'Techies' urged to integrate
"Techies" urged to integrate
Keywords Communications, Information technology, Skills
Businesses need more than just technical ability from their information-technology specialists. IT staff must also be able to understand and analyse business needs, relate to colleagues and clients and manage resources.
So says a report entitled Keeping IT Together: Skills for Information Technologists, by the Institute for Employment Studies.
Sally Dench, the report's author, comments: "Unless those who intimately understand what IT offers can recognize business needs, identify appropriate solutions and communicate these in clear, non-technical terms, their professionalism will be insulated from the organization."
Apart from the rate of change in technology, the main changes influencing the skills required of IT specialists include a closer relationship to business needs, the emergence of knowledgeable users to whom personal computers are no longer a mystery, and pressure on costs and delivery times.
