Your thoughts on the future of IT

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Hi everyone,

Over the past few days, I've been really thinking about future possibilties within the IT sector in the UK, and reading many stories regarding offshoring, outsouring, layoffs, as well as new specialist fields and more. I was wondering what people here, with a vested interest in the future of the IT sector feel is going to happen in the future i.e. 5, 10 and 15 years from now.

Obviously, we are only speculating here, but please do try and base your ideas on existing proof.

After a few posts, I will chime in with what I've been thinking and see how similar, or different our ideas are.

On a side note, I've been reading a lot about Java programming being the next hot thing in IT, yet there are very few openings for this position. Is this not also a high risk job for offshoring?

The floor is now open for you thoughts

Matt

 

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I've only had experience inside one company for a government contract so my scope of industries is somewhat limited but do have some experience in an eduation (university) setting.

I think 1st line support may feature more prominently - I've noticed that XP that we run is a lot more stable and more problems can be resolved over the phone or remotely than the previous NT setup, and even better than 2k. There will always be a place for 2nd line support, as well as 3rd, systems management teams, networking teams, but I think they may be more consoildated into a bigger "general" team, with fewer people specialising but more people able to the simple work -ie, several people who could deal with exchange, web and network problems, but only 1/2 people that are 3rd line in each specific area.

That said, I'm looking at it from a corporate point of view where they go out and bid for clients and business.

From an education point of view, I'm not sure much would change, maybe updating the systems and previous versions become unsupported and installing the next setup, eg. wireless hot zones on a uni campus - where after that I guess will stem from what new technological advances there are, and what are deemed as requirements for the new students.

I always think the problem with a lot of programming is that it can be out-sourced, somewhere where the pay isn't as much as UK/US for example. I'm not saying it all is, but doing hands-on work several thousand miles away is a lot more difficult than collaborating with anyone from around the globe to get some code working.

Just my 2-pence worth, probably wrong but just my musings

 

Pah having proof is boring

The future is already happening, IT is more and more being brought into the mainstream of a company, no longer banished to the "basement" of the building.

Instead of IT being as seen as keeping a company running, it is now seen as driving a company forward. More and more IT spend is focused on how it is going to drive the business forward. More and more CIOs are now on the executive board of companies. They are asked to have more of a company wide input than just focusing on IT.

I see more qualifications coming about that include business management and more business management qualifications having a lot more IT content.

Many IT departments have been renamed as "Business Services".

I see the future as a complete merger of the two, where there is no defining line.

 

I too can only speak from an educational setting, but Sharepoint Development is becoming a big thing.

 

Sharepoint and SAP

 

Personally I'm waiting to see what the Capacity/Prices are going to be on the Holographic Drives Sony (Among others) are developing at present.

 

The future of IT...............................Killer cyborgs controlled by a super computer, oh wait that was that film with arnie.

I am not sure what will happen

 

Yah! SharePoint!

 

If I thought the IT industry was on the verge of collapse, I'd have gotten out by now. But I don't... so I haven't.

 

The industry will continue to do fine, whether that means you individually will have a place is a far murkier issue.

Java and .Net are already the languages of choice for most mainstream custom development, most of this involves the web these days. Without the web and mobile phones I think the industry would be in real trouble, but fortunately both exist !
Theres many Java and .Net jobs about, i'm not sure what you mean by few openings.

Many Java jobs are already being outsourced to India, wages in India can be a 50th of what they are here. If you are counting on certs to save you, bear in mind that certification is cheaper and possibly easier in these countries. There are also many certified individuals from these countries.

Any IT job that can be seen as a commodity job can be offshored, that includes programming, support, operations, management etc. Some companies are talking about the merging of IT and business, this means a few good jobs, often the same companies have outsource programs for IT. These outsource programs may go to big players that are not offshore, but these in turn can offshore or recruit cheaper immigrant labour.

Much of the west has already lost its manufacturing to Asia, I see no reason in theory why large portions of the services industry could not go as well. Politics, local customs and market protection are probably the only saving graces.