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Contractors whose only specialism is IT-enabled face uncertain times as companies admit their future staff demands are reserved for the ‘versatilist’ – the professional who can compliment technical expertise with local, industry, business and leadership knowledge. Today’s successful IT applicant should already realise identifying themselves by occupation only negates the industry, processes and programs of change they have taken part in, according to analyst company Gartner. Telling a potential client, ’I spent two years helping design an Internet selling process that boosted revenue by 20 per cent,’ is preferable to defining a technical competency, and then adding ‘I work in IT.’ Current scepticism towards the effectiveness of IT, the rise of automation, global labour shifts and multi-sourcing will sound the death knell for technology specialists, while simultaneously creating a new breed of business-savvy IT professional. Dubbed ‘the versatilist,’ this IT provider will be proficient in the realities of the business, such as industry, core processes, customer bases, regulatory environment, culture and constraints specific to the end client. Regardless of whether IT professionals work in a corporate IT organisation, in an outsourcing team, in product development or in business units their areas of expertise, knowledge and skills will change, to the extent that by 2010 – six out of ten IT roles will be ‘business-facing.’ By the same year, the influx of versatilists will serve to reduce headcount, leading to IT departments in mid-size and large companies shrinking 30 per cent smaller than they are today, Gartner predicts. "If the last decade represented the era of specialists, this decade will mark the era of the versatilist," said Diane Morello, VP for research, who added IT workers will see roles “carved up” and at the same “bolstered, and displaced.” "Versatilists are people whose numerous roles, assignments and experiences are enabling them to synthesize knowledge and context to fuel business value. “Versatilists are applying their depth of skills and experiences to a rich scope of situations and challenges and implementing their cross-organisational insight to flesh out teams and fill competency gaps." According to the analyst, the demand for versatilists is cemented by four global trends. Firstly, the rapid pace of globalisation, aided by high-speed global networks, will put many UK-based IT workers in competition with any other person in the world offering cheaper and more suitable technical skills. As a result, Gartner predicts global sourcing will become “a standard part of companies’ sourcing portfolio,” effectively putting clients in touch with highly competitive IT skills, knowledge bases and services. Advances in automation will further transform the modern IT organisation, most notably in the realms of software development, testing, remote system monitoring, operation centres, tech support and networking. As automation rolls out into public sectors – an arena in the UK set to raise the profile of mobile technologies, there will be greater consumer know-how of online services, mobile phones and IT-enabled devices, leading to a ‘demystification of IT.’ This will create not only a reduced tolerance for complicated systems and applications, but will also cement the need for smaller departments and numbers of personnel required to run them. The final “primary force” creating conditions ideal for the versatilist is a mixture of business restructuring. This includes M&A activity, consolidations, layoffs and outsourcing processes that will challenge IT professional positioning and weaken employee commitment. "IT professionals should decide now if they wish to remain in the realm of 'pure technology' or redirect themselves to new domains of expertise and develop practical experiences in industries, market segments and core business processes that would help them in that domain," said Ms Morello. The revamp of the IT profession is expected to lead to the splintering out of technical expertise into four categories; namely, technology infrastructure and services, information design and management, process design and management, and relationship & sourcing management (including offshore). Gartner said as these groups will dominate IT expertise by 2010, today’s professionals should take a deliberate and long look at their occupation “to decide whether it represents opportunities or dead ends.” "IT professionals need to act now by assessing and building their business-specific, core process and industry knowledge. The greater their grasp of the contextual realities of a business, industry, core process or market, the wider and more durable their opportunities will be," said Ms Morello. IT professionals are advised by the analyst to examine and focus on their skills, expertise and desired employment model in order to convey a “clear value message” to prospective employers. To attract this new breed of IT worker to their organisation, employers are recommended to develop growth paths and career opportunities for the four domains of expertise and provide incentives and awards for versatility. Nov 15, 2005 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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