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Business Engagement – What To Expect in 2012

December 22, 2011Martha ChurchillNo Comments

Over the past twelve months, our Business Engagement team have noticed a clear distinction in relation to demand for resources within different industry sectors. Whilst the strains on the European Financial Market continue to deepen, the larger banking organisations especially those with a significant international presence are sitting tight, reticent to commit to large projects in 2012 until the true impact of the current financial storm are realised. On the other hand, there are a number of local financial services companies especially those in the insurance, mortgages and commercial finance industries, who are optimistic and are pushing ahead with core system replacement projects and ecommerce transformations to catch up with their peers in the banking industry. For many the opportunity cost of not having strong online presence and the lack of investment in newer technology platforms far outweighs the initial outlay for modernisation projects which will ultimately result in increased efficiency and greater opportunity for revenue generation.

Our Commerce and Industry clients in contrast have seen clear spikes in recruitment over the past twelve months with further large scale projects scheduled for next year. The trends in this sector are still very much in the pattern of acquisition and consolidation as some of Australia’s largest players come together with the likes of the acquisition of Franklins by MetCash and a number of conglomerates looking to consolidate their IT environments. Mining, Engineering and Energy companies are still hiring at a senior level, alongside construction and property companies. All indicators are that it will be a big year within the Telco space for large scale transformational projects across customer service and life-cycle management with analytics. Again in this sector trends are around mergers such as VHA and 3 Mobile which is driving consolidation of their platforms, upgrades and migration projects, alongside the ongoing NBN programme of work which continues to suck up resources. Project sizes within this space are ranging from $20M to $400M and anticipate to get underway in Q1 2012.

What Next?

Read more…

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Categories: Business Information, IT, Market Trends Tags: No Comments

Lisa Knott – A Summary of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics In Melbourne

October 12, 2011Lisa KnottNo Comments

My area of specialisation is Business Intelligence and Data Analytics in the Melbourne area. I have around 5 years’ experience working in this space.  I work on anything to do with Data  – this can be anything from building a Data Warehouse to Statistical Modellers who use SAS software to analyse large data sets.  My candidates can come from an IT background, but may also have Maths, Statistics, Physics or Business degrees.

The types of roles I work on are BI Developers, Data Warehouse Consultants, SAS Modellers, MI Analysts,Data Analysts, Marketing Analysts, Campaign Analysts, Credit Risk Modellers.  The types of technologies I look for are things like SAS, SQL, SPSS, Cognos, SQL Server BI – SSIS,SSRS,SSAS, Oracle BI.

I work  across all industries – Banking, Telco, Insurance, Marketing and more as these specialist candidates can work in area department in any industry.

A number of my clients in Banking and Telco are looking for SAS Analysts and I am ALWAYS interested in seeing any candidates with SAS experience who are looking in Melbourne from junior to senior level.  I am currently looking for a Head of Data Analytics who has experience looking after a team of SAS Statistical Modellers.  This role is paying a $250K package and will be based in Melbourne CBD.

Market Trends:

Data Analytics is a very niche and candidate-driven market and there is a growing demand for candidates with SAS/SQL skills who can use data to add value to a business.  I can see continual growth in this space, all major companies are investing in these teams and are even seeking candidates from abroad due to a shortage in the market. On the flip side, the trend does seem to be for people with 2-5 years experience and Senior Manager roles are extremely rare.

Business Intelligence: Although it is still a very niche area, there has been a flood of strong candidates from abroad which has made it much more competitive for candidates when they are applying for jobs.  I have noticed that some BI Consultants have been in the market for a while before finding the right job and have had to travel interstate to find the top end contracts.

What trends are you noticing?

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Categories: Business Information, IT Tags: No Comments

Money, Money, Money!

June 29, 2011Lisa KnottNo Comments

Australia has one of the strongest economies in the world and with that comes some of the highest salaries in the world, particularly in the technology field.

Having recently arrived from the UK, what I have realised is that IT professionals are getting paid substantially more here for the same job.  Graduates are commanding salaries which even Senior IT professionals would struggle to get in some parts of Europe.  I appreciate there is a slightly higher cost of living here, but the difference outweighs that by far.

Taking that into account, I have been surprised at how demanding and inflexible some IT professionals are in terms of their salary requirements.

I can totally understand that we all want to get a pay rise and that we have mortgages and families to consider.  However, I have known some IT experts to refuse to move unless they get a $30K pay rise – irrespective of the job and career prospects on offer.  Others I know that have been out of work for months with and have turned down offers in fantastic companies and great working environments – because it means taking $5K less than they were on previously. When you are earning upwards of $140K and around $40K more than you would in any other country, I can’t quite believe $5K here or there would be a showstopper. Read more…

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Project Trends within Banking and Financial Services

June 14, 2011Martha ChurchillNo Comments

With a 10% predicted increase from 2010 on IT spend globally there are a number of trends we are noticing specifically within the banking and financial services sectors.

Regulatory change, with tighter requirements for the likes of APRA is driving much of the current recruitment requirements around increasing the reporting capabilities for many of these organisations.

There is also an increasing number of large scale modernisation and transformation programs of work across large and small clients driven by the fact that most organisations haven’t made a significant investment on technology spend for the past 10 years. Mobile banking functionality is also a hot topic currently especially with the likes of Bankwest implementing a new website utilising an online shopping tool which provides a shopping basket type of functionality.

Cost reduction is still the big challenge for CIO’s and this in itself is driving the demand for consolidation and unification of global and regional technical operating platforms.

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Sharing the Love through User Groups

May 6, 2011Kimberley SilvaNo Comments

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…

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Categories: Applications Development, Business Information, Events, IT Tags: No Comments

Myths About Contracting

February 14, 2011Nardia Allison-NicholNo Comments

358ebd46-2dcd-4d4e-92e1-f1c15860ae1esssContactors 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…

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Categories: Applications Development, Business Information, Careers, Infrastructure, IT Tags: No Comments

Social Media: So Should? or So Shouldn’t!

November 10, 2010Martha Churchill3 Comments

03-Social-Media-Management8777Whilst 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…

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Categories: Applications Development, Business Information, Events, Infrastructure, IT Tags: 3 Comments

Is Cloud Computing making you nervous about your job security?

November 3, 2010Daniel Crispin2 Comments

question-cloudThe 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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Categories: Applications Development, Business Information, Careers, Infrastructure, IT Tags: 2 Comments

Making IT sexy…

October 29, 2010Prashan WijeyewickremaNo Comments

iStock_000006541024Large[1]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…

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IT Skills Shortage – what does it all mean?

October 22, 2010Louise ByrneNo Comments

Search2010 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…

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Categories: Applications Development, Business Information, Careers, Infrastructure, IT, Market Trends Tags: No Comments

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