Never mind the year of the dragon, 2012 will be the year of the cloud for IT contractors.
A recent survey of British IT bosses suggests that business practices will embrace the cloud in 2012 and IT workers will need to adapt their skill-sets to suit.
250 UK IT decision makers took part in the Modis International research and more than 33% of them said the role of IT professionals has evolved this year and will continue to change in 2012.
The tech recruiter pointed out that a lot of decision makers now expect IT to go through a prolonged period of change, as companies seek to capitalise on emerging technologies. As well as exploiting strategy and technology, companies can make substantial cost savings by utilising cloud services.
One professional services IT head said IT is now about managing resources better, containing costs and doing as much as possible online, and the cloud is proving to be the cheapest solution. However, a lot of companies have been holding back due to issues over data security and hacking.
Jim Albert, the managing director of Modis, said cloud computing had been expected to flourish this year but it has taken longer than anticipated to integrate the technology into existing business systems. As a result, the major IT innovators next year will be the computer professionals who can effectively utilise and implement cloud technology.
He went on to say that IT professionals are at the forefront when it comes to technological changes and are best placed to meet the challenges. As the cloud continues to evolve, demand for contractors with the requisite skills will increase.
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