Weekly Word on the Street: Seeking Opportunity in the Cloud Skills Gap

Takeaway of the week is it’s still a good thing to a talented, well-versed and highly trained IT job seeker, even though it might not feel that way to those deep in their search. Another batch of glowing indicators show those savvy with cloud computing skills, a keen eye for business paired with a smart head for technology and a willingness to explore other geographic locations might just have the world at their feet.

Relevance in the New IT World
OK, we all know that cloud computing, mobile applications and the like are beyond the “new big thing,” to, simply, “the thing” to which an increasing number of firms have started to transition.
It’s great news for the overall IT job market, but not for those professionals caught unprepared.
“There’s no question cloud computing is generating a whole new breed of job seekers,” said Jeff Kaplan, founder of IT consulting firm, THINKstrategies, in a recent InformationWeek article.
Luckily for those on the hunt in this brave new world, Kaplan shares his six skills necessary to succeed in this environment.

1. Assessment skills - IT workers brought into a firm looking to move to cloud computing need to know how to select the right provider of product and services that meet employer needs.
2. System integration know-how - meshing new cloud capabilities with existing resources via internal tweaks will be required again and again.
3. Business sense - today’s IT professional must be able to consider and resolve business issues, not just technical ones.
4. Certify - with the ever-shifting landscape, it’s best to have certification courses under your belt on the cloud computing environment.
5. Private cloud provider - Kaplan warns that employees shouldn’t be surprised when the higher-ups seek the private cloud route.
6. Internal service provider - IT pros with proven ability to track and distribute cloud computing resources will be in great demand, Kaplan suggests.

Open Source Talent in Demand in APAC
As more firms in the Asia-Pacific region move to open source software for lower costs and higher flexibility, demand for workers with accompanying skills is booming. The regional hiring spike comes with its own opportunities for all involved, according to those in the know in a piece in ZDNet Asia News.
Gloomy economic times across the globe, cloud computing interest and user flexibility were just some of the factors that contributed to the bubbling surge in OSS-skill set hires, analysts note.
Alan Ho, director of marketing strategy for Red Hat Asia-Pacific, said more companies are sending their staffers to OSS training during the past year, with Asia tops in terms of demand for open source certification.

IT professionals hoping to take advantage of this trend would be wise to get experience on Web-based or e-commerce projects using Apache, MySQL or PHP, technologies intertwined with open source knowledge. And, in growing trend echoed throughout the industry, the need to be business-savvy as well as technically proficient also is considered a valuable asset.

Dice: Tech Job Hot Spots
Cities not typically considered prime locations for hi-tech hiring trends are heating up, if one looks at various job postings. Luckily, technical recruiting firm, Dice.com, does it for you in their latest media blast with some interesting results. Study results are also discussed in this recent article on eWeek.com.

Based on March 2012 vs. March 2011 comparisons of tech job postings on the site, the top three cities for technology jobs are Raleigh (50 percent up from a year ago), Richmond (40) and Houston (37). The state of California offers more than just Silicon Valley with job spikes in other regions including Sacramento and San Diego, according to Dice. Other cities to round out the site’s “Top 10” include Kansas City; Portland, Ore.; St. Louis; Boston; and Denver.

Cloud-Infused Job Demand Gap
So many cloud computing job postings are popping up that there are not enough workers with the proper skill sets to meet the demand, a perusal of recent hiring trends suggests.

The 5,000 cloud technology-related jobs listed online represents a 92 percent increase when compared to one year ago and a four-fold increase compared to 2010, a new Network World article notes.

The majority of those postings, analyzed by recruitment firm, Wanted Analytics, are being generated by service providers including VMware, Microsoft, Amazon.com, URS Corp. and Google. Analysis of the postings also indicates the cloud computing jobs in the highest demand are software engineers, systems engineers and network administrators. Not all cloud-related jobs were of a technical nature with employers also on the hunt for marketing managers, sales managers, management analysts and financial analysts.