IT Roles moving towards extinction

Many IT roles are going the same route as the dinosaurs as we enter into a new era where mobile technology is certain to dwarf the PC market in sales fairly soon.  If you have been working in the IT field for more than ten years, you are most likely accustomed to facing the crossroads many times, as you make decisions about where you will focus your old skills or even drop some and build your new skills.

Programming Languages.

Python, Ruby, HTML5, CSS3, RESTful Web Services, JavaScript, JQuery, Java, and Objective C are taking the place of Cobol, Delphi/Object Pascal, and Transact-SQL ColdFusion, and Flash / ActionScript.  Software that can only run on a PC is increasingly outsourced to overseas programmers and opportunities are exploding for Mobile Developers and Mobile UI / UX Designers to write code that is specific for the Android, Apple, and Windows 7 Phone.

Data Technology.

More data is being produced with the rise of mobile technologies and all of its media features and more companies are demanding access to that data.  Analysts that can predict trends ahead of competitors define what data is needed and where to get the data are increasingly in demand and the demand is expected to continue and grow.  The ability to blend unstructured data (big data) with the structured data of a business is a unique skill set that more companies are requesting.  IT professionals that work as successful data technologists need the following set of skills: math, engineering, public speaking, interpersonal skills, imaging, visualization, imagination, so they can create structured, meaningful results with huge incoherent piles of big data.

Set aside about 30 minutes to watch TED talks about visualizing data.  I will add a link to the references list at the end of this article.  I swear the magical things we can do and the huge world problems we can overcome by visualizing big data is enough to bring a tear to your eye when you think about the issues we face and want to change for the better in our own community. 

Beautiful visualizations of big data can seriously help technical and non-technical viewers to understand & accept the truth about what they are dealing with and that is the first step of making a positive change where the past efforts might have failed.  For example, in our own community of Akwesasne many of us are very concerned about environmental pollution, political issues, health issues and more.  It’s one thing to say that ‘we have an issue’ with no data or proof to back up our statements and beliefs.  When we have big data that is gathered without a questionable corporate sponsorship that is one step towards the magic that those TED talks show.  A UI / UX specialist can create human friendly visualizations of the big data so that all technical and non-technical viewers can get an unbiased view of the truth of whatever issue the data pertains too.  In Akwesasne, we are a relatively small community in terms of big data collection, so I would suggest that the big data is collected in ways that can not be accused of being tainted by corporate sponsorship and the big data be collected from many similar communities.  When small data is collected the margin of error is huge and creates a situation where most will not trust the data analysis results.

NoSQL databases that are worth a serious look at include MongoDB and Cassandra.  I’ve created a few mobile website projects with CouchDB and Futon, but I am not happy with the performance of the CouchDB server at this time.  CouchDB is good for small mobile website projects though.

Data Centers.

Many traditional IT operations such as basic networking and network administration such as wiring & coupling blade servers, updating & installing patches, and provisioning storage are being replaced with skills pertaining to cloud sourcing and server / desktop virtualization.  Unified Communications (UC) are replacing service technicians for rewiring and maintenance.  UC combines VoIP, presence, IM, email, and conferencing into a single comprehensive service.

IT Security.

Traditional backup and recovery skill sets are being relegated to third party providers.  Technicians that rely on security standardization, procedures, and auditing will become extinct because security is becoming less about constructing layers of standardized controls within the perimeter and more about virtualization technologies, data mining, the ability to implement management tools in a cloud, and centralized managing capabilities with dashboard tools.  Many companies are moving to third party security providers and relying on cloud-based security services to protect them from security concerns.

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References retrieved June 18th 2012:

TED Ideas worth spreading.  Search for “data visualization”  http://www.Ted.com