Desktop, Network, and Windows skills in demand?

Desktop support ranked as the most wanted skill sets for 76% of CIOs, with network and Windows administration taking the second and third slots with 65% and 64%, respectively. Database management is considered hot for 55% of respondents, and telecommunications support and wireless network management was selected by 47% and 46% of CIOs polled, respectively. Rounding out those skills seen as in demand are Web development/Web site design (39%), virtualization (35%) and business intelligence (31%).

Full Article

The study is based on data gathered from about 300 clients with $200 million or more in revenue, according to Network World.

I’m actually a bit surprised with the findings.  I didn’t expect desktop support to be the most wanted skill, I was expecting virtualization to be at the top because of all the cost/time savings virtualization can provide.

The IT Departments of 2010

Here’s an article from CIO.com, titled Tech Departments in 2010: Hot Jobs, Cold Skills, which basically talks about the skills that will be in greatest demand in 2010 and also those that are most likely to be outsourced and automated.

According to the article, IT departments in 2010 will be filled with ‘versatilists,’ which the article defines as “those with a technology background who also know the business sector inside and out, can architect and carry out IT plans that will add business value, and can cultivate relationships both inside and outside the company.”

The funny thing is I was just reading Chapter 6 of “The World is Flat 3.0” on the bus on my way home tonight and the section on “The Great Adapters” (pages 293-297 of the paperback edition) is very similar to what this article is about.  The term ‘versatilist’ is also mentioned here and this was the first time I’ve heard of the term so that really caught my eye when I saw CIO.com’s homepage.  Weird.

Anyway, check out the article, it’s a pretty good read.

Network and Windows Administration Skills in High Demand in 2008

Here are some good news for us network/system administrators. According to a research released by Robert Half Technology, a poll of 1,400 CIOs cited networking as a job area where they see the most growth in 2008. 70% of CIOs ranked network administration as the second-most-in-demand skill. Windows administration ranked #1 with 74% of CIOs seeking such skills.

Emerging technology trends such as wireless, Web 2.0, and virtualization seem to be the reason why network skills are in high demand. Other IT skills in demand include database management (#3 at 60%), firewall administration (#4 at 55%), and wireless network administration (#5).

About 13% of the CIOs polled said they expect to increase IT staff hiring in the first quarter of this year, 3% plan to cut staff, and 82% expect no staff changes for the next 3 months. You can read the full article here.

8 Hot IT Skills for 2008

Computerworld.com published this article about the 8 hottest IT skills for 2008. Programming/application development is number one on the list. Here’s a quick summary:

1. Programming/Application Development (AJAX, .Net, PHP, Silverlight)
2. Project Management
3. Help Desk/Technical Support
4. Security (IDS, database, wireless)
5. Data Centers
6. Business Knowledge (business/systems analyst)
7. & 8. Networking and Telecommunications (voice-over-IP, wireless, infrastructure)

30 Fastest-Growing Jobs Through 2016

I just saw this article on the msn.com main page. Five of the 30 jobs in the list are IT jobs. The projections are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). I’m not sure how reliable they are but let’s hope their predictions come true. Here’s the list of the 5 in IT, check out MSN Careers for a complete list:

1. Network systems and data communications analysts
2006 employment: 262,000
2016 projection: 402,000
Percent growth: 53.4
Salary range: $46,360 or more
Education/training: Bachelor’s degree

4. Computer software engineers, applications
2006 employment: 507,000
2016 projection: 733,000
Percent growth: 44.6
Salary range: $46,360 or more
Education/training: Bachelor’s degree

23. Computer systems analysts
2006 employment: 504,000
2016 projection: 650,000
Percent growth: 29
Salary range: $46,360 or more
Education/training: Bachelor’s degree

24. Database administrators
2006 employment: 119,000
2016 projection: 154,000
Percent growth: 28.6
Salary range: $46,360 or more
Education/training: Bachelor’s degree

25. Computer software engineers, systems software
2006 employment: 350,000
2016 projection: 449,000
Percent growth: 28.2
Salary range: $46,360 or more
Education/training: Bachelor’s degree