Tomorrow’s must-have IT skills revealed

August 31st, 2010

It’s the one question anyone of working age wants to know the answer to: what specific skills will be required in the coming years?

Well, Stacy Collett reports on Computer World that while IT knowledge will be more ubiquitous, employers will be clamouring for these five specialised tech skills.

“In 2020, technical expertise will no longer be the sole province of the IT department,” she says. “Employees throughout the organisation will understand how to use technology to do their jobs.

”Futurists and IT experts say that the most sought-after IT-related skills will be those that involve the ability to mine overwhelming amounts of data, protect systems from security threats, manage the risks of growing complexity in new systems, and communicate how technology can increase productivity.”

There are the Computer World Top Five IT skills to have. How do you fair. And do you agree?

1. Analysing Data

By 2020, the amount of data generated each year will reach 35 zettabytes, or about 35 million petabytes, according to market researcher IDC. That’s enough data to fill a stack of DVDs reaching from the Earth to the moon and back, according to John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC. Demand will be high for IT workers with the ability to not only analyse dizzying amounts of data, but also work with business units to define what data is needed and where to get it.

2. Understanding Risk

Risk management skills will remain in high demand through 2020, says futurist David Pearce Snyder, especially at a time when business wrestles with growing IT complexity. Think of IT problems on the scale of BP’s efforts to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, or Toyota’s work to correct sudden acceleration in some of its cars, Snyder says.

3. Mastering Robotics

Robots will have taken over more jobs by 2020, according to Joseph Coates, a consulting futurist. IT workers specialising in robotics will see job opportunities in all markets, he adds.

4. Securing Information

Since we’re spending more and more time online, verifying users’ identities and protecting privacy will be big challenges by 2020, because fewer interactions will be face-to-face, more personal information may be available online, and new technologies could make it easier to impersonate people, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Teleworkers will also represent a larger portion of the workforce, opening up a slew of corporate security risks.

5. Running the Network

Network systems and data communications management will remain a top priority in 2020, but as companies steer away from adding to the payroll, they will turn to consultants to tell them how to be more productive and efficient, says Snyder, who follows predictions from the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics.

To read the fill article, click here

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/350908/5_Indispensable_IT_Skills_of_the_Future

“But let’s be honest,” says Paul Glen, “planning for 2020 sounds like a bit of a joke. There’s a good chance that many of the people who are working in your organisation today will have moved on by then, maybe you, too. So, what do you do with this information?”

1. Purely technical work will be more commoditised than it is today. With the rise of cloud computing and consumer technology, it will make economic sense to outsource a lot of basic services that offer no competitive advantage to an organisation. Not only will outsourcing save money, but it will allow you to focus on the people and technologies that offer the greatest benefits.

2. Business and technology will continue to become more tightly intertwined. Since IT organisations evolved from data processing shops, and systems started following the cost curve of Moore’s Law, technology has become enmeshed in nearly every aspect of operations. Today and in the future, nearly all business innovations will have technology at their core.

3. The connection between business and technology will involve people, not just processes. While technology has become indispensable to business, the relationship between the people who deliver technology and those who devise, build, sell and deliver products and services has never been smooth. Despite innovative experiments with processes, the effectiveness of the relationship between business people and technology people is ultimately determined by the knowledge, goodwill and mutual understanding of the people themselves.