The Art and Science of Being an IT Architect: Hot Skills / Cold Skills

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Hot Skills / Cold Skills - What's the Near-Term I/T Future?

I’m sure I am not the only technical professional who has pondered questions like:

Are my skills becoming obsolete?
Am I becoming too expensive to do the things I’m good at or like to do?
What kind of skills do I need to develop to stay gainfully employed? (keep from getting fired - play defense)
What kind of skills do I need to thrive in the future? (get promoted - play offense)

I stumbled across a ComputerWorld article by Stacy Collett entitled “Hot Skills, Cold Skills: The IT worker of 2010 won't be a technology guru but rather a 'versatilist.'

In the article she has some interesting quotes such as:

“The most sought-after corporate IT workers in 2010 may be those with no deep-seated technical skills at all.”
“IT departments will be populated with "versatilists" -- those with a technology background who also know the business sector inside and out, can architect and carry out IT plans that will add business value, and can cultivate relationships both inside and outside the company.”
“the skills required to land these future technical roles will be honed outside of IT. Some of these skills will come from artistic talents, math excellence or even a knack for public speaking -- producing a combination of skills not commonly seen in the IT realm.”

Check out the article. I’d love to hear from others about what skills they think it will take to “play offense” and thrive as an I/T Architect in the near future.

Also, for anyone who has had their head in the sand, you may want to see these for a little motivation to consider the future. (hint) Both of these are focused on the latest and greatest SOA technology, not legacy code.