technology professionals

Financial sector strain means more offshoring

Judi Hasson — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:49:52 -0400

The collapse of Wall Street is not good news for America or for information technology professionals. Besides the expected loss of jobs from big financial firms going under or being taken over, some believe the meltdown may prompt some financial services firms to increase their use of offshore outsourcing.

Computerworld.com points out that the financial services industry, including banking and insurance, is already the most aggressive industry in the U.S. when it comes to offshore outsourcing. It is the biggest single source of revenue for Indian offshore companies. Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder and CEO of Everest Group, a Dallas consulting firm, said the need for financial services firms to cut costs "will probably result in an acceleration of financial services jobs going offshore."

Eugene Kublanov, the CEO of NeoIT, an outsourcing management consulting group in California, said that for now, uncertainty will restrain financial services companies from taking on new offshore initiatives. But once these firms hit bottom and know where they stand, they will likely start new offshore ventures. He said this has been the pattern in previous downturns.

For more on outsourcing and the economy:
- check out this Computerworld.com article

Watch out for inaccurate web costs

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

With the business climate uncertain, CIOs may be looking to cut costs and considering reducing their IT departments' training budgets. But an online survey conducted by Zoomerang on behalf of Safari Books Online, a web-based digital library geared toward technology professionals, found that technology staff reported needing access to good training and reliable online content to do their jobs efficiently and to prevent costly mistakes.

The survey found that 85 percent of respondents spend up to two hours a day searching the web for code samples, product reviews, answers to questions about troubleshooting applications, and other key issues. At the same time, 45 percent said they have used information from the web that they later found was incorrect.

To read more:
- Check out this ComputerWorld.com article

Is it time to get to know the Mac?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Apple computer systems are seldom used in medium and larger-sized companies and it is a commonly held perception Mac skills are unnecessary for IT professionals and that CIOs will never embrace Macs for their departments. But eWeek reports that the almost "religious belief" in Windows may start to ebb because of the wider use of the Mac systems among savvy young tech professionals.

Long used by multimedia and design specialists, there is a sense among many observers that system administrators, network engineers, database administrators, programmers and support specialists may find that they will need some Mac expertise to keep up with the times. "Once viewed as a plaything, the Macintosh is now the PC of choice for many hard-core technology professionals, and Macintosh skills are now an in-demand specialty among IT pros, rather than an afterthought," said Allan Hoffman, a tech expert for job site Monster.com.

To read more about embracing Mac skills:
- Check out this eWeek article

India on verge of new outsourcing efforts

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:59:59 -0400

Outsourcing companies in India are looking for new ways to help American companies run better. It's called innovation from outsourcing and it's a way to expand the services available to help cut domestic costs. Ajit Naidu, a Merrill Lynch managing director in charge of technology for global equity markets and services, says that outsourcing doesn't "give enough big-picture exposure. We do piecemeal projects. We don't provide enough understanding of the whole business problem." A new survey of 430 business technology professionals by InformationWeek Research found that 31 percent felt outsourcing companies have a good grasp of U.S. business operations and about one-quarter felt that outsourcing firms are providing services that U.S. companies could not otherwise afford.

For more on India and outsourcing:
- See this InformationWeek article

Worldwide shortage of IT workers

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:59 -0500

Here's something you either already knew or suspected: nearly 60 percent of CEOs, CIOs and other C-level executives continue to report that there is a shortage of fully qualified IT staff worldwide. A survey, by the IT Governance Institution, conducted between July and October 2007, reported that 93 percent of 749 executives surveyed said that IT is very important to their overall corporate strategy. Nearly half of those polled said IT service delivery problems are the second most common ones they have experienced with IT in the past 12 months.

"We are seeing an increased demand for qualified information technology professionals throughout the industry," said Lynn Lawton, international president of ITGI, in a statement. "Without a well-trained, fully-staffed IT department, the bottom line is that many organizations around the world are needlessly sacrificing money, productivity and competitive advantage."

