Author: Amanda

The excel guru of 2015 is about to give way to a new breed of data analyst, but how can we train for the skills needed in this new data-driven economy?

Today’s business environment is not simply fast-paced, the technological innovation lifecycle is so quick that the latest technological trend can reach maturity, saturation and obsolescence within months.

Businesses need to be agile enough to make the most of the technological advancements as quickly and as efficiently as possible. As with the technologies they use, the same applies to skills in the workforce – it’s not a matter of learning once and being set for life. Businesses and employees alike need to ensure they are constantly learning and improving their abilities to meet new demands and execute the digital transformation many companies are undertaking.

This is by no means an easy task. With technologies evolving around us at an unprecedented speed and with digital trends that we have not even dreamt yet, the potential is almost endless.

A wide variety of job roles are already starting to emerge or evolve from existing roles that will only become more essential and sought after. These include data analysts, web developers and integration experts as just a few examples.

 

Experts! We need an expert, anyone?

With the sheer volume of data expected to be present in an organisation, and the different processes that will be needed to organise and utilise it effectively, a number of experts will be required to head up efforts to do so.

One example would be integration experts who would ensure that data solutions and analytics from a variety of sources can be successfully integrated into an overall transformation strategy.

Take for example wearables which are likely to grow in influence within organisations over the next ten years. Experts will be required to not only introduce this technology to the business, but to provide comprehensive advice and skills in utilising it effectively.

 

Developers of experiences

One role which is already essential and constantly evolving is that of the developer. Every business has a website and many have apps. These need to be not only kept fresh and functional, but adapt to constantly evolving user behaviors.

This means being able to evolve for multiple devices and form factors across multiple channels. The challenge will be marrying those experiences to provide a consistent and seamless experience across each as businesses adopt an omni-channel approach. Those developers able to do so, will be the most sought after.

 

Analyse this

Another role that has been discussed at length is that of data analysts. This role has been particular lauded owing to the sheer possibilities and challenges afforded by the growing amount of big data available to organisations.

The problem with using the catch-all term of data analyst is that it is far more complex owing to the understanding, processing and consolidation that are required to manage big data across the whole organisation.

The role of a data analyst therefore encompasses a variety of positions including technical analyst, marketing analyst, financial analyst and more. In addition, the role will change fundamentally as these professionals will be using more sophisticated tools and techniques than we see today.

The ‘excel guru’ of 2015 will soon give way to a new breed of analyst capable of implementing a multi-dimensional view of business with historic data; trending and social data; predictive and complex rules and analysis.

 

Start at the classroom

In order to cover the multiple dimensions in which technology touches upon and transforms all business functions, the training of experts in tomorrow’s technologies needs to be as versatile and granular. The classroom is the obvious place to start.

This means more investment in computer science and the better uptake of these kinds of subjects should be central to any discussion around education As the UK nears full employment, availability of the right talent is getting harder and harder.

This is where education can play a role more important than ever before. Preparing people for the work force is no longer just about the 3Rs or a ’trade’.  Manufacturing today is different; these days coding is manufacturing. Delivering services is also the new manufacturing where human talent and resource is the raw material of choice in a service industry.

 

What does this mean for the UK education system?

There is no doubt that over the last few years there have been positive steps in order to adapt the education system in this country to the needs of the economy. However, there is plenty of scope for improvement. While computer sciences and coding are being taught in schools as part of the curriculum, more time needs to be committed at the earliest age possible.

If not, we run the risk of computer sciences in the UK being as fragmented as the teaching of foreign languages; a couple of hours a week as an acknowledgement we should be teaching these skills but not enough to create real proficiency.

Programming languages such as JavaScript are the business languages of tomorrow and education should reflect that.

There are positive signs in the shape of projects like the raspberry Pi, BBC micro:bit and Scratch but these just form the base we need to build on.

 

Leading innovation

The UK does not lack talent – far from it! The country has a strong economic and education heritage and continues to churn out real success stories. What is needed is a more strategically coordinated approach that will recognise and subsidise the courses that are vital to the country’s industry, like engineering, over those that have very little impact on the economy.

