- How to make new stuff from your piles of obsolete tech
- Why your computer sucks
- 10 recession-proof IT skills
- Juniper execs share network vision
- 9-year-old plots his fifth Microsoft certification
IT professionals who want to become irreplaceable to their organizations should cultivate existing skills and pick up a few new ones, according to Forrester Research, which recently identified 16 IT roles that CIOs will need to fill in the near term.
The trend toward IT workers taking on multiple responsibilities and filling hybrid positions is in full swing this year. Forrester Research polled its analysts to narrow down the numerous demands on IT departments to 16 roles that are critical to an organization's success in the coming months. The demand won't necessarily send CIOs to the job boards looking for new candidates; instead, IT managers will assess their in-house talent to match existing skills with emerging roles.
"Near-term demand for hot roles in IT will be driven by the need for local and cross-discipline knowledge, changes in technology, greater emphasis on managing risk and the enterprise, and a limited supply of key roles," Forrester analysts Marc Cecere and Laurie Orlov write in the August research report "What are the hot roles in IT?"
Level 1 or the hottest IT roles are information/data architect and information security expert. The former serves the organization by designing data warehouses, data marts, operational data stores and data-interface standards. This role also is responsible for defining data-governance processes and policies, and developing the organization's strategies for data management. "Nearly all organizations now see the need to integrate information across the entire organization," the report reads.
The information security expert takes on risk management and compliance policies. Senior experts would oversee a team of security architects, audit and compliance specialists, policy experts and more. This group also would be tied to physical security and operational risk management, Forrester says.
"Security roles have increased in importance as security expands to include risk management, and requires an approach that considers applications, infrastructure, facilities and business factors," the analysts say.
In the extremely hot, Level 2 category, Forrester includes data- or content-oriented business analyst, business architect, enterprise architect, and vendor-management expert. For this second tier of roles, Forrester has found that the complexity of the information with which IT professionals in these roles deal drives the demand.
"These roles deal with processes, technology and vendors at the enterprise level, and individuals with this experience are rare," the report reads.
Level 3, or very hot roles consist of traditional IT roles that have broadened to an enterprise level. For instance, enterprise-application strategists are responsible for building internal application road-maps that will support current and future business processes or accommodate mergers and acquisitions. The role of IT planner involves IT strategy and budget decisions at the enterprise level, and network architect broadens in Forrester's opinion from local planning to enterprise network strategy.
Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.
Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.
A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member. See how in this 2-minute video overview.
Partner Content
www.bmc.com
Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling
Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.
Download whitepaper
Dell's SMART Approach to Workload Automation
Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.
Download whitepaper
Workload Automation Cost Savings 2 Minute Video
A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member. See how in this 2-minute video overview.
Go to video
Comments (5)
good articleBy Anonymous on August 19, 2008, 6:36 pmgood article
Reply | Read entire comment
Right, and..By tuomoks on August 20, 2008, 12:13 amAnd who took care of all these functions previously? Excluding the new technology, which is just technology, all what Forrester describes have been a standard. And...
Reply | Read entire comment
microsoft trainingBy Anonymous on August 22, 2008, 3:13 ami want to be a microsoft training
Reply | Read entire comment
Right, and..I agree...By Anonymous on August 22, 2008, 8:26 pmIT can be considered as a definate cost center depending on the context of the argument. Working for a large corporation with multi-national site connections to...
Reply | Read entire comment
Good Trending Info but Titles DeceivingBy Mark Cummuta on September 17, 2008, 12:54 pmI appreciate these kinds of research articles, since they indicate trends and details in the job market. I've noticed two things from this article and its underlying...
Reply | Read entire comment
View all comments