The 9 Hottest IT Skills for 2009
By almost any measure, the U.S. economy is in its worst state since the Great Depression. Consumer spending is down, credit markets remain weak, and more than 10 million Americans are out of work. Yet despite the grim financial picture, demand for certain types of IT skills, such as SAP, .Net and help desk/support, remains strong. And while some employers will continue to look outside their companies to find workers with expertise in these and other disciplines, some CIOs are building some of this know-how internally as hiring freezes become more common.
Here's a look at the hottest skills, as cited by respondents to Computerworld's annual Forecast survey.
1. Programming/Application Development
Ask any recruiter what the single most sought-after IT skill is at the moment, and the universal response is a three-letter word: SAP.
SAP experts, particularly those who are experienced with a specific module in a certain industry, are commanding $35 to $40 per hour more on average than other types of senior technicians, says Culbert. Demand for SAP skills has remained red hot because a growing number of companies are working toward establishing global instances of the ERP system.
But not far behind is demand for IT professionals with Net experience. Some companies that relied on offshore labor to deliver .Net and C# capabilities just a few years ago found that route to be nonproductive. Now they're looking to fill those jobs in-house.
Rich Schappert, senior director of IT at Casey's General Stores Inc. in Ankeny, Iowa, says he has been filling the retailer's demand for .Net and SQL Server programmers for the past five years by recruiting and training local college students. The company, which operates 1,500-plus stores across the Midwest, has been moving its Cobol-based financial applications into the .Net environment to reduce its mainframe costs.
2. Help Desk/Technical Support
Help desk and technical support skills remain in strong demand, particularly for people who offer a blend of deep technical expertise and solid customer-service abilities.
3. Project Management
Even though many companies are cutting back on IT projects, there's still robust demand for project managers with solid track records.
Project management is one of the areas "that endure all economies and climates, where companies are constantly looking for people who understand the project and the systems development life cycles and make sure the project goals are closely aligned with the business objectives.
Employers also need people with project management certificates, even at the vice president level, according to some headhunters. As of late July, The Computing Technology Industry Association had awarded 20 percent more Project+ certifications than in the previous year.
4. Networking
The ongoing convergence of voice, e-mail, video, instant messaging and other communications systems will continue to create demand for networking specialists with implementation experience. For example, Scholastic Inc. in New York posted a job opening in November for a network convergence manager to help it create a virtual call center using voice over IP.
Those types of projects often require new skills as well. In 2008, for example, CRST International Inc. moved from a frame-relay network to AT&T's Multiprotocol Label Switching network and installed Cisco's VoIP system. As part of that project, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based transportation company trained some of its IT staffers to become Cisco Certified Voice Professionals.
Network convergence projects will also heighten demand for workers with network security and data privacy acumen.
5. Business Intelligence
Now more than ever, corporate executives want to be able to analyze customer and sales data in order to make informed decisions about business strategies. That's driving demand for business intelligence specialists across the board, including people with data mining, data warehousing and data management skills.
At Aspen Skiing Co., which operates four ski resorts in western Colorado, company officials will be making year-over-year comparisons on customer spending, including analyses of spending habits during the previous recession.
Meanwhile, there's steady demand for IT professionals with experience using vendor-specific BI tools from companies such as Business Objects and Cognos. But the toughest people to find in this area are those who can help business managers understand the type of data they're trying to analyze and how to interpret the results.
6. Security
When it comes to demand for certain types of security professionals, those with SAP security experience are probably the hottest of the hot right now.
But interest in security professionals remains strong across the board. Companies can't ignore security requirements, even in tough economic times.
There's also strong interest in people with network and wireless security skills, as well as those with Certified Information Systems Security Professional accreditation.
7. Web 2.0
While many companies are just starting to noodle with corporate implementations of social networking applications such as MySpace and Facebook, more and more companies are trying to reach their customers via the Web.
Demand for Web 2.0 skills is also driven by the continuing expansion of business-to-business connections. For instance, Children's Hospital and Health System in Milwaukee recently created a portal for roughly half of its physicians who work remotely. The system provides them with access to summary medical data on patients.
8. Data Center
Most of the glass-house buzz is about server and storage virtualization projects that help organizations lower their energy costs and shrink their data center footprints.
But few companies are recruiting specifically for data center skills. Instead, they're retraining existing staff in VMware and other virtualization technologies. For instance, Aspen Skiing is considering virtualizing up to 40% of its servers in 2009, says Major. To achieve that, Aspen Skiing plans to rely on VMware and EMC to provide staff with the necessary training.
9. Telecommunications
VoIP and projects involving unified communications continue to drive demand for blended telecommunications and networking skills, particularly among small to midsize businesses that are just beginning to deploy these systems. Interest in Wi-Fi, WiMax, Bluetooth and related skills is also growing, particularly as cities look to WiMax as a feature to attract businesses.