We can definitely do more to nurture success and ensure we are at the forefront of innovation. As talent is the lifeblood of any organisation, we need to work to identify and cultivate it early to give people the best chance possible of becoming the next Alan Turing or Tim Berners-Lee.

Part of this comes down to creating an excitement around STEM subjects by showing what these skills mean in practical application. Creativity and forward-thinking are the key drivers of innovation and the ability to inspire these will determine who will be the leaders of tomorrow.

 

Source: Information Age

When it comes to malware, cybersecurity threats and basic human error, organisations need to focus on more aspects than just their environmental risk

 

A cyber attack is truly an executive's worst nightmare. When an organisation's sensitive data is hacked, leaked, compromised or lost, it can send business operations into a downward spiral without much warning.

In years past, we've heard of cyber attacks on large organisations like Target, Home Depot, Sony and eBay. Over 80 million people enrolled or formerly enrolled in Anthem plans, including Anthem employees, had sensitive personal information – such as social security numbers, medical IDs and home addresses – exposed to hackers during its cybersecurity crisis.

In 2016 and beyond, cyber attacks are only expected to increase, simply due to the sheer number of devices, nearly 6.8 billion, circulating through the globe.

While no organisation is ever completely safe from the horrors of a cyber attack, there are measures of protection and preparedness that executives can and should take.

Businesses should always assume that IT security investments, no matter the size, couldn’t fully protect them from emerging cyber security threats like ransomware.

That said, the best way to protect an organisation is to ensure you're making appropriate security investments in addition to working with a proven IT disaster recovery (DR) solution provider that does both replication and backups of your data.

Take ransomware, for instance. It’s a constant cyber security threat within an organisation – hackers can trick employees into running software that encrypts data with a key to which the IT department doesn’t have access.

Frequently, while an organisation is in duress, hackers play to weakness by introducing count-down timers and threats of destroying the data completely.

The only way the hackers will allow reentry into the data is by requiring a payment, hence the term "ransom".

Just like any ransom negotiation, they may be bluffing – the price may go up once they know the company is willing to pay.

While there are plenty of technologies out there like antivirus and intrusion prevention systems, they don't always provide enough speed or comprehensive security when it comes to catching new threats.

No matter how much money an organisation is currently investing in antivirus software, or how much it is pouring into other ransomware protection tools, the reality is that it only takes a single emerging threat and one wrong click by anyone in the organisation for an investment to become moot.

 

Backups and recovery

Because the threat of ransomware is fragile, it's critical for organisations to invest in both backups and real-time recovery. In the face of a cyber attack, backups are key –providing a second copy of data, protected offsite.

In addition, some organisations are large enough to have the capital and headcount to oversee private data centres in one or more locations where they can actually manage the backup replication, monitoring and testing in-house.

Many midsize organisations, however, can't afford that luxury. If multi-site recovery isn't an option, organisations should look for a DRaaS (disaster recovery-as-a-service) provider that has data centres in several different regional locations.

In case of a crisis, this allows organisations the options of recovering data from an offsite backup location or quickly failing over to another location that hasn’t been compromised.

Replicating data for real-time recovery is another wise investment to make, complementary to backups. Continuously replicated data protection, combined with the help of a DRaaS provider, can get users up and running quickly (within minutes or hours instead of days), so they can keep their typical business functions operating as usual.

However, if encryption from ransomware affects all of an organisation’s replicated data journal sets as well, it will need to rely on backup for recovery instead.

 

Due diligence

It's up to IT executives to ensure their organisations are performing due diligence in the form of detailed planning, budgeting, execution, testing and verifying backup and recovery services.

These routine maintenance tasks are important in long-term protection and recovery from different types of cyber security threats.

When putting a DR plan into place, organisations should consider several factors: identifying which parties should be contacted in the case of an emergency; evaluating which applications are required to be back up and running in little-to-no downtime (RTO); and how far back in time the data should be replicated and archived.

This type of foresight can be challenging and often time-consuming, but it's invaluable information to have in the case of an unfortunate hack.

