The threat of cyber crime has a growing cost attached to it. Have a look at the infographic from HP to see what they are.
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Author: Amanda
Addressing the skills gap is often focused on coding and computer programming, software is being prioritised over hardware, and it shouldn't be
Rhetoric around skills and education has positioned the skills gap as a challenge facing the software coding and data analysis fields, with both areas expected to power the future startups of TechCity.
However, there are other areas of IT impacted by the skills gap, namely hardware support.
With cloud technology cementing its position as the future of IT, predicted to grow on average 19.4% each year until 2020, the speed of technology uptake has not been seen since the emergence of the internet.
Fewer SMEs have any system hardware, and the days of a data centre in the basement of every company building are slowly disappearing. The perception to the end user is that, on-premise IT and hardware investment is on the way out.
Cloud adoption trends
This perception and the wide availability of the cloud has itself developed a somewhat blasé attitude to technology.
Always-on cloud solutions are easily accessible, fuelling the idea that the cloud is independent of hardware. Despite most organisations having less hardware on-site than they did five years ago, physical hardware is actually still essential to maintaining system uptime.
The disconnect between cloud and hardware has developed as by nature, the cloud is seen as a connection to a network that is often wireless and without the need to connect to a physical platform in the same location.
In actual fact though, platforms are run via mass data centres, rooms full of server, networking and storage components, all of which require maintenance.
Just this month Microsoft launched three new data centres in London, Durham and Cardiff, with Amazon’s AWS expected to follow with its own locations in the coming months.
The emergence of AI and VR
It is in the startup space where technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are really starting to take off and are emerging in the latest business and consumer products and solutions.
However, again these often operate in the cloud and require masses of computer power that are so are heavily reliant on servers, networking and storage hardware and skills somewhere down the line.
Despite this, the focus of skills training, particularly from Government has been more on coding and computer programming, prioritising software over hardware.
The intention is to develop the UK into a future-proof high-tech economy. Although a positive move, the singularity of the approach fails to acknowledge necessary supporting technologies and the skills required to maintain them.
At the same time, groups of MPs have been particularly critical of the Government’s efforts to counter the gap.
A report by the Commons Science and Technology committee alleges that as little as 35% of computer science teachers have a relevant qualification, while just 70% of the required number of teachers have been recruited into UK schools.
Reducing the skills gap
Fostering high-quality technical skills is essential to supporting cloud and the new emerging technologies like AI and VR that the modern IT industry needs to develop to grow.
Interestingly our own independent research examining the opinions and future concerns of the IT reseller community revealed that despite the rise of the cloud, AI and VR, the vast majority (78%) believe that hiring and training more data centre technical skills will help to ease the skills gap by 2020.
The research suggests that hardware and technical skills should not be regarded as a challenger to the growth of the new digital age, but rather the enabler.
When a data centre goes offline today, it is unlikely to impact just one company, but hundreds storing information at one site. The stakes are higher than ever before.
To secure the future of our infrastructure and data, skills investment needs to be consistent across both hardware and software.
The latest technologies still require a data centre backend situated somewhere, even if it is hundreds of miles away.
The trend of decreasing on-premise hardware may have created an attitude of out of sight, out of mind, but the reality is that focus must still be given to maintaining a skilled engineering function to manage and maintain hardware infrastructure.
Only by broadening the focus on skills development within the IT sector as a whole will prevent significant and disruptive skills gaps occurring in the future.
Source:InformationAge
The IT sector has seen a recent surge in demand for security-cleared employees, primarily as a result of general societal pressure for increased levels of security.
This means organisations that previously would not have required security clearance are now expecting at least Basic Checks (BC) as a minimum and a Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) or Security Check (SC) for those working on what are deemed to be more sensitive projects.
For IT professionals, this means that obtaining security clearance can prove very useful, especially for contractors, as it can lead to a wealth of additional job opportunities. Having security clearance in advance of applying for jobs will greatly enhance your prospects and open up a wider variety of roles for you to choose from.
There are a range of security-cleared IT roles available in both the public and private sector, from developers to project managers and using skills such as Java, Oracle, Cisco and J2EE. The increase in national security as a result of terrorist threats means that there is notable demand for security-cleared personnel in sectors such as defence and government.
However, while government departments may be the biggest employers of security cleared IT personnel in the UK, there are still a number of vacancies within the private sector particularly for financial institutions.
