[AISWorld] Top IT Jobs for 2010 and Beyond

Tue Aug 17 11:24:18 EDT 2010

http://www.globalknowledge.com/articles/generic.asp?pageid=2747&country=United+States
Top IT Jobs for 2010 and Beyond
Randy Muller, Global Knowledge Instructor

August 2010

The economy is picking up (albeit more slowly than we would like) and employers are hiring again (though we will hope the pace increases and not have the larger businesses sit on a pile of cash instead of hiring). There will be an increasing demand for IT specialists in many areas including VoIP, Security, and Virtualization amongst others. What is interesting about the IT field is the long list of computer careers available. What does this mean for the IT community? Jobs are coming back! What is key now is to find the critical IT jobs - the hot jobs for 2010 and beyond.

Information Systems Auditor

First off, a corporate Information Systems auditor should not be seen as "the bad guy". They have a difficult job ensuring organizations comply with the myriad details of Federal, State and local legislation (and in some cases international) and compliance requirements to secure data, corporate and IT records. Information Systems Auditors don't actually perform or implement any changes - they simply offer an independent review of the systems and make recommendations. It is the rest of the IT staff that implement these changes.

The Information Systems audit profession is growing fast and has several certifications that can be obtained including: CIA (certified internal auditor) and CISA (certified information systems auditor).

Computer Forensics

The computer forensics field is growing fast as well - but for different reasons. What is generating a huge demand for computer forensics specialists? The rampant increase in cyber-crime. Cyber-crimes and cyber-criminals have increased faster than law-enforcement, government officials and legislation can react. Cybercrime has cost corporations and consumers billions in identity theft, credit-card fraud and other actions. This is where the Computer Forensics professional comes into play. A computer forensics specialist has the technical and analytical expertise to examine computers, storage, operating systems, network traffic and programming languages (it also doesn't hurt to a good working knowledge of Linux).

There are several Computer Forensics certifications (as well as university degree programs) available: CHFI (Certified Hacking Forensics Investigator), CISSP (certified information systems security professional), GCFA (GIAC Certified Forensics Analyst), EnCE (EnCase Certified Examiner and CCE Certified Computer Examiner are some of the Computer Forensic Certifications available

Database Administrator

How to store data and format queries so that corporations are able to retain more information than ever before as corporations are totally dependent on their databases. This is what database administrators do on a daily basis. Regulatory compliance has had a huge impact on database management and data retention. Corporations are required to retain information for a number of years and in some cases, emails and IM conversations as well. Storage space and storage solutions have become much cheaper so there is more emphasis on data retention. Having the ability to create and extract information from one of these databases is critical. Many IT Projects use a SQL backend, Archiving information from Microsoft's Office Communication Server requires a SQL backend. If you are going to deploy Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), this will require a SQL backend. IT Pros these days do not need to be a DBA, but they must be able to administer and maintain these servers. There are several database systems commonly used: SQL, Oracle and MySQL

Software Engineers

Software engineers design and develop the programs that we use on a day-to-day basis including business applications, games, and operating systems. Software Engineers must be experts in several areas to effectively write and test their software. They must have a deep understanding of the theory of computing systems, and how hardware components communicate to ensure that the underlying systems will work properly. Computer programmers can work for software companies or independently (telecommuting is an excellent option for Software engineers). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics "Computer software engineers are among the occupations projected to grow the fastest and add the most new jobs over the 2008-18 decade, resulting in excellent job prospects". There are numerous programming platforms that software engineers can use including: C, C++, C#, JAVA, .(dot)Net, PHP, Visual Basic, Perl, Python, Ruby and Delphi.

Network Administrators

The basis of networking is to get and maintain communications between the various networking devices - plain and simple. This is a daunting task especially given the complexity of in today's technologies. Organizations, small, medium and large, all need to securely share resources as well as use messaging, VoIP and other networking solutions. There are many new technology areas as well as increased interest in other networking. This will ensure that Network Administrators with skills in these high-tech fields will always be in demand. Networking is one of the IT fields in which you must keep up with changes in technologies - think of all the new wireless devices that users want to have accessing corporate networks.

IT Security Manager

The role of an Information Security manager has increased with the rise of cyber-crime and new Federal legislation safeguarding corporate, customer and personnel information. An information security manager is responsible for creating, establishing and maintaining organizational policies and procedures. One of the IT Security Manager's responsibilities is ensuring that employees are following these policies and procedures.

The IT Security Manager is responsible for securing corporate wired and wireless networks, offsite storage, acceptable use policies, proper usage of hardware, protecting the network from hackers and maintaining corporate network security. This is a position that requires continual vigilance and keeping informed of new security vulnerabilities as they are discovered. The primary certification for Security Managers is the (CISM) Certified Information Security Manager CISM and the CISSP (certified information systems security professional)

Virtualization Engineers

As companies look to consolidate their server farms and take advantage of virtualization, they will need the services of a virtualization engineer. Virtualization has been used with great success in most areas in the IT field. There are some server roles that do not readily lend themselves to virtualization, but most do. The cost savings from cooling, sheer numbers of physical servers, reduced electricity costs has corporations and government entities looking at moving many of their server roles to virtual environments. Since this a new and growing field, there is a huge demand forwhat amounts to is a small number of certified virtualization engineers. Both VMware and Microsoft have certification programs in place.

Project Manager

The role of a project manager is to serve as the intermediary between the IT project team members and the key individuals who are involved with a project. A project manager tries to ensure that a project is completed in a timely manner and within all budgetary and legal constraints. The typical scope of project managers responsibilities include overseeing the processes and methodologies used for the successful completion of the project. The successful project managers can not only help save money for their company, but can also by ensuring all timelines are met (which some would argue is also money as well). There is a growing demand for skilled and competent IT project managers. These are the PM's who can work through a budgetary crisis, conflicting resource priorities. Certifications typically associated with project management include: (PMP) Project Management Professional, Project+ from CompTIA

Voice Specialists

Pick your voice flavor of choice, Office Communications Server (now Communication Server 14 for the latest rendition), Polycom, Avaya, or Cisco to name but a few - they all require highly skilled and knowledgeable people. This is even truer when trying to integrate conferencing or Unified Messaging into the network. VoIP is growing rapidly - businesses are demanding the integration of voice with their messaging and conferencing networks. The problem is there just aren't that many experienced voice people, especially ones who are skilled in two or more platforms. If you happen to be a Cisco voice guru and have also mastered the intricacies of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Unified Messaging and conferencing, than you are set!
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Hope all is good with you!

Best wishes,
Leon

"It's easier for companies to come up with new ideas than to let go of old ones." - Peter Drucker

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Leon A. Kappelman, Ph.D.
  Professor of Information Systems
  Director Emeritus, Information Systems Research Center
  Fellow, Texas Center for Digital Knowledge
    College of Business, University of North Texas
    Voice: 940-565-4698   Fax: 940-565-4935  Email: kapp at unt.edu<mailto:kapp at unt.edu>
    Website: http://courses.unt.edu/kappelman/
Founding Chair, SIM Enterprise Architecture Working Group (SIMEAWG) - Website: http://eawg.simnet.org/
If you are so inclined, here are  some easy ways to follow my adventures (at least the mental and professional ones):
          DrK's Blog<http://courses.unt.edu/kappelman/blog/>: "All we will ever know is our models" - http://courses.unt.edu/kappelman/blog/
          DrK's email listserv<http://courses.unt.edu/kappelman/kapp-inv.htm> - Sign up information here http://courses.unt.edu/kappelman/kapp-inv.htm
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