Technology is ever-changing, and so is the IT job market. Because of this, concern surrounding the direction of the market and job security is common among the general population of IT professionals.
I recently spoke to an IT buddy of mine, and we exchanged ideas about the future of the IT job market. I’d like to share with you a summary of the predictions we discussed.
IT Consultants
As third-party solutions become more popular, IT companies will increasingly attract the best talent, and businesses won’t want to staff their own IT department. I often hear of companies choosing to outsource because they find it can lower costs, offer a higher level of expertise and more consistent coverage. Many IT administrators and support professionals who currently work for in-house departments will transition to working for these IT consulting companies in the future.
IT Coordinators
Because of the slowly-disappearing in-house IT department, most professionals staffed in these traditional models will eventually become focused on business/technology strategy. They will not be part of an IT department, but will work with different departments and become familiar with their business processes. Similar to business analysts, they will coordinate IT projects or new software implementation. These coordinators will also be the company’s point of contact with technology vendors and consultants. In some industries, this change is already beginning to occur.
Software Development
Lastly, I predict the largest number of IT jobs will move toward software development. IT used to be about managing and deploying hardware and software. However, this focus is shifting with the movement of information to applications in the cloud. Because it requires very little IT support, more jobs will be dedicated to the curation of these applications. I expect this trend to continue as business leaders continue to work on their business processes to become more efficient.
Image (cc) Chris Potter via Flickr