Planning out and incorporating an overall recovery plan is a key investment for most organisations. What's more, finding a quality, scalable solution that's also economical doesn't have to be difficult.

When considering a plan to execute a seamless, successful recovery plan, think about the types of third-party providers out there that exist to protect organisations.

Evaluating, engaging with and confirming third-party providers of backup and recovery services should be a serious vetting process for IT executives.

Ensure prospective providers have separate and secure locations to recover data in case there is ever a scenario in which their production data centre is compromised.

Additionally, research prospective providers' track record and experience to ensure they're a quality, trusted DRaaS provider you can easily work with from a cultural alignment perspective.

We live in an age where, unfortunately, cyber attacks are becoming more and more common and sophisticated in nature. The bright side of that equation is that as a result, DR and cyber security programmes are getting stronger and more comprehensive.

 

Organisations that prioritise backup, recovery, detailed planning and strategic execution of DR protocols will be ahead of the curve when it comes to cyber security.

 

Source: InformationAge

Demand for professionals in London’s creative occupations remains exceptionally high, with over a third of jobs in the sector found within the UK’s main creative hub. This is according to the latest Professional Recruitment Trends report from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

Geographical analysis, based on data provided by Burning Glass, somewhat unsurprisingly indicates that 33.5% of all creative occupation postings were found in Greater London. The South East ranks second with 16.1% of creative roles followed by the West Midlands in third with an 8.1% share of total job postings.

The list of ‘in demand’ skills for creative roles is mostly dominated by coding and programming languages. However, the report suggests that the skills in the highest demand, excluding those largely specific to IT based roles, are communication, creativity and writing.

 

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, commented on the report saying;

“London’s creative industries are immensely important to both the city itself and the sector as a whole, contributing an estimated £35bn to the economy and providing the capital with approximately 800,000 jobs.”

“The extensive funding provided by bodies such as Arts Council England, which will invest over £1bn over the next three years, continues to support creative organisations of all sizes, and adds fuel to the creative economy. While the Film Tax Relief acts to bolster the UK’s film industry by offering production companies a payable cash rebate of up to 25% of qualifying film production expenditure.”

“According to a report released last year, the total gross added value (GVA) of the creative industries in London was £34.6 billion in 2012, accounting for just under half of the UK total (£72.7 billion), so it is no surprise that demand for professionals remains highest in this region.”

 

 

Source: Apsco.org

 

 

 Permanent opportunities increase 1% year-on-year
•    Financial Services vacancies up 10%
•    Contract vacancies rise by 1% year-on-year
•    Average salaries up 3.9%

Download FREE Infographic 

Professional recruitment firms now have just 1% more vacancies on their books than this time last year according to new survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

This slowdown in demand, which follows months of rapid growth for the professional recruitment sector, is in line with the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, which found that overall vacancy numbers dipped by 0.1% in the three months to February. UK unemployment also rose by 21,000 to 1.7 million during the same period.

Financial Services strong despite uncertainty 

The latest data from APSCo reveals notable variations between the trade association’s core sector groups in terms of hiring activity. While permanent vacancies across both financial services and marketing, for example, have increased (10% and 12% respectively), IT and engineering have both recorded dips (5% and 13% respectively).
The ongoing growth of the finance and accounting sectors, which APSCo has reported in recent months, is in line with data from specialist recruiter Robert Walters, which found that demand for tax professionals across the UK increased by 8% in the first quarter of 2016 as increased scrutiny over the financial dealings of large corporations created pressure to improve transparency.

Average salaries up

APSCo’s figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors continue to climb steadily, increasing by 3.9% year-on-year. This figure is characterised by notable fluctuations in terms of sector, with Financial Services, for example, recording an uplift of 8.4%. This rise in remuneration within the professional arena exceeds the national increase in salaries as reported by the ONS which found that average earnings grew at an annual rate of 1.8% in the year to February 2016 – the slowest rate of increase since January 2015.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo comments:

“While demand for professional contractors has increased year-on-year, the rate of growth is far less than we have become accustomed to in recent months, creating a perception of market slowdown. However, it is worth remembering that the employment rate remains the joint highest on record at 74.1 per cent.”

