Everybody knows that the future of IT development and business is only going to become more focussed on mobile applications. Everybody is trying to get involved from recruiters, blue chip corporates, hobbyist developers, budding entrepreneurs and SMEs. 20% of web traffic now comes from mobile phones and everybody I know has a phone where they can surf the net. However, is this growing market stuck in limbo?
Here are three trends that I have noted in the mobile/iPhone development space:
1. Every client wants a developer who has proven experience of delivering commercial applications, sometimes relevant applications in their field (e.g. banks want candidates who have delivered mobile banking apps before).
Read more…
Ambition recently hosted our first user group at our head office in Sydney.
We were joined by the Silverlight Designer and Developer Network who meet once every month to discuss all things applications and Silverlight. However, the focus of the group is not just on developers, it’s for designers who don’t traditionally have the community and support that developers have.
The user group was attended by 15 people who relaxed and talked over pizza and beer. The meeting focused on promoting the development of ideas and best practices for anyone who works with Silverlight. Read more…
Contactors have been part of the IT landscape since the early 1980s. Large project teams were formed to rewrite or convert manual paper based legacy systems and processes to computerised/automated processes. Contractors came into their own as a highly skilled, mobile workforce whose expertise could be used for the duration of the project and then let go when no longer needed.
Despite their long history in our workforce landscape myths still abound around the perceived disadvantages of contracting.
MYTH 1. YOUR SKILLS WILL BECOME OUTDATED
This is a common fear that, over time and without training, your skills will become redundant and it will be hard to find work. This can be a problem not only for contractors but also permanent employees who don’t invest time inself-training. You do need to work hard at keeping your skills updated and there are many courses and training materials out there to help you do it. Read more…
The New Year is always an interesting time. Resolutions are usually instantly broken, dieting and detoxing normally lasts no longer than the first week and obviously everybody looks forward to returning to work! However as most techies are aware, the new year brings the annual geek fest that is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas each January where the vast majority of electronic organisations debut their new tech for the year ahead. (2700 exhibitors in total, basically everyone except Apple).
So did we see any game changing products?
Motorola Xoom
After a few years in the gadget wilderness, it appears Motorola are back on form with 2 of the most exciting products of the show. Their Xoom tablet won the coveted ‘Best in Show’ award, all the more impressive considering the large amount of tablets being introduced as every company jumps on Apples’ bandwagon. Using the new Android operating system Honeycomb, developed specifically for tablets (up until this point any Android powered tablet device was restricted to a 7 inch screen, hence the small size of the Samsung Galaxy Tab), the Xoom boasts a dual core processor, a 5 megapixel rear and front facing camera along with 720p video recording and 1080p video playback, 32 GB on-board memory with expandable card slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and Flash support! With claims of a 10 hour battery life whilst watching video, the combination of this tablet and the new Honeycomb operating system should see Apple scrambling to catch up.
Motorola Atrix
Even more impressive in my mind is the Motorola Atrix, a smart phone with all the standard bells and whistles of 2010 devices combined with 4G connectivity and a dual-core processor, giving it the power of most modern laptops. The clincher being a docking station in the guise of a laptop, offering the user the best of both worlds.
House of Marley Headphones
Making waves not necessary for the most innovative product of the show, but for affordability and style, the new line of headphones from the House of Marley made a big impact. A forward thinking but minimalist design, the company gives a large slice of all its revenue to charity, making their products very hard to resist, especially considering the rasta coloured wires. Read more…
Whilst attending the FST (Financial Services in Technology) event last Friday, I listened to Greg McAweeney, the GM of RaboDirect, speaking about using Social Media to enhance customers experience. Rabobank Direct is a specialist online-only savings and investment bank and the only bank that publishes a blog on its website. They feel this demonstrates their openness and transparency and I was surprised to learn they are not afraid to showcase the good and the bad on their site for all to see. The brainwave idea is that we must relinquish control, as Greg says, we never had it anyway! We must embrace the opportunity to show ourselves “warts and all” to redress some of the crowning issues that have recently dogged the banking industry and, on reflection are the same complaints that have, over the years, been leveraged against the recruitment sector. The banking industry has taken a hammering post GFC with little trust and much anger from the general public, as with the recruitment industry key concerns predominately focus around openness, transparency and honesty.
