Contract candidates 'must be cloud-savvy' in 2012

2012 should emerge as the year when the cloud firmly establishes itself within business practices, a poll of UK IT bosses shows, indicating a significant shift will potentially be required in IT workers’ skill-sets.

According to a poll of 250 IT decision-makers, more than a third believe that the role of the IT professional has changed in the last year and will continue to evolve over the coming 12 months.

This represents a marked change from the sentiment expressed in 2010. Then, the bulk of IT leaders (56%) felt IT’s function would stay the same, says Modis International, which ran the polls.

Reflecting on the IT leaders’ latest responses, the tech recruitment firm said: “There is a growing sense that IT is evolving as it becomes more closely involved in delivering business strategy.

“Many IT decision makers are expecting a prolonged period of change, as businesses seek to make the most of newly emerging technologies.”

Alongside strategy and technology exploitation, cost concerns and bottom-line savings will be third force that pushes the cloud up the agenda, as the head of IT at a professional services firm outlined.

“IT has become more about cost containment, managing resources better and trying to do as much online, as it is cheaper than any other solution, hence the arrival of the cloud," he said.

Intrinsic to such technology, however, “are a number of potential security and hacking issues” – part of the reason that uptake hasn’t proved as straightforward, or immediate, as some anticipated.

“Although Cloud Computing was supposed to flourish in 2011, the process of integrating this technology into business systems has taken longer than expected,” added Modis managing director Jim Albert.

As a result, he believes the major IT innovators of 2012 will be those computer professionals capable of providing “effective utilisation and implementation of cloud technology.”

 “IT professionals are among the first to feel technological changes in the workplace, but are also among some of the best placed to meet any challenges head on. As cloud computing continues to develop, those with relevant skills will find themselves in high demand”.

Evidencing his claim, Mr Albert said Modis is seeing appetite grow for certified contractors - from security officers and information assurance consultants, to network defence and penetration testers.