IT Career Change (sort of!)

red_diesel

I work in an SME as an IT Manager (hands on) The way I see it everything is going hosted or "cloud" if you will. Google apps, hosted exchange etc. We're not to far away from a situation where most companies IT infrastructure will be in a cloud, no servers on-site etc. The landscape is changing, google apps are making massive inroads into Microsoft's territory. The opportunities for IT engineers in the future will dwindle.
Anyone any idea of what would be a good area to get into? I was thinking Business Intelligence as I've been involved in this down through the years, never did as much of it as I would have liked.

bonzer1again

Networking....all companies will need to connect to the cloud
Security....all companies will need to secure their information/data
databases..... such as SQL, Oracle as databases are probably too large to hist off site, and probably unsecure to do so too.

What else were you thinking?

red_diesel

bonzer1again wrote: »

Networking....all companies will need to connect to the cloud
Security....all companies will need to secure their information/data
databases..... such as SQL, Oracle as databases are probably too large to hist off site, and probably unsecure to do so too.

What else were you thinking?

With the cloud you just need an Internet connection and your in! No need for expensive leased lines or MPLS links.
I am thinking databases, they go hand in had with BI. There is no problem with off site DB's, we have moved our Progress based DB to a data centre recently. Absolutely no problem. Bandwidth to the data centre is the key and thats getting cheaper all of the time. I have done MCP certs in Exchange in the past and it would probably be my strongest area. There will be no work for Exchange engineers in a few years, everybody will have hosted solutions. I cannot understand how people can look past google apps at the moment. No brainer for most SME's

Static M.e.

Even if everything starts moving to the cloud it will a number of years, and if everything does move (which I dont think it will) someone will still need to manage that area.

Managing a lot of Outsourced agreements \ companies \ SLA's is a full time job in itself.

(I dont see everything moving to the cloud, I just see hybrid models)

NullZer0

Security and Voice.
Any sort of "unified" communications.

tommy2010

Anyone any career advice for a IT Deskside support engineer stuck in a job with no prospects? I'm taking the windows server 2008 exam in 3 weeks, but would like to get into virtualization, problem is in my current job I'm permenantly contracted to a company and everyone else in MY company works in the UK, ie no ladder to climb. I'm on very good money for what I do (money = 47k, what I do = feck all). so its very difficult to move and drop a bag of money. I'm trying to get some work experience in some local IT companies and data centres at weekends etc but they are not interested.

I'm thinking my only way is to get the head down and get a good few certifications under my belt but do I go for a wide spread of technologies ie: win server+Exchange+ccent+more or concentrate on getting all win server 08 exams done?? I know your going to say it depends on what area you want to get into but I just want to get into a job where I can have a career and progress.

There lies my dilema, any advice?

:-) thanks T.

abakan

red_diesel wrote: »

I work in an SME as an IT Manager (hands on) The way I see it everything is going hosted or "cloud" if you will. Google apps, hosted exchange etc. We're not to far away from a situation where most companies IT infrastructure will be in a cloud, no servers on-site etc. The landscape is changing, google apps are making massive inroads into Microsoft's territory. The opportunities for IT engineers in the future will dwindle.
Anyone any idea of what would be a good area to get into? I was thinking Business Intelligence as I've been involved in this down through the years, never did as much of it as I would have liked.

Im in the same situation as yourself - the cloud is going to get us! and im glad in a way as I dont want to be dealing with the day to day and would rather deal with contracts from different outsourcing company, networking etc and other higher level IT related tasks.
I also trying to get into the area of project management within our company - budgeting scheduling and scoping projects will always be in need.
A good alround knowledge of project deliverance and IT infrastructure and that will keep me happy for the time being

red_diesel

tommy2010 wrote: »

Anyone any career advice for a IT Deskside support engineer stuck in a job with no prospects? I'm taking the windows server 2008 exam in 3 weeks, but would like to get into virtualization, problem is in my current job I'm permenantly contracted to a company and everyone else in MY company works in the UK, ie no ladder to climb. I'm on very good money for what I do (money = 47k, what I do = feck all). so its very difficult to move and drop a bag of money. I'm trying to get some work experience in some local IT companies and data centres at weekends etc but they are not interested.

I'm thinking my only way is to get the head down and get a good few certifications under my belt but do I go for a wide spread of technologies ie: win server+Exchange+ccent+more or concentrate on getting all win server 08 exams done?? I know your going to say it depends on what area you want to get into but I just want to get into a job where I can have a career and progress.

There lies my dilema, any advice?

:-) thanks T.

Tommy, I definately wouldn't ditch the job, thats good money in fairness.
I'd have a go at ccent, I did it myself a while ago. Good cert and gives you a good grounding in networking and routing and how CISCO devices operate in general. Its a good entry level cert. Windows 2008 certs would also be worthwhile. I wouldn't bother with Exchange - see my earlier post on cloud computing. Try and get some kit yourself and mess around with virtualization - VMWare and XEN.

red_diesel

abakan wrote: »

Im in the same situation as yourself - the cloud is going to get us! and im glad in a way as I dont want to be dealing with the day to day and would rather deal with contracts from different outsourcing company, networking etc and other higher level IT related tasks.
I also trying to get into the area of project management within our company - budgeting scheduling and scoping projects will always be in need.
A good alround knowledge of project deliverance and IT infrastructure and that will keep me happy for the time being

I think the SME IT Managers role needs a little re-inventing. In my role my main focus is on supporting the finance function. I interact mainly with accountants. I have big problems with accountants. They think a database is an excel sheet. Everything is done on excel. They will, week in week out, spend hours and days taking data OUT of our ERP system then manipulating the data in a spreadsheet. Excel files will grow to 100MB in size and then they wonder why they are so slow to open. I regularly address this issue, call them together explain the faults in their way of working, how they should be doing things, yet it falls on deaf ears! Accountants will not listen to anybody especially IT people.

Static M.e.

Interesting post

http://www.boston.com/bostonworks/bighelp2010/fastest_growing_jobs_by_2018?pg=30

Top 30 fastest-growing jobs by 2018
2. Network systems and data communications analyst

Projected increase in 2018: 53.4 percent
Number employed in 2008: 292,000
Median pay in 2008: $66,310
Education/training: Most jobs require a bachelor's degree, although some only require a two-year degree. Employers also place a high value on relevant work experience.
Job outlook: This profession will grow because, as businesses implement more and newer technology, more professionals will be needed to monitor efficiency and set up networks.

onemorechance

Phew!

15. Computer applications software engineers

Projected increase in 2018: 34.0 percent
Number employed in 2008: 515,000
Median pay in 2008: $85,430
Education/training: Those with practical experience and at least a bachelor's degree in a computer-related field should have the best opportunities. Employers will continue to seek computer professionals with strong programming, systems analysis, interpersonal, and business skills.
Job outlook: Demand for computer software engineers will increase as computer networking continues to grow.

onemorechance

Double phew!

24. Computer software and systems software engineers


Projected increase in 2018: 30.4 percent
Number employed in 2008: 395,000
Median pay in 2008: $85,430
Education/training: A bachelor's degree and experience with a variety of software and systems are a must. However, engineers are expected to continue to educate themselves in the latest technology.
Job outlook: This occupation will grow as the demand for computer networking skills, particularly at companies, increases. The need for new Internet applications, system safety, and upgrading are a few of the specific needs this job handles.