There was an article in Computerworld a week or so ago that just caught my eye.
IT career paths you never dreamed of
The short of it is that IT as we've known it, a separate stack, is being integrated into the general business functions. Things like software-as-a-service, outsourcing, and freakishly fast WAN pipes mean there is less call for people like internal application developers, systems analysts, and system administrators. Those that remain, have a decided focus on project management, and focus on the business.
I see some truth to this. I've known for years now that the kind of job I fit best in, only exists in organizations larger than a certain size. Organizations smaller than a certain size tend to be subject to, "the computer guy," being in charge of everything computery. WWU is large enough that I can specialize in one field, file-server maintenance and upkeep, without having to be 'the computer guy' to a bunch of people.
This also means that my desktop support skills have atrophied from where they once were. Since everyone thinks that, "working in computers," means in reality, "desktop support," I have a hard time convincing family that I only know a little more than they do about why their Thunderbird broke in just that way. Doctors have this problem too, I hear.
Anyway. The article mentions that newer job titles are including the word, "architect," in them. And I really agree with this, since any company needs people with an enterprise view of their IT infrastructure. I'm one of those people for Western, especially when it comes to the file servers. It is people like us who sheepdog consultants hired to implement new technologies.
Which brings up another thing about the article. The article is rather .COM centered, which I understand. Us .EDU types really do live in a different world (where ELSE are you going to get 4000 people pounding the exact same file server at the exact same time?). The idea of hiring consultants (very expensive temp workers) to do the heavy lifting during upgrades is something we laugh ourselves silly over, since we barely have the money to BUY the new upgrade (even with our hefty .EDU discounts) much less pay someone else to put it in for us. Something simpler like outsourcing 90% of our on-site helpdesk work through a SE Asian call-center and remote-control apps is something we could possibly do, but the union those helpdesk techs belong to would pitch a fit. The same thing applies for a contract service to manage printers. Similar sorts of things apply to the non-profits of the world (the .ORG world), though perhaps not the union angle.
But out there in the for-profit world, and the for-profits larger than SOHO or SMB, that's another story entirely. I don't know how much longer there is going to be a call for file-server jocks.
IT career paths you never dreamed of
The short of it is that IT as we've known it, a separate stack, is being integrated into the general business functions. Things like software-as-a-service, outsourcing, and freakishly fast WAN pipes mean there is less call for people like internal application developers, systems analysts, and system administrators. Those that remain, have a decided focus on project management, and focus on the business.
I see some truth to this. I've known for years now that the kind of job I fit best in, only exists in organizations larger than a certain size. Organizations smaller than a certain size tend to be subject to, "the computer guy," being in charge of everything computery. WWU is large enough that I can specialize in one field, file-server maintenance and upkeep, without having to be 'the computer guy' to a bunch of people.
This also means that my desktop support skills have atrophied from where they once were. Since everyone thinks that, "working in computers," means in reality, "desktop support," I have a hard time convincing family that I only know a little more than they do about why their Thunderbird broke in just that way. Doctors have this problem too, I hear.
Anyway. The article mentions that newer job titles are including the word, "architect," in them. And I really agree with this, since any company needs people with an enterprise view of their IT infrastructure. I'm one of those people for Western, especially when it comes to the file servers. It is people like us who sheepdog consultants hired to implement new technologies.
Which brings up another thing about the article. The article is rather .COM centered, which I understand. Us .EDU types really do live in a different world (where ELSE are you going to get 4000 people pounding the exact same file server at the exact same time?). The idea of hiring consultants (very expensive temp workers) to do the heavy lifting during upgrades is something we laugh ourselves silly over, since we barely have the money to BUY the new upgrade (even with our hefty .EDU discounts) much less pay someone else to put it in for us. Something simpler like outsourcing 90% of our on-site helpdesk work through a SE Asian call-center and remote-control apps is something we could possibly do, but the union those helpdesk techs belong to would pitch a fit. The same thing applies for a contract service to manage printers. Similar sorts of things apply to the non-profits of the world (the .ORG world), though perhaps not the union angle.
But out there in the for-profit world, and the for-profits larger than SOHO or SMB, that's another story entirely. I don't know how much longer there is going to be a call for file-server jocks.
Well, firstly, I think you're talking about two different things. At the moment, I think that IT, in general, is over specialized. I think that happened, though, more due to how professional certifications were presented and the limited understanding of technical recruiters regarding what goes into a job. I'll grant you, there are fewer organizations of any stripe that are large enough to keep dedicated specialists employed full-time, but they still exist. Of course, I also say this as a generalist working for small manufacturing company that supports the oil&gas industry. And, I have to admit that most of my success has been due to the fact that I am, in fact, a generalist, not a specialist.Also, I think you sell yourself short. Certainly, your strength is not working on desktops any more, but managing back-end infrastructure is an art in and of itself. Not many people can do both at the same time. Fewer still can do it well.Though, the landscape of IT is changing, that's for sure. In my time in the industry, though, I have yet to find a so-called pundit that can even come close to predicting that change with any accuracy.In the end, whatever the changes, whoever can adapt to them will always be able to find employment. It's the same in any industry. The only difference is that ours is so young compared to the others.