IT Workers Are Happy, But Will Still Leave for Something Better

May 14, 2012/0 Comments/in Dallas IT Staffing, Information Technology, IT, Uncategorized/by admin

IT Workers Are Happy, But Will Still Leave for Something Better

Despite overall satisfaction with their current job situation, IT workers still show a readiness to jump ship when the next best thing comes along.

CIO — The majority of IT employees are engaged at work, loyal to their employers and inspired to do their best everyday, according to new survey findings from Randstad Technologies and Technisource. However, despite that, more than half (53 percent) are open to new employment opportunities, Think of it as the IT sector’s version of The Five Year Engagement, a new film about a couple that is happy to be engaged but put marriage plans on an indefinite hold.

"The takeaway for employers is that they use whatever means to create a strong bond with their employees by engaging, recognizing and empowering them in order to minimize attrition," said Bob Dickey, executive vice president of technologies at Randstad U.S.

The latest Randstad Engagement Index findings, conducted in February, surveyed 3,000 IT workers, nationwide. The Randstad Engagement Index measures the attitudes and perceptions impacting employee engagement within companies.

Looking at IT sector’s response to Randstad’s six components of engagement, the survey found the following:

76 percent of IT employees are proud to work for their company
63 percent of IT employees enjoy going to work every day
75 percent of employees feel inspired to do their best each day
68 percent of IT employees feel their efforts at work are recognized and valued
67 percent indicate they trust their company leadership to make good decisions for the workforce
67 percent of employees believe their company shares their values

Not only did the survey indicate that IT employees are clearly satisfied with their jobs and employers but 80 percent feel secure in their jobs, and they’re optimistic about the future:

More than three-fourths, or 77 percent, believe their company has a great future
64 percent believe their company is making the right investments in their workforce for the future
60 percent report being only a little or not at all concerned about having to take a pay cut

IT Workers Looking for the Next Best Thing

Despite the rosy relationship with their current job situation, IT respondents still showed a readiness to jump ship when the next best thing comes along. And, survey results indicate that 59 percent of respondents believe that those opportunities are on the horizon as more than half believe that the job market will pick up in 2012.

According to Dickey, opportunities in the IT sector are opening up with increasing pressure to find top talent. In fact, recent job demand in IT is for higher-level positions, such as project mangers, business architects and data analysts.

"What this tells us is that the economy is picking up as more companies start new project initiatives and make investments in infrastructure and development," he said. Dickey noted that improvements in IT job hiring is often a bell weather for overall employment growth.

Modernization of IT: Solving a Legacy of Business Problems & Applications

May 14, 2012/0 Comments/in Information Technology, information technology budgets, Information Technology Field, IT Department, Uncategorized/by admin

Modernization of IT: Solving a Legacy of Business Problems & Applications

Are we building applications or supporting the business?

I talk to a lot of CIOs. I met with one in early May who oversees the IT operation of a $6 billion yearly entertainment-related company with about 7,000 employees. This top-notch exec was all about transforming a huge investment in existing IT infrastructure into a new dynamic, extensible and agile platform that would propel the business forward – not hold it back. This guy is busy figuring out how to keep a Boeing 777 up in the air while simultaneously re-fitting aircraft to make it best-in-class.

That’s what IT should be all about.

But in some organizations, it’s not. Either the message from the top gets lost as it percolates down through the IT organization, or the message from the top isn’t the right one to begin with. Either way, for those unfortunate IT organizations, IT is a ball-and-chain that holds the enterprise back, rather than gives it the capability to move forward.

2011 Predictions for IT Management

January 3, 2011/0 Comments/in Information Technology, information technology hiring, Information technology jobs, Information Technology Organizations, Information Technology Projects, Information Week, IT, IT Budgets, IT Hiring, IT Industry, IT Job, IT Job Growth, IT Job News, it job outlook, IT Jobs, IT Leaders/by admin

2011 will be a big year for IT change and growth, here is a look at a few predictions for how the IT industry will change.

2011 will be a big year for IT change and growth, especially as IT budgets are back on the rise – Gartner has even predicted that spending, specifically on IT, will increase by 60% (per employee). Here is a look at a few predictions on how the IT industry will change and grow over the next year:

A new hybrid desktop world is emerging, where users interact with multiple sessions (or “screens”). The primary screen for most users is still their local rich desktop that resides at their physical workstation, but more and more that’s being supplemented with a form of a virtual desktop. These can be hosted in the data center on Terminal Services, directly on a hypervisor, or on the client through type-1 or 2 hypervisors. In addition, multiple models for application delivery have emerged (i.e. application virtualization and streaming), which also cannot be effectively managed with legacy product sets. With all these new forms of desktop “screens”, hosting centers and application delivery mechanisms coming together, IT is facing major management challenges. Organizations need to look at a more strategic desktop management platform to help streamline the oversight of their desktops and also increase the automation functionality used in making updates and/or changes to this part of their environment. Most current models do not support this type of management. Some of the major technology providers, like Microsoft and Citrix provide multiple desktop and application delivery products, yet they do not currently provide a unified way of managing these related, yet disparate models. Now imagine trying to manage a multi-vendor delivery environment? The need for a unified management solution becomes crystal clear.

