Well it's coming if we want it or not i not sure if it ready yet, as there is still room for hard drive tech and cloud work together. Some of us like to keep our data local and as you know am the Mad Hatter when it comes to Green IT, and cloud tech will help to lowering our carbon foot print.
But hosting serious volumes of precious data, applications and infrastructure online may have been unthinkable even five years ago. But while the concept still gives security-conscious CIOs the shivers, we may be just
a couple of significant breakthroughs away from a surge in demand for cloud computing talent.
Cloud computing has been dipping in and out of the limelight amongst the IT community and increasingly wider business circles for some time now, with opinion on its merits starkly polarised. The magnitude of potential benefits boasted by its advocates is typically tempered by a prevailing caution amongst large and small corporate end-users alike.
Many CIOs, board directors, owner-managers, entrepreneurs and management consultants remain nervous or sceptical. But as cloud technology’s profile and potential grows, employers may find themselves in an urgent scramble for skills – in a marketplace where relatively few IT professionals can convincingly proclaim years of workplace experience.
Amongst clients of Reed Technology, there are three main areas where cloud computing is being discussed – infrastructure, platform and software – and which are likely to have implications for recruitment. The financial advantages of fully functioning cloud hosting services are clear, especially for SMEs seeking inexpensive ways to keep pace with developing technologies without investing thousands of pounds in maintaining on-site servers. Larger organisations may typically be more cautious about putting their faith in a third party, with the attendant risks for security and access to information. The cost of significant periods of downtime or outages – in financial, customer service and PR terms – may be huge, so these must also be considered.
Skill sets on standby for mushrooming demand
The difficulty for many organisations exploring cloud computing possibilities – especially technology providers and consultancies – is in identifying IT professionals with the requisite skills to develop ideas and explore their practical and commercial applications. The newness of the concept means that responsibility may currently fall within the remit of IT workers who have neither the time, technical ability or transferable skills to properly exploit or develop the technology – not unlike the shortages of highly skilled people that initially slowed the emergence of uniform, effective internet technology prior to the dotcom boom. Open-source experimentation and sharing of data and related software means that few can predict the twists and turns on cloud computing’s journey to more widespread acceptance – and as a result, which skill sets will emerge as the most highly prized by organisations keen not to be left behind.
Amongst our clients, demand for cloud developers has so far outweighed that for less technical roles such as project managers, although people with implementation or change management experience may find themselves more highly sought-after should take-up of cloud computing technology suddenly snowball. But while tentative steps are still being taken, roles are more likely to be created amongst technology companies themselves; however, as the market matures, more confident CIOs will begin to invest in strengthening their in-house IT teams with cloud experts. In fact, many are already carrying out skills audits and salary benchmarking exercises with cloud computing in mind.
Data security – the holy grail for CIOs
The heightened emphasis on data protection, especially amongst banks and financial services companies, places information security firmly at the top of the list of priorities for organisations considering cloud computing solutions. Individuals who can apply their knowledge and skill to effectively mitigate risk will be amongst those most sought-after by suppliers and users alike. Issues such as safeguarding licensing integrity and infrastructure architecture will be of utmost importance,
while compliance with regulatory and supervisory frameworks (including cross-border protocols) will also exercise cloud computing’s innovators.
Looking ahead, we see demand for candidates with experience of data storage (particularly analysts and migration specialists) steadily increasing – but there are still far more employers maintaining a watching brief than there are wading into the market with cash to splash. Likewise, people who can test the capacity of existing infrastructure to support increasing business levels – and assess the potential impact of transitioning to a cloud solution – may enjoy a rise in demand for their talents over the coming year.
Many new opportunities will initially be offered on an interim basis only, as the industry continues to test the water; nevertheless, employers might be advised to note that opportunistic project managers are already investing in their own professional development by getting themselves personally
up to speed on cloud computing’s possibilities for growing businesses.
Pop on to my website www.dns-direct.com for more information about green it products.
Vince
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