Certes believe that children are an integral part to paving the future and as such Certes wants to do what we can to help those children who are unfortunate to be born with life altering conditions, many of which have no cure or a method of treatment.
To help raise money for this cause, Certes will be running in the Great Birmingham 10K.
The event will be held on Sunday 1st May 2016, starting from Jennens Road (close to Millenium Point and Thinktank). Show your Support for Certes buy making a donation to the Certes JustGiving page.
The Great Birmingham 10k run is just one event that Certes is taking part in to raise a total of £3000. We will keep you updated to new events that Certes will take part in.
A short while ago we wrote about how the IT staffing has been seeing a huge growth, despite the slow growth of business.Below, Apsco continue on this topic and also explain how the recent elections have affected employment.
- Year-on-year figures show professionals seeking new roles increase by 59%
- Month-on-month figures show an increase in both professional opportunities (up 14%) and in professionals seeking to move (up 28%)
- Average salary change for those securing new positions increased to 19%
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A Strong April
“We’ve seen increases from every angle; month-on-month, year-on-year for both job opportunities and those seeking new roles” says Hakan Enver, Operations Director, Morgan McKinley Financial Services. “This is in line with what we predicted last month. With bonus rounds coming to a conclusion at the end of the first quarter, April is typically a month where we see people actively looking for new roles.”
Growth in opportunities has continued to strengthen with a month-on-month increase of 14%. “From a job availability perspective, there has been some replacement, but there is a clear underlying trend of growth”, said Enver.
Yearly figures for job opportunities saw an increase of 17% with those seeking new roles showing a big jump of 59%.
Elections
The upcoming UK elections were the main theme throughout April. Despite jitters within the financial sector about the possible negative effects of a hung parliament, the actual impact on hiring was negligible. “The data shows that in the lead up to the elections hiring was not affected as many had predicted. In actual fact, the data clearly shows the opposite”, said Enver.
A key theme during the elections and particularly pertinent to the financial sector, is the UK’s future relationship with the European Union. [At time of writing, the UK election results showed that the Conservatives had won a majority vote and will serve another term in parliament.]
“As mentioned last month, most city professionals are against a UK exit from the European Union (EU), whilst remaining supportive of Conservative policies. Now that the Conservatives have regained full control, they are committed to a referendum on the Brexit in 2017. As a result, the debate about the UK remaining as part of the EU will become a major subject of interest for the financial sector.”
In a study published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) surveyed over 400 financial services executives which found that the financial community is far more supportive of staying in the EU than the general public. With nearly three quarters of the financial executives polled saying they would either “definitely” or “probably” vote to stay in the EU.
“The majority in the City are clearly in favour of maintaining a relationship with our European counterparts. This is purely from a business perspective provided that the UK has more power and more autonomy running their businesses. Therefore, not necessarily completely dictated by those from abroad”, said Enver.
The results of the CSFI research are in strong contrast to a study conducted by Populus in April, which found that the British electorate deeply divided with 40% saying they wanted to remain in the EU, 39% wanting to leave and 17% undecided.
“The CSFI study appears to support the idea that the UK financial community’s attitude to the EU is based on pragmatism and the fear of the unpredictable ramifications of a Brexit.” Enver continued, “By completely breaking from the reigns of the EU, there could be a longer term impact to business in the UK. Not only would it create a threat of jeopardising the trading alliances with the eurozone, but also the UK’s alliances with the US and the Middle East would be thrown into question. Equally, if the UK was to successfully renegotiate terms, there would be a considerable cost to the EU as a whole.”
The UK currently makes up over 10% of the total EU population. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in 2013, the net figures (which take into account the UK’s rebate) showed the UK’s overall contribution standing at a mammoth £11.3 billion to the EU.
Graduate Survey
As the number of jobs on offer continues to grow, there has been an increased focus on graduate hiring. Morgan McKinley conducted a study of 157 hiring managers to discuss the effects that the financial crisis had on hiring and their views on the current challenges they face.
The study found that 53% of companies felt no impact on their graduate hiring as a result of the financial crisis, with 9% even increasing hiring. In the current market 50% of respondents said the financial crisis no longer had any impact on their graduate hiring.
“There has been much discussion around the negative impact of the financial crisis on graduate hiring, but our data doesn’t support this. Exactly half said that it impacted their graduate hiring” explains Enver. ”If anything, it shows the UK finance sector as being resilient, even in the midst of a historical crisis.”
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The future is also looking positive for graduates with a combined 68% of respondents stating that the biggest current challenges are a skills gap shortage (47%) and lack of future talent (21%).
