Let experience speak for itself
There cannot possibly be an IT skills shortage while home PCs are commonplace and much of the population spend several hours a day in front of computers (We are short of ideas, not skills, letters.computing.co.uk).
The IT skills learned using Microsoft applications or games might not match those required by business employers, but the gap is not so big. It is no longer necessary to understand complex machine-level code to write programs and business reports; even intricate tasks such as writing backup and database management procedures can now be performed via user-friendly, front-end menus.
The main IT requirement of the business world is - and always has been - to use only those computer applications that will benefit the company financially and help them retain or increase their market lead. During my time as European IT manager for a blue-chip company, the main qualities demanded from the IT department were system stability and reliability, followed by innovative use of available technology and protection of the firm's data.
I maintain that anyone who could offer these to the business community today would have a good future in IT regardless of their entry-level skills.
John McGhee
I find this letter naive and dangerous in its assumptions. There is a huge difference between being a competent user of Microsoft products and integrating complex systems.
I would argue that the biggest challenge to IT is to integrate software packages in a seamless and reliable way to meet business needs. You may well be able to perfrom a low level software functions by dragging and dropping a utility instead of writing low level code, but if you don't understnd the implications of what you are doing, you will not meet the business need or achieve technical efficiency. If you do not adopt the mindset required to test the function, you will not meet the need for reliability.
Posted by: Nic Manfield | Tuesday, 01 April 2008 at 02:07 PM
DITTO!
John McGhee's comment is like saying if you drive a car then you can fix it.
It shouts so dam loud that fact that IT Managers do not have a clue about real computing, and think using a few computer applications makes the user a competent technician. It does not.
Posted by: Dave Walker | Sunday, 06 April 2008 at 02:48 PM
I’ve just noticed these comments about my letter, so thanks for responding. I think there’s confusion about the point I was trying to make in that there is no lack of IT skills but there is however a lack of the type of complex IT skills which the business world needs. People with good PC skills should be encouraged to see them as a means of a getting their foot in the door because if they have outstanding PC skills it is an indication of their potential to learn the far more advanced skills used in business computing.
ie It used to take a long time for anyone to learn even the most basic computer skills because everything was done at machine code level and very few people outside the computer industry could even use a keyboard, so the skill gap was immense. Thanks to PCs, Microsoft and the web the gap is smaller because there is no longer any mystery about computer technology, merely different levels of complexity.
I can’t defend the IT managers jibe but I like to think that if people like yourselves became IT managers you could maybe redress the balance. I only became an IT manager myself after 20+ years of being a techie in a variety of systems programming/technical infrastructure roles (contractor + permanent) and another decade as Oracle DBA before eventually being told that I should hang up my techie boots and concentrate on management… you’ll be pleased to know I no longer do that either but I wish you the best of luck if you ever take up the challenge yourselves.
Posted by: John McGhee | Tuesday, 15 April 2008 at 08:34 PM