For more on IT staff shortages:
- See this Network World article

Gender gap in tech salaries

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:59:59 -0500

A man is likely to make more money than a woman in a technology job. According to a salary survey by career site Dice.com, the average salary last year for male technology professionals was $76,582, and for women, it was $67,507. Dice collected data from more than 19,000 technology professionals who use its site; respondents either filled out an online survey or replied to a request for information sent via email. "We feel comfortable that what we're seeing here is in fact representative of what's happening in the marketplace," said Thomas Silver, senior vice president of marketing at Dice. The gap was also wide in the retail, mail-order and eCommerce industries where men made 15 percent more than women. The survey found the gap narrowest in manufacturing, where men made 6.4 percent more than women.

However, the survey found that the difference shrinks as people work their way up the organizational chain. Female project managers earned $100,436 last year. Men made a little more at $101,569. Overall, Dice said that the average IT salary increased last year by 1.7 percent to $74,570, with pay varying by region. The three highest-paying areas were Silicon Valley, at $93,876; Boston at $83,465; and the Baltimore/Washington area at $81,750. Meanwhile, Detroit ranked at the bottom of 16 metro areas, with an average tech salary of $67,271.

For more on salary disparities:
- See this ComputerWorld article

Tech CEO council makes case for globalization

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

The U.S. will be better able to maintain a competitive edge by embracing openness in trade and talent, according to the latest "Great Nation" report by advocacy group Technology CEO Council. The group hopes that candidates will embrace policies that "promote openness and inclusiveness to global markets," as well as those that help the nation attract "the best and brightest workers" worldwide. The technology sector has been lobbying for more foreign technology professionals to work in the U.S. under the nation's H-1B temporary visa program, while also requesting a more streamlined green card application processes. InformationWeek reports that the Council also urges the U.S. to find ways to encourage more people to enter science, technology engineering, and mathematical fields; to push patent reform and R&D tax credits that promote innovation and entrepreneurial spirit; and to promote the country's information infrastructure to ensure that the U.S. is progressing with "cutting edge" advancements in telecommunications, healthcare and energy.

For more:
- check out this InformationWeek article

Survey: CIOs Seen As Business Visionaries

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

The latest research from Optimize magazine, which polled 575 senior business and technology professionals, reveals that CIOs are gaining recognition as business visionaries and are helping to shape business strategy within their companies. Indeed, 56 percent of those surveyed see the CIO's influence on the rise, while 78 percent think that the CIO will become much more of a business leader in the near term. The survey also shows that companies and their CIOs continue to focus on how best to migrate away from maintenance IT and toward a focus on innovation. Tony Scott, CIO at Walt Disney, agrees with the findings: "I certainly see the role expanding, both for myself and across the industry," Scott told Optimize. "Everything [in IT] is inextricably linked with the center of business."

For more on the survey results:
- see this article from Information Week

Survey: SaaS hits the mainstream

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Software as a Service (SaaS) is no longer a niche approach to software delivery. According to a survey by InformationWeek, two out of three businesses are either buying or considering buying software via a subscription model. The survey also found that 29 percent of the 250 technology professionals surveyed are using at least one licensed application hosted by a vendor and accessed over the Internet, and 35 percent are planning to buy software that way or are considering it. Security, reliability, and integration remain concerns, but not enough to outweigh the implementation and cost benefits for many. About a third are wary of SaaS. Integration and making sure a company has the service-level agreements in place with their SaaS vendors to ensure transaction response times, system availability, failover for disaster recovery and response time to problems is key. The true test will be whether companies can use SaaS effectively for business-critical applications.

Read more about SaaS:
- read the article at InformationWeek

ALSO:
- read this on the real cost of deploying SaaS
- this on the value of SaaS
- and this on the pros and cons of SaaS

Aligning business and technology goals

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:01:39 -0500

The only way to effectively know whether technology decisions are being made with business needs in mind--not to mention whether your business is using technology efficiently and protecting customer information effectively--is when IT leaders and business leaders are on the same page. That means that CIOs and other IT leaders must understand the business as well as business's leaders. Armed with that knowledge, they will be able to devise solutions and approaches to fixing business problems using technology that meets the organization's needs. It's also important to ensure that the lines of communication remain open and clear between technology professionals, business stakeholders and users. And for every project the company undertakes, make sure both business and IT leaders are involved.

Read more about aligning business and technology goals:
- read the article at the Wisconsin Technology Network