IT Futures: the death of the IT Profession?

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by Josiahb, Jul 8, 2009.

  1. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    Interesting collection of articles I picked our from the eBCS newsletter I just received:

    http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConBlogEntry.1192

    http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.26638

    I'm disappointed I couldn't go along to this as it sounds like the debate would have been worth being a part of.

    What are peoples thoughts on this? Is the traditional IT professional a dieing breed?
     
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  2. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    I think the articles are semi-interesting, but they trail off without actually answering any of the original questions.

    Personally, I think that the IT profession isn't a dying breed. As stated in the second article IT is required for businesses to function which means that there is always going to be jobs around. Due to the increased number of IT-related gradutes maybe these positions will be more difficult to obtain but surely that doesn't mean that the the profession is dying, just changing.

    My two cents.

    Qs
     
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  3. Pheonicks56

    Pheonicks56 Kilobyte Poster

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    Good lord I hope not, I am going to be an IT graduate myself in the not so distant future!

    I really think that in-house IT departments are going to be drastically cut back in most companies, while the majority of IT maintenance and system deployment will be done on contracting. If this is true or not, IT jobs aren't going anywhere, there are just more of us to fill the jobs.
     
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  4. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    I totally disgree with this, this is the sort of attitude that will get this country into even deeper water. You need to focus on the core skills for your discipline. IT is not a discipline, its a vague grouping of stuff. You should be trained and skilled at your job. If your job is unskilled then why shouldn't you be on minimum wage and your job offshored ? The fact that some IT jobs are virtually non technical and others highly technical means they need to be more rigourous in defining the argument. Basing your entire economy on services is a mistake I think we will come to rue.

    There used to be a lot of people working looms in factories, not anymore, I'm sure increased efficiences could reduce IT positions by vast amounts. A vast number of IT projects are simply unecessary, standardised solutions could remove a lot of this if they ever take off. Mind you at the same time we want to process larger and larger amounts of data. If you want to keep your job in IT I'd advise becomming more technical not less but also pick up some business skills while you're at it.

    Is this good, bad or indifferent ? I'm sure university is not a requirement for self development, however I've seen many people in IT who did not have adequate skills for their position. Nor did they appear to care about putting in the legwork to aquire them.

    This comming from the BCS, the organisation designed to uphold standards in IT ? In general you can't just walk into a hospital and start surgery on a patient, many organisations seem to allow anyone to do the equivalent in IT. IT is equivalent to medicine, there are specialisms in IT, people just don't know about them all, same as most people don't know all the medical specialisms. Some medical specialisms are non regulated quackery, same happens in IT.

    Who makes the big money in IT and drives the industry forward ? Cisco, Microsoft, Google, Sony, Nokia ? No they don't need technical people do they.
     
  5. UKDarkstar
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    UKDarkstar Terabyte Poster

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    I didn't read it as official BCS comments. They are blogs referring to the authors views and a general debate.
     
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  6. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Gotta agree with dmarsh here.

    Both articles are still coming from inside the BCS, regardless of the method of communication.

    It's more than worrying that such generalisations and lack of knowledge is being published on their site, don't you think?

    Qs
     
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  7. UKDarkstar
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    UKDarkstar Terabyte Poster

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    The first is the Tech Blog and it refers to the second article which is a report on a debate. I fail to see how this can be interpreted as being an official BCS view - it is all about discussion not a policy statement. The report also refers to the individual experiences of the speakers.

    By all means, I accept that the comments may not be what you or I believe but I really don't see how they can be interpreted as an official BCS view. If it was a statement from the President or someone on the executive or Trustee Board that would be different.

    I am sure that if you added a comment on the blog to the effect that you interpreted this as the BCS viewpoint you would get the same points I have raised being mentioned.

    As to the actual topic of the debate - no, I don't think we're seeing the death of the profession. I think it still has a way to go to being recognised as a profession and also that various aspects of it will change and evolve more rapidly than others.
     
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  8. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Yup, unfortunately many companies will not get good value from an in-house IT department. I’ve seen this several times as I’ve taken over many networks as a contractor and had to deal with a range of problems.

    Having in-house IT can still work though if you can find the right people.
     
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  9. UKDarkstar
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    UKDarkstar Terabyte Poster

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    Def NOT the viewpoint of the BCS :

    "3.6 Blogs. Browse our community of bloggers but be aware that the opinions expressed by the bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of the BCS. BCS is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by bloggers or in relation to any comments that are posted. You should bear in mind that circumstances change and that information that may have been accurate at the time of posting will not necessarily remain so. BCS will not tolerate defamatory or libellous material, obscene content and abusive or intimidating comments. BCS will monitor blogs and comments on this website and may remove any material at its discretion."

    The above comes from the Disclaimer of Liability page here which is referenced from the Legal and Privacy Notices page and a link to that appears at the bottom of the Blog homepage.
     
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  10. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    :p We got served!

    In all seriousness, the BCS pretty much has to have such a disclaimer on their site to protect them legally.

    The only problem is that the article in discussion is the 'Professional Issues' one (the second link from the OP), which isn't a blog, it's straight from the BCS.

    Correct me if I'm wrong though :p

    Qs
     
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  11. UKDarkstar
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    UKDarkstar Terabyte Poster

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    ... but it's reporting a debate, not quoting policy !
     
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  12. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    I'm aware and glad they reported the debate, some editorial and interpretation would be more helpful than a bunch of disjointed out of context quoted remarks however.
     
  13. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    I never said it was policy. :p

    It's just worrying that such generalisations are being discussed in such an incorrect manner. After all, the debate is BCS approved, you can't deny that (BCS Thought Leadership Debate) and it was published on their site, irrespective of whether it's their 'official' line or not.

    This.

    Qs
     
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  14. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    I took this particular statement to be refering a) to the UK which has (I would suspect) a larger proportion of people working on things other than compilers/operating systems than other parts of the world. Every corporation you've listed of course being based elsewhere in the world. b) refering to the situation at present and making no particular judgement as to whether efforts should be made to change this or otherwise.
     
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  15. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Pffft. There will always be a need for experienced IT professionals.
     
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