Skills you need now for the IT of the future
Microsoft professional certifications
Being agile in information technology (IT) is less about specific skills and more about the way you acquire and apply specific skills. This article presents Microsoft's perspective on how the IT professional of today can prepare for the technology of tomorrow.
It wasn't long ago that every IT professional needed to know how to program in COBOL, and could charge a premium to manage a PBX phone system. Today, those skills, along with others more recent, are on Computerworld's list of "top 10 dying IT skills." New skills include information security and project management, and hot technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), AJAX, and Ruby on Rails.
It's difficult to predict the in-demand technologies of 2012, but it's possible to be ready for anything. Beyond specific skills, today's IT professional is an information specialist who knows how to aggregate data and present it in a way that supports critical decisions, rather than simply "the person who keeps the network running," says Christine Betts, senior director of Microsoft Technical Audience Global Marketing (TAGM), which helps IT professionals assess, deploy, and maintain technology.
Betts says that former IT generalists must now have deeper knowledge of more technologies, and they must be able to help business decision makers choose technology that is appropriate and cost effective over the long term.
Microsoft professional certifications for the new world of IT
Microsoft has responded to these changing expectations with learning tools and Microsoft professional certifications that support IT professionals in their new roles, says Lutz Ziob, general manager of Microsoft Learning.
| • | The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) series verifies an IT professional's in-depth knowledge of a specific Microsoft technology. |
| • | The Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) series validates experience in a comprehensive set of mid-level technology career skills, including design, planning, deployment, and operations management. |
| • | The Microsoft Certified Architect programs help IT professionals with more than 10 years of experience add strategy and business management skills to their technical expertise. |
"Technology used to be what companies implemented to improve productivity," Ziob notes. "Now it is a strategic element of a company's ability to stay agile. The certification process is a proven way for IT professionals to position themselves as an asset within their company."
Information management is business management
Tomorrow's IT department will still need the hard technical skills to integrate new applications into an existing environment, customize solutions for the company's specific needs, and set up a single server to run multiple applications with appropriate service levels. At the same time, though, it will also need the business acumen to present a case for software as a service (SaaS) or develop plans to assure legal compliance with data security regulations.
According to CMP Media, chief information officers spend 65 percent of their time on technology issues and the remaining 45 percent on business. Even if you don't aspire to a C-level position, your work is likely to approach the same balance, Betts says.
"You can no longer tell end users, 'Here's a tool, use it,'" she explains. "You now have to design their entire experience with a solution so they can realize incremental improvements over what they had before."
 | Fawn Fitter is a freelance writer in San Francisco who specializes in business and technology. She contributes regularly to the Microsoft Midsize Business Center. |
