The Evolving Role of the IT Pro

By Systems Management News Team

August 1, 2008 —  (Page 1 of 2)
The United States may be in the midst of an economic tumble (dare we say recession?), but so far the IT job market is holding steady, with unemployment in IT at historic lows and employees earning hefty paychecks. The U.S. economy lost 62,000 jobs in June for the sixth straight month of employment losses, but the technology industry came out virtually unscathed, according to Labor Department statistics. And the American Electronics Association (AeA) Cybercities 2008 report showed that the U.S. tech sector continues to grow and create more jobs. Good news all around for IT, it seems.

But this rosy outlook in IT doesn’t give IT professionals carte blanche to sit on their laurels. AeA also cautioned that the U.S. is not producing enough workers with the right skills. And with more and more companies moving toward SaaS (software as a service), it’s safe to say that the role of the IT professional is changing. While this shouldn't signal a widespread loss of jobs, it definitely signals an evolution of the IT role.

While many traditional IT skills, especially those related to security and compliance, will continue to be in high demand, cloud computing technologies open the door for companies to outsource mundane work or complex maintenance responsibilities. While some might complain that cloud computing is eliminating IT workers, it is more likely that the role of the IT worker will change. IT workers will be asked to acquire new skills that will allow them to focus more on work that provides innovation and value to the business, which should be a welcome change, given that many IT staffers complain about the drudgery of repetitive and long workweeks.

This is already seen in the move toward cloud computing and managed services, where companies are outsourcing parts of their IT department to vendors like Google, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Microsoft. These providers can offer 24x7 service and cost containment. For example, instead of hiring Exchange administrators to manage internal Microsoft Exchange servers, many companies can now outsource Exchange infrastructure to Microsoft in a hosted environment.

Related Search Term(s): cloud computing, outsourcing

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