INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cloud widely speculated that IT admin jobs would be wiped out with the changing trends . Undeniably , traditional IT admin roles will fade away , but they will be replaced by far more exciting roles that deal with the cloud and digitalisation . With the emergence of IoT and so many businesses being driven by user behaviour , IT admins can foray into roles such as cloud architects , IoT architects , DevOps specialists , and data scientists .
How is this digital revolution different ? The initial years of virtualisation aligned IT with business , whereas in the current scenario , IT and business are inseparable , as this survey by Computerworld confirms . According to the survey , 42 % of the enterprises surveyed want to hire professionals who have combined tech and business backgrounds that will allow them to articulate the value of IT in meeting business goals .
This transition has replaced the uncertainty around IT admin jobs with the certitude of the same people being involved in IT in ways like never before . If an IT admin is now responsible for sourcing and deploying solutions to manage infrastructure or services , analysing and troubleshooting problems , an IoT architect , according to Drue Reeves , research director for Gartner , “ is responsible for the vision , strategy , architecture , and shepherding of IoT solutions from inception to deployment .”
How will IT admins rise to these challenges ? Adapting to cutting edge challenges is nothing new for IT admins . In the 2000s when virtualisation gained traction , IT admins stepped up their skills to manage IT and the new variables introduced by virtualisation . The current transition is merely another opportunity for IT admins to learn new tools , technologies , processes ,
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and methodologies . The last decade has seen it all : components connected by wires , wireless technology , virtualisation , mobility , cloud , wearables , and now IoT . To rise to these challenges and grow , IT admins will need to extend themselves by learning about business , analytics , and DevOps , not to mention developing a deep understanding of how every change will impact business .
Will IT admins need to acquire more skills ? IT communities are abuzz with discussions on what new IT roles will entail . The good news though is that IT admins are already aware of some aspects of these roles . Learning , deploying , and implementing solutions ; managing IT infrastructure on the LAN and WAN ; and troubleshooting performance issues and bottlenecks are great examples . And , in some enterprises , IT admins are already involved in evaluating the flexibility , accessibility , and cost of business applications . Most skills are acquired on the job and there ’ s nothing to worry about . On a broader level , during the transition , it ’ s best to follow a multi-pronged approach of learning basic development , operations , and analysis . Here are some suggestions to get started :
• Take a do-it-yourself approach to learning , including basic tasks such as getting an AWS account , creating cloud instances , and using a few cloud-ready tools to manage them .
• Get an Opscode account and use Chef to deploy and manage applications or servers .
• Get the hang of configuration and build tools like GitHub , Jenkins , and Docker .
• Learn about business intelligence , data science , and cloud analytics tools for analysis and reporting .
• Actively participate in communities that discuss technology , tools , and trends .
• Acquire soft skills as interacting with teams and users becomes a necessity .
Like so many searches on minor health issues that lead people to results on life-threatening ailments , the search for the future of IT jobs leads to voluminous information and can be as overwhelming . Getting acquainted with the concepts , trying a couple of tools , and actively engaging with peer groups on relevant communities can make it easy to gear up for the roles in store .
So , will there still be IT admins ? Well , yes and no . There may not be IT admins in the traditional sense . Instead , they will fit into different molds , as their jobs demand . Their roles will not just be about enabling or keeping IT together , but will also be about enabling business . Going cloud and digital will keep IT admins challenged . They will be on the constant quest for knowledge to keep pace with the changes cloud and digitalisation bring . However , there will be one constant through all the transitions : their tryst with technical challenges and their ability to meet them . No matter what titles they go by , for this one reason , IT admins , in their new roles , will still be known as IT superheros . www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
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