IT Job Market Continues Steady Recovery

The tech employment market is improving — albeit gradually – according to the latest data cobbled together by TechServe Alliance, a national trade association representing the IT services industry. In July, the IT sector added 9,700 jobs in the U.S., a 1 percent improvement from the same month last year, to a total of 3,875,000…

Cloud Services Market Seeing Explosive Growth

Gartner this week confirmed what the rest of the IT industry has known for years: the cloud is the next sure-fire growth market for hardware, software and services providers around the world. In a report released this week, Gartner is now projecting worldwide cloud services revenue will soar to more than $68.3 billion this year,…

The Outsourcing Continuum, Part IX: Implementation

Once you have decided to outsource your infrastructure support and have done your due diligence selecting a service provider, it is time to implement the plan. There are several steps that you will go through with your vendor to ensure that you get what you expected when you signed the outsourcing contract. 1. Establish and implement…

Hardware Vendors Will Feel the Pinch in 2009

Outside of the West, IT spending will be in single digits; not nearly as anemic as in the US, UK, and Europe. The continued erosion of the global economy, including the prospect of negative GDP growth in many major countries, has led IDC to update its forecast for worldwide IT spending in 2009. The IDC…

Of Titles, Age and Angst

In the world of business and technology consulting, a person’s capabilitiesoften are measured by his title. His aptitude and wisdom appear to grow in stature as the title loses its activity-based nature and assumes the mantle of hierarchical power. Although developers, data analysts, systems integrators, database administrators, et. al. can possess great vision and often…

Why Software Development Projects Fail, Part II: Requirements

This series of five articles takes a closer look at software development, the reasons for failure and how to avoid them. The simplest way to ensure a successful software development project is to clearly define the requirements. Easier said than done, of course. This demands not only an understanding of the individual processes being automated,…

IT Jobs, Salaries in Better Shape Than Most

While the economy is hitting technology companies in general hard, a new report suggests that corporate IT jobs may be a bit more recession-proof. The 20th annual Computer Economics’s 2009 IT Salary Report finds that while salary growth has slowed, IT worker pay is still projected to increase on average by two percent this year….

Why You Need to Outsource Your Test Lab

Corporate IT shops that need to roll out new network, infrastructure and Internet applications or who have to make expensive equipment upgrades are increasingly turning towards independent test labs as part of their decision process. The labs can help identify weak points, application bottlenecks, design flaws, and show-stopping bugs in a non-production environment, and are…

Outsourcing on the Rise

Despite the fact organizations worldwide are deferring capital expenditures, outsourcing continues to be the number one tool chosen to drive organizational change, according to EquaTerra’s Advisor and BPO/ITO Service Provider Pulse Survey 3Q08. The findings show demand for outsourcing is outpacing business investments in areas such as hardware, software or other types of more discretionary…

There’s Hope for the IT Industry

Although companies will reduce their IT spending because of the economic meltdown, it’s not going to be all doom and gloom for the IT industry. System integrators and consultants will get a boost from the crisis in the financial sector, say analysts, as institutions that have taken over or bought others seek to align their…