By Sarah Morgan
When Microsoft Evangelists Ed Baker, Andrew Fryer and Susan Smith began their TechED presentation, they asked a simple question – ‘Are you still doing the same thing at work as you were 5 years ago?’ Attendees replied with an overwhelming No.
And undoubtedly, if they asked that question in another 5 years to the same audience of IT professionals, the answer would again be a resounding No.
The IT Industry is changing rapidly. Consumers, clients and businesses all expect IT to do more and more. Fail to keep up with new technology and you might find you’re hard earned skills have suddenly become obsolete.
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| IT job roles are always changing (image courtesy of Microsoft TechED) |
The challenge you continue to face in 2015 is this: how will you develop your career and stay
relevant in a job market that is always changing?
Perhaps the best way is to hear from some of the pioneers themselves, specifically the three Microsoft Evangelists who spoke at 2014’s TechED on the panel titled: ‘Career Development: Next roles, Next skills and Staying Relevant in an evolving IT World’
What did Ed Baker, Andrew Fryer and Susan Smith have to say? What cutting-edge technologies do they have their eye on? Here's how to stay ahead with the IT skills you'll need in 2015.
Data Science
Andrew Fryer, Microsoft Technical Evangelist UK, spoke about Data Science, dubbed 2015’s hottest profession.
Tech firms like Google, Amazon and Netflix are already using data science. But now non-tech companies, like Wal-Mart and Gap, are beginning to awaken to the benefits of data scientists.
But how would it help out your organisation? Well, you’ve likely backed up data, made logs of your website and recorded how your servers are running. And now it’s just sitting there, gathering dust. A data scientist would sift through this to find a previously hidden insight into what’s going on inside your business.
Data Scientists use a number of tools like Real Time Analytics, Big Data, Data Mining, Open Source and Machine Learning technologies to achieve their goals.
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‘This is all about experimentation and play…working out what might work and then rigorously testing it. That technique works really well if you have knowledge of business and maths.’
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Andrew highlights Microsoft Azure machine learning (computers acting without being explicitly programmed) as a particularly good tool for taking raw data and making accurate predictions (take a look at his demo at 13:44).
Andrew has spent 15 years working in the business intelligence field and describes data science as ‘a big market for everybody.’ Data Scientists are now massively in-demand and make a good living. As Andrew simply puts it – ‘[he] gets nice holidays.’
Enterprise Mobility
Enterprise mobility describes the shift in work habits where more employees now work out of the office, using mobile and cloud services to perform their business tasks.
As the BYOD (bring-your-own-device) culture continues to take hold of the workplace and with the rise of wearable technology, more IT professionals are needed to keep these devices secure.
‘Mobility has been around for a long time, and security issues have always been present’ states Ed Baker, Microsoft UK Technical Evangelist.
‘All devices have massive amounts of data that we need to secure…and manage.’ So, argues Ed, the methods we implement to control this valuable data need to be managed.
But how will you manage (and secure) this new environment of enterprise mobility?
To begin with, states Ed, you’ll need security skills: ‘If you lose your data as an organisation, not only are you going out of business but you’re probably going to get fined, jailed or both, depending on what type of data…What we need is total control over our data.’
And to be able to do this, states Ed, we need to enable some form of Device Management through hybrid or cloud only technology. But to do this, IT pros will also need to develop their networking skills to implement group policies and maintain the security of your data.
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Take a look at 29:31 for Ed’s Enterprise Mobility from the user perspective demo.
DevOps
Necessitated by the IT industries rapid release cycles, DevOps is a ‘collaboration where Developers and Operations work together for continuous improvement.’
So collaboration is key, but how do you achieve it? According to Susan, Dev Ops is more than just application lifecycle management: it’s about maintaining and supporting your application after it’s been deployed.
But what do DevOps job specifications desire? As Susan revealed during her presentation, the current DevOp job postings are looking for skills in:
- Conflict resolution
- Scripting (Linux, Windows etc)
- Infrastructure as Code – being able to automate your application environment
- Collaboration
- Security - to create compliant apps
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Don’t feel put out if you don’t have every skill listed. What’s really important, according to Susan, is a broad knowledge of both Developer and Operations roles.
However, actions speak louder than words and Susan recommends that you become active within the DevOps community. Speaking at events, attending meet-ups and becoming prominent in the DevOps space will be a massive bonus to anybody seeking this kind of role.
To get DevOps moving in your organisation, take a look at this useful article from ZDnet.
Will your role change?
There you have it, three IT skills to keep an eye on in 2015, straight from the pioneers themselves.
Will your role in 2015 be affected by data science, enterprise mobility or DevOps? If so we’d love to hear from you, and if not – how else will your role be changing in the new year?
Sarah writes for Firebrand Training on a number of IT related topics. This includes exams, training, certification trends, project management, certification, careers advice and the industry itself. Sarah has 11 years of experience in the IT industry.
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