The Future still is IT Services

Through the decades of change and innovation that have marked the history of information technology, one constant has remained, according to a 30-year veteran of the IT industry.

“Your future lies where it has always been,” Howard M. Cohen told attendees at the CompTIA IT Services and Support Community Monday at ChannelCon. “It’s your services. The opportunities have always been in the things that you can do for your customers.”

Cohen spoke to the IT services crowd on “Tomorrow’s Tech” and what it means for IT services businesses.

First and foremost, he said, is the customer.

“What customers want is business relevance; technology solutions that are relevant to making their business operate better,” Cohen said. “Business relevance comes in the form of intellectual property, your intellectual property. That’s your differentiator, that’s your expertise.”

Infrastructure sales, maintenance, break-fix services and desktop deployment no longer will generate sufficient income to sustain a business, according to Cohen.

But application development and management, process improvements, network and systems management and cloud integration are services that hold long-term, money-making potential.

“The reality is the cloud is nothing more than the same services we installed for customers individually, instead they’re now installed in a single data center,” said Cohen. “I can serve a lot of customers with one infrastructure.  Better service at a lower price is hard to compete with”

Cohen urged his audience to expand its vision of what IT services include, starting with the initial customer consultation. Just as accountants, doctors, lawyers and other professionals charge for every initial consultation so, too, should IT solution and service providers.

“You deserve to get paid for the knowledge you have and that you share with a customer,” Cohen advised.

Cohen also identified several other areas that IT service firms need to look at, including:

Mobility: “The device isn’t the story, it’s the data.” Personal data and corporate/business data are stored on the same device. There are business opportunities to help customers keep those two data categories separate.

Big data: More and more companies are leveraging big data to improve their business. Anywhere technology is being used is an opportunity for you.

Routing: By 2020, an estimated 50 billion devices will connect to the Internet. “Turn you skills in routing protocols to help your customers get more things on the Internet.”

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Report: Companies need more highly trained security experts

Job Survey Report:
Chief information officers need more IT professionals skilled in cybersecurity. Many organizations do not have proper response plans and need to focus on recruiting individuals skilled in Big Data networks or outsourcing to third parties to help assess risk exposure.


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2 states see highest IT job growth in first half of year

2 states see highest IT job growth in first half of year
Dice is reporting that Texas now follows California in its number of technology professionals after it added 8,100 tech jobs this year. The state now has more than 143,000 professionals in technology. Dice also noted significant growth for Florida, which added 4,100 tech jobs for the first half of the year. The state has been implementing new initiatives aimed at expanding its young tech workforce by hosting workshops for middle- and high-school students.



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In hiring for IT, cut to the chase.

As if the competition for top IT talent isn't challenging enough for most enterprises, experts say many companies are creating their own barriers to hiring by failing to fully optimize their search and recruitment efforts. 
Staffing professionals blame a lack of proactive communication and vague job descriptions as a sources of the breakdown and, among other things, they recommend that hiring managers construct concise job listings that prioritize skill sets. 
-Make your resume match the job post!

Financial services to provide IT job opportunities

Financial services to provide IT job opportunities for tech contractors

Tech contractors expect more work in the financial-services market over the next year because of regulatory-related work. "The majority of the demand we're seeing is for contractors with specialist technical skills as many businesses are investing in their reporting systems."

Hiring practices change due to clouds

Move to cloud prompts GSA to rethink hiring practices 
The rise of cloud computing is placing pressure on federal agencies to recruit IT workers with more varied and nuanced skill sets. Megan Schmith of the General Services Administration says this means looking beyond technical skills to find candidates who can manage data but also understand its place in overall department strategy.

Resume Tips for the IT Worker

Companies get a lot of resumes, and you want to stand out as much as possible. Take advantage of the fact that a reader's eyes go to the first half of the resume first, and that readers are more likely to remember the first and last line of every paragraph.

Your 'elevator pitch' --- the company is your customer and you're selling yourself to the job, so make sure your opening statement is powerful and aimed right at the position.

Relegate references to a separate page that's only sent if employers specifically ask for it, If they want references, they will request them; there is no need for you to waste space saying, 'References available upon request,' either.

Newer folks in the workforce should have a strong educational portion of their resume where they highlight skills, classes, projects, etc. that are relevant to the role they want.
Even if you don't have a lot of work experience, laying out the skills, roles and responsibilities you had and the outcome of those projects is also important to show you're adept at teamwork and have leadership skills. Make sure you are highlighting your individual role on the team and how you contributed to the project or program's success. Remember, the company is hiring you, not the group you worked with. 

Include an overview of tasks and duties during the duration of your time in each job, without going into the mundane, tedious tasks that are a given, like filing, copying and other administrative duties. However, you should provide information that shows results, says Sampson, and prove that you are able to work as a team, multitask, assume leadership responsibility and any other relevant information by using examples.

You should always be looking for ways to improve your abilities and gain new skills and knowledge, says Sampson, and add these to your resume. Taking courses and learning new skills can help you to stay current and have a competitive edge over others in the job market.

Finally, one of the most important steps is to proofread. A few missed commas or misspelled words may not seem like a big deal, but to a hiring manager or employer, these details can make a huge difference. If you're not certain, have a someone else review it and make sure to accept and incorporate their feedback.