本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The Canadian Software Market
BY DiscoverIT
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You can think of the market for software and IT professionals in terms of a large pyramid representing employers.
Large companies
Medium sized companies
Small companies
Large companies
At the top of the pyramid are a handful of prominent firms like Corel, Nortel and JDS Uniphase. They conduct leading edge research and produce products and services to a global market.
Corel specializes in developing office applications, including word processing, presentations, spreadsheets and graphics applications. The pairing of Corel software with the Linux operating system has made headlines for Corel.
Nortel Networks develops and sells a wide variety of products to do with telephony, Internet and wireless communication, video, multimedia and cable and services related to voice, video and data networking. Nortel’s terabyte modem has been cause for excitement.
JDS Uniphase makes components for the fibre optic revolution -advanced active and passive components, modules, test instruments, interconnect products and lasers.
These three are representative of the Canadian companies that are players in the global marketplace, employ more than 500 people and get prominent media attention. Size is a big factor in being able to compete globally for goods, services, capital and people. Big companies are also in the best position to train their employees to upgrade skills. In these companies employees are most likely to have a very specific job designation and require a very precise technical skill set.
Medium sized companies
Below the tip of the pyramid is a slightly larger group of medium enterprises. They employ between 100 and 500 employees. Many of them are suppliers of specialty products that the biggest companies use and have a symbiotic relationship with these. A large portion of medium sized companies create products and services that permits major technologies to be implemented by manufacturers, financial institutions, government and others.
Employees for these firms are likely to have slightly less well-defined jobs. There may be some overlap of needing technical skills one minute, project management skills another and customer service savvy an hour later.
Small companies
The vast majority of jobs in the software industry are at the bottom of the pyramid with small to medium sized enterprises of less than 100 employees, the majority having less than 50 or less employees. These companies for the most part fill niches, develop solutions, implement technologies.
They are very involved in the application of technology to every aspect of the knowledge economy. Small companies are often in a better position to respond quickly to customers and take advantage of new market opportunities.
Employees or entrepreneurs in these types of firms need to be able to multi-task and thrive on change. In short, the web master may well be the systems administrator, the e-commerce developer, the tester, the buyer and just your average person who also walks on water.
What’s Hot, What’s Not
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the rapidly evolving IT sector the current state of the industry is not the definitive predictor of where the industry will be 5 or 10 years from now. 15 years ago, when personal computers made their first appearance, no one could have predicted the massive impact of Internet communication and commerce.
Before we get into any details, there are some factors we’d like you to keep in mind when you are gathering statistical information on which to base your career plan decisions:
What is being compared – Canadian or U.S. salaries, numbers of employees, contract or full time employment?
The date the figures were created
Whether salary comparisons between regions factor in differences in cost of living.
Whether employment numbers or salaries are given on a national or regional basis.
Whether the numbers support a particular argument in an article.
What details are being left out that would give you a more complete picture?
Can you make predictions based on the information you are given as to what the job market will look like by the time you graduate?
Given those words of caution, here is a snapshot of where the industry is at in the spring of 2000.
Thanks to the Y2K preparedness efforts over the last couple of years the big scare of computer system crashes turned into a big yawn. Companies continued to monitor for possible glitches that might filter through until the beginning of March. Companies will now turn to developing new business systems that involve e-commerce, intranets, privacy, customer relations and professional certification.
This means the most highly sought after IT professionals at present are those with expertise in:
fibre optics,
system restructuring,
e-commerce,
web development, and
wireless communication.
This does not mean that:
programming,
software delivery, and
analysis design
are no longer in demand. As technology becomes more imbedded and more invisible in the way all of us work and live and learn, the greater the need for people that can help apply that technology.
We can guarantee you that technology skill sets will be in demand two or five years down the road. Precisely which combination of skill sets will be most in demand is difficult to predict, given that neither fibre optics nor wireless communication were at the top of employer wish lists two years ago.
