collapsed at the end of 2008 as clients halved their infrastructure professionals on site and made a move towards outsourcing their IT support function. From a consultancy perspective, large contracts were cut and infrastructure projects were put on hold as clients budgets were squeezed forcing redundancies throughout the sector.
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.
Verkom Initiative Website now Live
Oct/090
We are delighted to announce that the Verkom Initiative website is now live - www.verkominitiative.com
The Verkom Initiative is Premier Groups contribution to ensuring some of Ireland’s brightest technology entrepreneurs have access to a group of commercial business mentors, from the world of finance, legal, HR and technology.
This access is facilitated by Ireland’s leading IT Recruitment Company by;
- Network events
- Access to Mentor Panel
- Seminars
- Face to face business reviews to identify where and why the companies need assistance
If you are interested in finding out more about the initiative check out our website or call us on 021 2300 333 /01 4321501
Verkom Sponsors IT@Cork Leaders Awards Ceremony 2009
Aug/090
Verkom sponsor and attend IT@Cork Leadership Awards 2008
Verkom sponsor and attend IT@Cork Leadership Awards 2008
Verkom are delighted once again to be a main sponsor of the IT@Cork Leaders Awards Ceremony – Recognising Leaders in Technology Innovation 2009.
Organised by IT@Cork, this prestigious event will take place on 22nd October at the Vertigo Lounge. The Leadership Awards recognises some of the leading companies and individuals in the IT community that are driving progress.
The event will recognise and award Leaders in Technology and Business Innovation in 7 categories:
- High Potential Start Up
- High Growth Company
- R&D Project
- IT Department
- Sustained Excellence
- Green Technology
- Excellent in Education
If you are interested in finding out more, or to nominate, please visit www.itcork.ie
Has the recession affected the IT market?
Jul/090
Recession, Recession, Recession… Has the IT market Boomed, Crashed or stayed Consistent throughout the last 12 months in Ireland?
Two of the most common questions we are asked at the moment is “How do you feel the recession has affected IT? Are there more IT candidates looking for work now compared with this time last year?”
We decided to publish our statistics based on the Verkom website and the volume of candidates who have sent in their CVs to us from July 2008 to July 2009. This may help answer some of the common questions being asked. 
Firstly, you will be interested to know that within the last 12 months there has been a consistent amount of applications coming through our Verkom website. Typically during the middle of December applications slow down and early in the New Year we tend to see more applications year on year which was the same for early 2009.
What does this mean?
This means that, unlike other industries, the level of IT professionals applying for work has not dramatically increased during this downturn
However, the amount of IT jobs available has decreased between 30 – 35% compared with this time last year. We have seen that this decrease has mostly been in senior-end IT jobs like Project Management, Program Management, IT Management and senior Business Analysis. As a result, senior-end candidates have reduced their salary expectations both in the permanent and contracting market.
Other areas of IT have remained stable. The area of IT Development has remained consistent and skilled developers can command similar salaries to this time last year.
Overall, the IT market has not been hit as hard as other industries like construction and electronic manufacturing so be glad you’re working in IT! The good news is that there are still opportunities out there and companies are still hiring.
IT Director Opportunity Available -Dublin
Jul/090
New Senior Opportunity in Dublin City Centre
We are recruiting for a Permanent Head of IT / IT Director for our client who are a leading Global Pharmaceutical
Excellent salary and package on offer!!!!
The role will be based in Dublin City Centre
We are looking for a seasoned IT Director / Head of IT with previous experience fulfilling a role at this level within the Pharmaceutical or Medical Device Sector
Let me know if this could be of interest to you and we can discuss further
100% confidentiality is assured
Alternatively if this is not an option for you at the moment but you know someone that might be interested I would appreciate you forwarding this to them
Call Steve on 01 4321501 for more information
Emerging Opportunities in Cloud Computing
Jun/090
Everywhere you turn these days there is talk of cloud computing. It’s surprising then that the results of a recent survey conducted by RackSpace indicated that 67% of small businesses and 47% of mid sized businesses were not even familiar with the term “Cloud Computing”.
Based on the survey results, adoption rates are understandably low (5% for small businesses, 11% for medium business). To me the survey results really strike a chord because having used cloud computing services for more than a year now, and being totally sold on the benefits I can see a gigantic opportunity coming down the tracks. I am not alone in this belief, Merrill Lynch have gone on record with a prediction that the cloud computing market will be worth an estimated US $94 Billion annually within 4 years, Amazon, Oracle, HP, Dell, Microsoft, EMC, IBM and others are also putting their money where their mouth is at a staggering pace. Cloud Computing is really one of the only significant double digit growth areas this year (+27%).
You may ask yourself, “So what’s this got to do with me?”
Well that really depends on who you are;
- If you are an IT Contractor or currently on the IT Jobs market, it should be worth your while ensuring that you are adequately up-skilled to sell the benefits of cloud computing and help your clients / potential employers get the maximum benefit from this fantastic service.
- If you are responsible for the IT operations of a business or you a business leader you probably need to start getting familiar with the concept of cloud computing and asking your IT staff / vendors for advice on how you can leverage the benefits on offer.
For everyone involved one of the significant challenges cloud computing faces is that there is no single, standard and comprehensive definition of what exactly cloud computing is, even the wikipedia description of cloud computing seems to change on a regular basis. To me cloud computing is easiest described as “Computing as a Utility” where you consume flexible computing resources that are provided by third parties, without necessarily having access to, or an understanding of the platforms on which it is based. Consider it similar to your electricity connection, you connect, consume, get metered and pay for the service used.
So what to do next?
- We have setup a LinkedIn group for anyone in Ireland who is interested in Cloud Computing from either a technical or a commercial perspective, come and join the Irish Cloud Computing Group.
- Talk to us here at Verkom, we talk regularly to clients, contractors and candidates who are interested in Cloud Computing, we would love to be of service to you.
- Go and check out some of the public cloud computing platforms, Amazon AWS in particular is very accessible and starting at 10 cents an hour it won’t break the bank to learn more in a real-time environment.
- I post regularly about cloud computing on my blog if you want to read more.
Who are Verkom and What do we do?
Jun/090
We should have probably started off the blog with a bit of information about Verkom and what we do. But better late than never I suppose!
Verkom are the leading Specialist IT Recruitment agency with offices throughout Ireland. Each Consultant specialises in a specific market which differentiates Verkom from the rest
CRM/ERP
PC Support/Desktop Management
Senior Appointments
RDBMS- Databases
Development/Design
Business Analyst
All Verkom consultants are up to date on all emerging technologies and are expert market specialists.
At Verkom, we know what it takes to make a difference in helping you make the perfect IT match. Whether you are looking for or trying to fill a permanent or contract IT job, our team at Verkom are on hand to help you at each stage of the process.
Because we specialise in IT recruitment we truly get IT. We live IT Jobs, breathe IT Contracts and understand IT recruitment better than any of our competitors.
While there are over 15 consultants nationwide some of the Cork team have volunteered their services to manage the blog. Elaine Kennedy, Pamela MacIsaac & Laura Carroll.
Elaine Kennedy: BSc in Computer Science with over 6 years IT Recruitment experience- Manager of the Verkom Cork team and specialises in the RBDMS market
Pamela MacIsaac: BA in Psychology- Consultant of the Design & Development market – 4 years recruitment experience and 3 years working specifically within the IT Market
Laura Carroll: BA in English & History, HDip Computer Science, MSc in MIS – Consultant of the Senior Appointments Market in Munster – 5 years IT Project Management experience & 2.5 years with Verkom