“Commentary and conjecture surrounding Europe, not least the Treasury’s 200-page Brexit analysis, has of course had a negative effect on hiring confidence. But regardless of market uncertainty, professional talent is a valuable commodity which is crucial to the success of any organisation. With this in mind, remuneration levels for skilled workers have remained strong despite the fact that hiring is temporarily cooling.”  

Contract vacancies hold 

Temporary and contract vacancies remain largely unchanged across the professional staffing market with opportunities up by just 1% across the board year-on-year. Vacancies across financial services, however, are particularly strong, rising by 30%.

Swain continues; 

“While contractor vacancies often counterbalance a fall in demand for permanent talent, the fact that all hiring activity has close to flat-lined is indicative of the extent to which uncertainty linked to the EU referendum is deterring companies from taking on new staff.”

“Britain’s service and manufacturing sectors are stalling, housebuilding is slowing and consumer confidence is at its lowest level for more than a year. It seems that British business has well and truly pressed the ‘pause’ button while it awaits the outcome on the UK’s future in Europe.”

“The exception to the rule is the Financial Services sector, where external influences and ongoing change management projects mean demand for talent remains insatiable. Predictions that up to 100,000 financial services jobs could be lost if Britain votes to leave the European Union will have deterred decision makers from creating full-time positions in the short-term, and contractors are being drafted in in droves to plug vital skills gaps.”

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Source: Apsco.org

Over the summer months and coming into autumn the demand for IT contractors saw an ongoing drop. The results were:
  • May – 60.3
  • June – 60.3
  • July – 59.2
  • August – 58.7
  • September – 58.6

The demand for IT contractors is still witnessing a growth, but as the figures show the demand has seen to be dropping month on month.

In October, the UK market demand has improved with figures showing 60.3, 1.7 improvement on Septembers results and returning to results in May and June.

(an index score of over 50 signifies growth in the market compared to the previous month)

If you have spent any time in 2014 trying to fill a vacant IT position, you will have undoubtedly seen just how fast moving the market is at present.

Those organisations with structured processes, quick decision-making and clear objectives are way ahead in the attraction of new IT staff.  Having played a key role in the IT recruitment market for over 30 years, here at Certes we have seen the many peaks and troughs of the IT market. We have witnessed first hand how the sector tends to act as a reliable barometer for the wider business economy, usually leading the way in terms of confidence (or lack of it!).     

With the economy now starting to get back on track and general confidence on the increase, we are seeing demand in both contact and permanent markets at levels we have not seen since 2007.  For candidates this is a very welcome sea change, but for recruiting businesses it’s turning into a huge challenge – the race for top IT skills and talent is on and you need to be in good shape to win. 

The key is to be as prepared as possible in advance of your needs, ideally working on business forecasting and the corresponding project, team and departmental resource plans that fulfill these.  Detailed role and skill profiling and rate benchmarking will also mean that at the point when you need to go out to the market, you are ready to hit the ground running.  You will have a clear picture of who and what you need and a framework against which you and your line managers can rapidly issue considered and consistent recruitment specs, and screen and assess candidate suitability against a structured process. Getting the spec right first time is key, as is the speed at which you are able to assess CVs that hit your desk – gone are the days when you have the luxury of time when assessing candidates suitability.

In the current market, keeping informed is also a key factor in candidate attraction, keeping abreast of rate and salary levels, looking at how demand for certain skills is moving and also being aware of legislative or industry changes that are coming will all help you to be more planned and give you more insight into roles where you can expect higher levels of competition. To keep up to date with the latest industry trends sign up to the Certes 4sight review here.

James ‘JOD’ O’Driscoll has made the journey to go back to school and add to his growing arsenal of skills. After a tough exam, JOD can now proudly say that he is BRMP® certified.

James has been working the IT BRM/BP market for some time now and whilst he has seen a growth in this area as more organisations are starting to see what value IT BRM/BP functions can bring, this has also led to a number of challenges, including a lack talent and common standards.

