Big changes are coming to the world of Information Technology (IT). If you’re not prepared for what’s coming, you may be going to a lower level job.
The traditional IT department once delivered technology as a primary service. Things are changing rapidly. IT is now morphing into a service industry with tech taking a back seat.
According to Mark Roman, Principal Consultant of 22over7, if you’re working in IT, you can expect a broad transition to take place under your watch. A transition that will take you from tech projects to project management. While there will still be some crossover, the swing is toward management.
“For a long period of time, IT was in that Wild West mode,” noted Greg Shields, partner and principal technologist with Concentrated Technology “We were making up the rules as we go.” Today, companies are realizing that the most cost-effective solutions are often built and tested elsewhere. “You don’t grow your own food. You don’t raise your own cows anymore for meat. You go to the grocery store because somebody’s figured out that I can create this experience that is the grocery store, and I can do it at a lower cost, both in time and in dollar cost.”
Author and independent analyst Joe McKendrick notes that spearheading these changes will be a whole new set of IT pros who will dovetail cloud computing into their job descriptions. The new IT paradigm will give rise to such titles as Cloud Specialist (offer design expertise, engineering and troubleshooting of clouds and collaborate with project managers), Cloud Computing Architect (design, implement and mentor cloud-based solutions), Cloud Alliance Manager (manage cloud computing service provider partnerships), and Virtualization & Cloud Computing Subject Matter Expert (support cloud computing strategy and roadmap development).
What does that mean for the average IT person? Simple. Instead of constructing a complicated infrastructure of networks, servers and workstations, you’ll be setting up enterprise architectures and explaining how they work as a total solution.
As an IT pro, your job description will change to one that embodies service, answering questions and providing guidance via help desks and even mobile support. Another big issue will be data security, which will become a driver in what IT people will be doing for clients. You’ll have to become familiar with and be able to implement systems and procedures for national and regional privacy laws, and you’ll have to know how to enable multi-layered authentication for various roles.
Gone, too, will be the hand-crafted software that conforms to every aesthetic need of a client’s process. Instead, you’ll be working with vendors from every corner of the globe to deliver information services written by people with subject matter expertise.
The traditional IT department will become essentially obsolete, replaced by enterprise wide information service organizations. Change is inevitable, especially in IT.
Image courtesy of watcharakun/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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