Ten Steps to Reinventing the IT Professional
(ARA) - For years, information technology
professionals enjoyed the Midas touch: Everything they touched
turned to gold. Business leaders needed their knowledge, expertise
and skills and were willing to pay just about any price to get
them.
Times have changed. The business conditions
that initiated the information technology spike -- the Y2K nonevent
and the bursting of the dot-com bubble -- were deemed unable
to sustain the flood of IT prospectors seeking fame and fortune.
"In the past several years, we have
witnessed the transformation of the IT profession," says Andrew
Trestrail, vice president of Kelly IT Resources, a business
unit of staffing company Kelly Services. "But the profession
should emerge from this experience with a stronger sense of
purpose and mission. The experience has rewritten the rules
for what it takes to succeed."
These rules include a new set of skills and
motivations that IT professionals need to recognize in order
to succeed and prosper in today's more conservative operating
environment, says Trestrail:
1. Business Insight -- IT professionals need
to free themselves from the functional myopia and try to understand
the business and cross-functional responsibilities of other
departments. Technology solutions must be analytically, creatively
and strategically developed and deployed. Businesses can no
longer afford the luxury of investing in technology for the
sake of technology.
2. Financial Discipline -- Those who succeed
in today's corporate world demonstrate consistently that they
can manage the corporate resources. They have been entrusted
to improve the business. And through the shrewd practice of
financial analysis, they must prove an adequate return.
3. Innovation -- IT professionals traditionally
have shined when it comes to unleashing their talent for creative
and innovative solutions. These skills have not diminished.
In fact, applying technical knowledge to a broader set of abstract
business challenges still holds the prospect for creating sustainable
leverage in the marketplace.
4. Systems Integration -- Businesses can
no longer afford a patchwork of IT systems that optimize individual
components of the business. Instead, solutions must bridge technologies
and systems.
5. Teamwork -- IT professionals must view
themselves as a consultant to the business. "Companies who call
on Kelly IT Resources want people who can deploy a broad range
of cross-functional skills, analyzing business conditions, recommending,
implementing and managing technology solutions, and cooperating
with all segments of the business," Trestrail says.
6. Versatility -- In today's environment,
technical aptitude alone will no longer suffice. The successful
IT professional will have to demonstrate a broad portfolio of
cross-functional skills, aptitude, insight, context and experiences
that can be combined in various ways to create business value.
7. Management Aptitude -- IT workers are
no longer just highly sought after programmers. Very few organizations
are hiring entry-level people anymore. Everyone is hiring at
a higher level -- they want experience. IT professionals need
to understand project and contract management.
8. Customer Orientation -- Once armed with
a solid awareness of organizational culture, goals and objectives,
the IT professional must demonstrate keen problem-solving skills.
This involves the blending of technology in a way that improves
business processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
9. Communication -- For many years, IT professionals
worked in their own functional silos, often speaking their own
language that few in the organization could recognize. This
won't wash in today's business climate. They must be effective
communicators, able to translate the technical aspects of their
job easily with others.
10. Interpersonal Skills -- In addition,
successful IT professionals understand that they no longer will
be measured solely on their competence, but also in accessibility,
accountability, affability, flexibility and reliability.
"As IT professionals have witnessed
the severe peaks and valleys of demand for their services, they
have had to reinvent themselves to be more marketable to prospective
employers," Trestrail notes. "Those that understand how the
job is changing -- both in terms of demands and expectations
-- will be better prepared to attract attention."
For their part, as businesses demand more
versatility from their IT workforce, they must commit to identifying,
hiring and advancing people with both the requisite IT skills
and an improved understanding of general business dynamics.
For more information about Kelly Information
Technology Resources visit www.kellyIT.com.
Courtesy of ARA Content |