By successfully undertaking the BRMP® course James will not only have a far better understanding of the role which will allow him to have a greater insight into an individual client brief and what type of IT BRM/BP they require at that time (e.g. order taker, trusted advisor etc), but will also allow him to look outside of the “classic” candidate profile and identify those who have the required skills and behaviours (50% of an IT BRM/BP role is as we know focused on the soft, intangible skills) but don’t necessarily have the job title to go with it.

Finally, by taking the course James have a better knowledge of what is involved, which has given him greater confidence to further push the IT BRM/BP community into looking at such qualifications as he retains his belief there is a need for best practise and standardisation in this area.

 

I’m delighted to have passed the BRMP® course which I hope further demonstrates my commitment to this practise.  A special thanks must go to Jon Baxter from Baxter Thompson Associates who was instrumental in my ability to fully understand and pass the course.  

James O’Driscoll

From everyone at Certes we would like to congratulations JOD on his tremendous achievement.

 

Facebook has launched a professional platform that enables workers to use the social networking site during office hours to communicate with colleagues, collaborate on documents and build contacts within their own industry.

In a bid to win over employers who often ban their staff from using the site during the working day, the social networking giant has introduced a pilot scheme, named Facebook at Work, hoping to convince companies that Facebook can be a useful tool within the workplace and that it can provide an effective way of liaising with colleagues working on shared projects.

Following on from a survey last year which revealed that more than 54% of companies ban the use of Facebook on work computers, the new site incorporates a white background instead of the existing blue one, and could act as a direct competitor to other career based social websites including LinkedIn and Yammer.

If Facebook at Work progresses past the pilot stage and makes its way onto the worldwide networking scene, the sites 1.35 billion existing users will be able to communicate more efficiently within an organization, whilst keeping their personal and professional Facebook profiles separate.  

Not dissimilar to LinkedIn, Facebook at Work could be a useful way of connecting with potential future employees and employers.

Speak to Certes now about your next IT vacancy.

According to the London School of Business and Finanace, 21% of employees are planning to change their current position for a new career within the next year and 29% of employees stay at their current position due to the financial security they have.

Career changing is strongest with millennials 66% of millennials want to change career and a majority of millennials being ready to change career in less than a year.

Source: HR Review

•    Permanent and temporary placements rise 1% year-on-year

•    Permanent vacancies decline within IT and Finance
•    Average salaries dip by 2.8%   

New survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) reveals that both permanent and temporary placements have risen year-on-year (1% each). This is in line with the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which reveals that the unemployment rate remained at an 11-year low for the three months to November last year.

APSCo data, which focuses on professional recruitment, reveals notable variations between the trade association’s core sector groups. While permanent placements across engineering and IT rose (2.4% and 19.1% respectively), placements within finance decreased by 4.6%. 

Vacancies decline within IT and Finance 
Despite placements rising in December, the number of new jobs coming onto the market fell by 2%.  Demand for finance and IT staff fell across both the permanent and contract arenas with the former suffering more so than others with demand for finance plummeting by 14%.

This is perhaps unsurprising given the widespread reports in the latter part of 2016 that banks would be moving large numbers of jobs from the Capital which may very well have stalled recruitment activity.  And following Theresa May’s speech outlining the UKs Brexit Strategy, HSBC and UBS have already revealed plans to move at least 1000 jobs each from London, suggesting that this decline within financial services may well continue as we progress throughout 2017.

Average salaries down
APSCo’s figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors dipped by 2.8% year-on-year. Despite this, however, pay rose in several sectors – IT and financial services recorded uplifts of 2.5% and 2.1% respectively.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo comments:

“There is no doubt that parts of the UK jobs market has suffered in the months following Brexit – and our data demonstrates that employers continue to take a far more cautious approach to hiring.  However, it is not all doom and gloom with several indicators suggesting that the UK is faring better than expected following the referendum. The IMF has raised its forecast for economic growth this year, the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index shows manufacturing growth at a 30 year high, and the latest PwC survey reveals 89% of CEOs are optimistic about growth prospects in 2017 – up from 85% last year”.

 

Source: APSCo