With Windows XP support ending at the end of this year, the need for a central management solution will also be enhanced by a predicted jump in the adoption rate for Windows 7 in 2011. During the Windows 7 migration, IT managers will face significant challenges when dealing with the reconfiguration of user settings, as with most updates of this kind. However, there is a solution to make this and future migrations easier. Separating a user’s desktop environment from the underlying operating system and hardware is one way to create an infrastructure that is more adaptable to change. This type of dynamic desktop environment allows IT to centrally manage changes like migrations or wide-spread updates without disrupting the access that employees need to their applications, data and printers, etc, and allowing users to retain their personal settings.

Security will also be extremely important in 2011, especially in the hybrid environments discussed above. Once the environment becomes centrally managed from a single console, security is simplified as it enables consistent security across the entire infrastructure. When considering security, the dynamic desktop environment should also employ a context aware approach. This is another area we expect to see growth continue in 2011. With this functionally, IT can determine which rights and limitations apply to a particular user based on their location or even time of day, and apply those rights to applications, data, printing and personal settings. As a result, IT can ensure that users get only the services they need, when they need them and also create rules to ensure certain sensitive applications, like financial databases, aren’t accessible from unsecure login points.

The last trend we see coming to light in 2011 is an increased demand for solutions that improve automation across infrastructures. This will be a critical feature in ensuring IT sees faster return on investment from all of its technology investments. After unifying and managing each desktop and application delivery platform, the end-user experience and

IT Jobs Outlook Modest for 2011

December 8, 2010/0 Comments/in 2011 it job outlook, dallas it job growth, IT Hiring, IT Job Growth, it job outlook, IT Staffing, X it jobs information technology jobs X IT Job Growth X IT Job outlook X dallas it job outlook X dallas it job growth/by admin

Perhaps the best thing that will be said about 2010 and IT hiring is that large layoffs have tapered off and the overall trend seems to favor hiring.

Computerworld — Perhaps the best thing that will be said about 2010 and IT hiring is that large layoffs have tapered off and the overall trend seems to favor hiring.

For sure, IT workers are still losing their jobs, particularly in the weakest areas of economy, such as in state and local government. Camden, NJ, for example, recently announced a plan to lay off one in four city workers to cover a large budget shortfall.

About four IT workers in Camden will be axed if this plan is adopted, and the city says in a report that that cuts will mean “the network will not function effectively.” City officials did not respond to request for comment.

Tech spending is expected to rebound next year, with IDC predicting 5.7% growth next year worldwide after 3% this year. But how will that spending on tech translate into hiring with offshore outsourcing increasing ?

The latest evidence that IT hiring is improving overall comes from a new study from Computer Economics, which surveyed IT managers at 136 firms in the U.S. and Canada with revenues above $50 million. It found that 48% of managers planned to add staff next year, with 11% planning to reduce staff.

John Longwell, vice president of research at Computer Economics, said, “The layoffs are over, people are starting to add workers to their payrolls but it is going to be modest.”

The survey looked at operational spending in IT, those functions needed for day-to-day operations, and about half of that cost is in salaries, Longwell said.

Longwell said that companies are beginning to take on new IT projects, extending staff hours, hiring contractors — and turning to outsourcing . In this quarter, 27% planned to hire and 14% said they were going to decrease staff.

Longwell characterized this year as one of “nervous stability,” and said IT operational budget are still restrained and users in their survey are planning for 2% growth.

Capital spending in the IT industry is projected to increase next year, which will help tech hiring, and offshore outsourcing will send lower rung IT jobs overseas.

David Foote, CEO of IT workforce analyst firm Foote Partners, said he believes the demand for IT skills – not necessarily full-time workers — is stronger, but difficult to track because it is being increasingly spread throughout companies.

Foote says he is seeing a lot demand for specific skills by business units in areas such as predictive analytics, architecture, social media, and security functions that are attached to finance, accounting, and auditing, and not to central IT operations.

IT Jobs That Need Filling

September 29, 2010/0 Comments/in Information technology jobs, IT Consulting, IT Hiring, IT Job Growth, IT Jobs, IT Professionals, IT Staffing/by admin

Even with thousands upon thousands of experienced IT pros looking for work, many information technology executives say they are finding it difficult to find talented workers in several key areas of their organizations. Maybe they’re not trying hard enough, or maybe they’re just looking in the wrong places or maybe there exists a mismatch between available workers and the specific jobs open in today’s marketplace. IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology recently asked the following question of 1,400 IT leaders, from companies with more than 100 employees: “In which functional area is it most challenging to find skilled IT professionals?” The answer was something of a mixed bag and one that leaves many questions about the state of IT hiring. The execs mentioned a number of specific tasks that are going begging, with spots in networking, security and help desk support taking the top spots. Only a relatively small fraction said they could find all the talent they need. Where are you experiencing problems in the job market?

View the slideshow here

Posts