With many unscrupulous and unethical agents and agencies around it is my experience that consultants with an honest, ethical and assiduous approach will always shine out from the pack. In addition using social media is a fantastic way to create communities and become a “trusted advisor”, a specialist in your chosen field and with something of more value to give than your average “common or garden” variety recruiter. It is a wonderful opportunity to create an open forum for feedback and ultimately lead to innovation as posts both positive and negative can be analysed and addressed. Read more…
The hottest topic in IT at the moment is undoubtedly Cloud Computing. It received a lot of attention at last week’s vForum and is due to be one of the areas of focus at this week’s FST event. However, being a recruiter specialising in the IT Infrastructure space, I am very keen to find out how the move towards cloud computing could impact the size of IT departments and whether cloud arrangements with providers around the globe could mean a decrease in IT vacancies in Australia.
I have read a number of articles on this topic and opinion seems to be divided. In 2009, Richard Marcello, President of Technology, Consulting, and Integration Solutions at Unisys, speaking at the Cloud Computing Conference and Expo in Santa Clara, California, said that “We were able to eliminate a whole bunch of actually U.S.-based jobs and kind of replace them with two folks out of India to serve a 1,200-person engineering organization,”. Read more…
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I can already feel the thoughts of apprehension from readers as they scan the title of this blog. DO NOT BE ALARMED! It will not be as provocative or suggestive as the title’s potential allows it to be.
When youngsters are asked what they want to be when they grow up… You are likely to hear aspirations of being a lawyer, glamorised in movies portraying unrealistic courtroom dramas… “You can’t handle the truth!” You are also more likely to hear about dreams of becoming a doctor, in the hope to one day emulate the drama that unfolds on ‘ER’ or ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’
Unfortunately, you are not likely to find a member of Generation Y fantasising about becoming a .Net programmer. IT jobs have not been romanticised in the media as a dramatic and exhilarating professions. This is in complete contrast to the slick-talking, supercilious lawyer who by day acts as an upholder of justice, and by night lives the playboy life of a movie-star. Moreover, you are unlikely to find television programmes with George Clooney, the handsome Old age pensioner, playing the part of a data analyst. Instead, you will find him working in a hospital struggling with his own personal complexities, maintaining a saucy relationship with a nurse, while at the same time saving patients seconds before they flat-line. Read more…
2010 has so far been a year of recovery for the Australian economy. The vast majority of us have breathed a collective sigh of relief as the unemployment rate reduced with consumers and businesses sharing a more positive outlook on the market. Balance, however, is a difficult state to obtain and Australia is now faced with another challenge…
As businesses boost their ranks to meet increased consumer demands, the market of skilled-candidates is fast tightening. This is particularly true of the IT industry. September’s Clarius Skills Index, released this week, reported that there is currently a shortage of 2,800 IT professionals across Australia. Read more…
There seems to be a much greater focus on diversity in the workplace since our new female PM Julia Gillard was appointed. I am a firm believer that the ‘right’ person should be hired for the job regardless of their gender, however, I also believe that everyone should be given a fair chance without judgment.
A significant finding from The Reibey Institute – Australian Research Institute for Women’s leadership, indicated that ASX500 companies with women directors delivered a higher average ROE (return on equity) over 5 years. (11.1% higher than those without women directors). In fact, in 8 out of 10 sectors, companies with women directors demonstrated higher ROE than those without. Rather alarmingly, It is also apparent woman hold only 6% of the ASX500 board positions in the Technology sector. Read more…
After many years of experience and listening to people’s reasons for looking for work and why they became successful or unsuccessful in their job applications, I have formed a good understanding of job security in the IT industry.
Speaking with one of my clients a few days ago, he mentioned he is ‘open to opportunities’. When I asked why he was looking for work when he was relatively new in his role and working in a fairly stable company that had a great reputation, he responded in a way I have never heard before but on reflection which I absolutely agree with. He said; “Companies have no loyalty to the employee unless you the employee are delivering what they need right now. No matter what you have done in the past for them they wouldn’t hesitate to let you go if it was going to benefit the company now. The only job security in the IT industry is being employable not employed.”
I believe job security in the IT industry is more volatile than other industries due to a number of factors including;
• Changing project requirements.
• Sitting as a cost centre rather than a revenue generator.
• High levels off shoring, outsourcing & cost reduction strategies.
• Rapid growth of new and evolving technologies/methodologies.
• Technical skills rapidly becoming obsolete. Read more…
Everybody knows that the future of IT development and business is only going to become more focussed on mobile applications. Everybody is trying to get involved from recruiters, blue chip corporates, hobbyist developers, budding entrepreneurs and SMEs. 20% of web traffic now comes from mobile phones and everybody I know has a phone where they can surf the net. However, is this growing market stuck in limbo?
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