I am lucky enough to have recently attended a monthly gathering of local CIOs and
CTOs. The topic de Jour was “What are you looking for in an IT graduate?” While the
topic itself has many facets to discuss, one point that came up is of particular interest
to me.
The Current I.T. Staffing Model
The last five years in Information Technology staffing models has seen business domain
experts moving into the I.T teams within medium to large organizations. This is a
natural outcome of increasingly complex software systems that companies install to
solve the problems of other departments within the organization.
This model suggest that Business Analysts (B.A.s) within I.T. must be experts in the
business domain of the system they are assigned to support, grow, and design. For
example, sales teams of any significant size have a need for a Customer Relationship
Manager (CRM) system and it is usually the job of I.T. to help select the system.
I.T. will also typically install, configure, customize, and administer the CRM for
years into the future.
The Next 5 Years
My actual prediction coming now: I.T. will once again be the domain of geeks. I.T.
will once again be the domain of geeks.
The maturation of software systems means that the service model is quickly approaching
the sophistication needed to work. A service model for software distribution means
that software can be sold directly to the departments who need it. These service services
will soon integrate easily (read: standards) with other enterprise software and the
teams will once again demand administrative control over their own purchases.
Summary
CIOs can relax the empire building. Much of the recent growth in I.T. has happened
because we kept writing hard-to-manage software. Guess what? The users are onto us.
Users are becoming more sophisticated all the time and they are now confident enough
to demand software that “just works”. It is time we give them the software and let
them have their B.A.s back.
Admit it, you didn’t really know what those B.A.s did anyway.