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Average Salary Increases
The average salary change registered in April 2015 was 19%. “With improved confidence, there’s still a trend to expect a far greater salary increase when moving roles and thus it is a major contributing factor to people looking for new opportunities”, said Enver.
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Original Source: Apsco.org
If you want to capitalise on the continued employment trend improvements visit Certes IT recruitment website were you can find job roles in IT a variety of sectors and industries.
Recently an IT BP contact got in touch with me with the following question:
I've just read a piece of research where it spells out the ways CIOs are looking to get engaged in underpinning their organisations' business strategies. In doing so they're performing a lot of things we're expecting a BRM to do.
This reminded me of my early years at XX when, as a BRM, I seemed to continually 'step on the toes' of the then CIO who was also seeking a seat at the top table and, consequently, felt threatened by me.
In your opinion, what can CIOs and BRMs do to work together in a more cooperative, rather than competitive way?
My response to him was as follows:
In my opinion, the CIO should be the most senior IT BP in the IT function. If that is not the case (as in your example) the IT BP should identify the CIO as one of the key five stakeholders that require your immediate and significant investment and spend the time building a level of trust, to ensure the CIOs full understanding of the IT BP role and what value you bring.
Without that buy in (and such buy is going to have to be instigated by the IT BP, not the CIO), I would question the ongoing success of the function.
Since my initial response I’ve also considered the following:
- My contact’s example was from a number of years ago (early 2000s) when the IT BP role was less established, less mature and more misunderstood. Surely such a situation does not exist today? Or does it?
- Does the community agree with my initial response? Should the CIO be one of the top five stakeholders that require immediate and significant investment by the IT BP? Are there other (better) ways that people can share?
- If you are unable to get buy-in from the CIO despite your best efforts, is it a good idea to update the CV?
- My contact refers to the top table which seems to be the end goal for most in the IT BP community. Do we need to be at that top table? Not everyone thinks so.
- Finally, what does the IT BP community think? What can CIOs and IT BPs do to work together in a more cooperative, rather than competitive way?
Your thoughts and comments are, as always, welcome
– James O’Driscoll BRMP®
james.odriscoll@certes.co.uk
SQL has topped the list of the most sought after skills across both contract and permanent roles for the second quarter running, according to the spring edition of Certes’ 4Sight skills review.
Meanwhile, the highest increase in demand during Quarter 2 was for ASP.NET WEB API and Cyber Security skills, as businesses become increasingly aware of the damage that a security breach can cause.
Demand for IT professionals in both permanent and contract roles was highest in the banking and finance sector, with opportunities in retail, telecoms and marketing coming in closely behind.
The top five most demanded job functions included developer, analyst, project manager, business analyst and architect, whilst SQL, Java and SQL Server were the most in demand programming languages.
To find out more about the most sought-after IT skills and the latest rates and salaries, sign up to receive Certes quarterly 4Sight review by clicking here.
Cyber Security job vacancies at Certes
To learn more about Cyber Security jobs available through Certes click here.
In the next few weeks the exam season will start to slow down, hassled teachers will lift their heads seeing the long holidays approaching and many schools will start locking their doors and shutting up shop until mid August. Before we know it we will have the annual news stories hitting the headlines as the exam results for both GCSE and A Levels are released. Will standards this year have risen? fallen? who knows. Then the schools start to crank back up to full speed; new pupils, new parents, new timetables, new courses, new staff and lots and lots of new data.
The education industry is the third highest industry sector to suffer a reported cyber breach, according to figures from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), behind only health and local government.
What could schools do over the forthcoming long summer holiday? How about getting their cyber house in order?
For more information visit the National Cyber Skills Centre: Cyber Insights
Certes specialise in IT staffing for all sectors and industries. We are now working with the National Cyber Skills Centre in order to provide staffing to companies in need of cyber security. For cyber security jobs search our site.
Synapse information, a start-up data management solutions company based in Innovation Birmingham Campus, Birmingham were in need of staffing. Thanks to Certes, Synapse were able to acquire highly skilled staff that they were after.
“Amir Rasool has surrounded me with quite brilliant computer scientists since I engaged with him right from the beginning – we have a tremendous team of software engineers” Brian Donnelly, Founding CEO, Synapse Infromation.
As result of Amir’s hard work, Synapse information will be using Certes exclusively for all their IT staffing and recruitment needs.
For more information visit Synapse
