There's Never Been a Better Time to be in IT... Are you Prepared?

By Dan Roberts, President Ouellette & Associates Consulting, Inc.

Welcome to 2008! I’m here to tell you that there has never been a better time to be an IT professional. That’s right! While prognosticators have loudly predicted the demise of IT, I firmly believe there has never been a more exciting time to be in this profession.

That may sound strange to some of you IT veterans out there. You may remember the good ole’ days of Electronic Data Processing when IT professionals were safe behind glass walls, free to focus on technology, without interference from those “pesky end users.” Or perhaps you remember riding in on a white horse to save the world from the Y2K coding debacle. Then there were the wild, early days of the Internet, when being a techie was suddenly cool.

For those who long for those days, I can appreciate your disdain for my optimism. You’ve weathered the lean years following the dot-com crash, the outsourcing that leveled many of your staffs, the questioning of IT’s value, and the ROI scrutiny that continues today.

However, don’t think I’m being naïve. Though the last few years have been riddled with doubt, they also produced awareness in the business world that technology can be a game-changer. From a business leader’s perspective, globalization and other market forces have turned technology into a key differentiator as companies expand into international markets. Cut-throat competition and government regulations are driving constant introspection – all fueled by technology. Meanwhile, particularly with the rise of consumer technology, businesses have no patience with the computer guys who say, “We can’t do that.”

People in charge of technology are expected to be technologically advanced, business-minded, customer-focused and financially astute. Technology leaders are expected to reduce costs, increase productivity, drive innovation and help the business identify and pursue new business opportunities. In the face of unforgiving competition, rampant globalization and demanding customers, business leaders now know that it’s absolutely essential to have a strong, active partner keeping a firm hand on the decisions and strategies surrounding information technology.

Of course, there have never been more options to consider when it comes to doing just that. IT faces competition from internal shadow groups, vendors and consultants, outsourcers and offshorers, all promising to do it faster, cheaper, better. But still, I firmly believe that IT professionals are in a great place to beat out all competition –IF they’re ready to take a hard look at themselves and make some changes, both in terms of how they approach their work and the personal skill set they consider essential to tackling the demands of an ever-changing business environment. The bottom line is, the IT professional of the past won’t cut it in today’s corporate world.

To remain viable, IT leaders need to proactively transform their organizations and cultures. In order to accomplish this, they need to develop an IT workforce that has the new mindset, skills and tools necessary for success, such as communicating, relationship-building, collaborating, managing change, marketing, and negotiating. These skills are necessary for effectively filling the growing percentage of IT jobs that are business-facing. What have historically been termed “soft” skills are the ones that will drive IT to the level it needs to reach in order to be viable in the future. In fact, savvy IT leaders no longer use the term “soft skills” when referring to these key capabilities. They call them “core skills” because they’re the very ones needed to achieve hard results.

If you step back for a minute, the need to evolve shouldn’t be surprising. The IT profession is really still in its infancy. It’s only a few decades old – a new kid on the block, compared to its peers in other business areas that have had centuries to “grow up.” I can imagine a time in the future when we’ll look back at the second half of the 20th century as the time when IT was just cutting its teeth.

In some ways, IT professionals are now living through the tough teenage years of their profession. They’re wrestling with internal turmoil they don’t often understand and defiantly ignoring the advice and experience provided by their external environment. Like teenagers, they want so badly to be independent and gain the respect of their peers and elders and earn a seat at the executive table.

The exciting news for IT professionals is that they’re poised to enter adulthood. And this new era will have less to do with a command-and-control or bits-and-bytes mindset and more to do with being collaborative and versatile business partners.

So, let me modify the statement I made at the beginning of this communication. I still say there’s never been a better time to be in IT, but I’ll add that there’s also never been a more challenging time in IT’s short history. The question is, are you up for that challenge? Because if you are, we at O&A wish you nothing but success and are excited that you have included us in your transformation journey!