Given that most of the employment openings are on the application side of the technology, senior executives and top recruiters are saying loud and clear they require people with good written and oral communication skills, the ability to analyze and solve problems creatively, interpersonal skills that contribute to participating and managing teams and the aptitude and motivation to learn new skills.
Technical savvy ranks below these. When employers want to hire new IT professionals they are looking for people with the know-how to apply technical expertise right away. On the production side employers will seek employees with key technical skills.
Our advice to high school students looking ahead to a career in IT five or more years from now is to get a solid secondary education in an area of interest and then build on IT skills and get experience along the way.
Seek out IT programs that give you opportunities to develop and apply your knowledge in business settings while you are learning. ITI and ITP are two examples of programs that incorporate business, IT and communication skills.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
BY DiscoverIT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can think of the market for software and IT professionals in terms of a large pyramid representing employers.
Large companies
Medium sized companies
Small companies
Large companies
At the top of the pyramid are a handful of prominent firms like Corel, Nortel and JDS Uniphase. They conduct leading edge research and produce products and services to a global market.
Corel specializes in developing office applications, including word processing, presentations, spreadsheets and graphics applications. The pairing of Corel software with the Linux operating system has made headlines for Corel.
Nortel Networks develops and sells a wide variety of products to do with telephony, Internet and wireless communication, video, multimedia and cable and services related to voice, video and data networking. Nortel’s terabyte modem has been cause for excitement.
JDS Uniphase makes components for the fibre optic revolution -advanced active and passive components, modules, test instruments, interconnect products and lasers.
These three are representative of the Canadian companies that are players in the global marketplace, employ more than 500 people and get prominent media attention. Size is a big factor in being able to compete globally for goods, services, capital and people. Big companies are also in the best position to train their employees to upgrade skills. In these companies employees are most likely to have a very specific job designation and require a very precise technical skill set.
Medium sized companies
Below the tip of the pyramid is a slightly larger group of medium enterprises. They employ between 100 and 500 employees. Many of them are suppliers of specialty products that the biggest companies use and have a symbiotic relationship with these. A large portion of medium sized companies create products and services that permits major technologies to be implemented by manufacturers, financial institutions, government and others.
Employees for these firms are likely to have slightly less well-defined jobs. There may be some overlap of needing technical skills one minute, project management skills another and customer service savvy an hour later.
Small companies
The vast majority of jobs in the software industry are at the bottom of the pyramid with small to medium sized enterprises of less than 100 employees, the majority having less than 50 or less employees. These companies for the most part fill niches, develop solutions, implement technologies.
They are very involved in the application of technology to every aspect of the knowledge economy. Small companies are often in a better position to respond quickly to customers and take advantage of new market opportunities.
Employees or entrepreneurs in these types of firms need to be able to multi-task and thrive on change. In short, the web master may well be the systems administrator, the e-commerce developer, the tester, the buyer and just your average person who also walks on water.
What’s Hot, What’s Not
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the rapidly evolving IT sector the current state of the industry is not the definitive predictor of where the industry will be 5 or 10 years from now. 15 years ago, when personal computers made their first appearance, no one could have predicted the massive impact of Internet communication and commerce.
Before we get into any details, there are some factors we’d like you to keep in mind when you are gathering statistical information on which to base your career plan decisions:
What is being compared – Canadian or U.S. salaries, numbers of employees, contract or full time employment?
The date the figures were created
Whether salary comparisons between regions factor in differences in cost of living.
Whether employment numbers or salaries are given on a national or regional basis.
Whether the numbers support a particular argument in an article.
What details are being left out that would give you a more complete picture?
Can you make predictions based on the information you are given as to what the job market will look like by the time you graduate?
Given those words of caution, here is a snapshot of where the industry is at in the spring of 2000.
Thanks to the Y2K preparedness efforts over the last couple of years the big scare of computer system crashes turned into a big yawn. Companies continued to monitor for possible glitches that might filter through until the beginning of March. Companies will now turn to developing new business systems that involve e-commerce, intranets, privacy, customer relations and professional certification.
This means the most highly sought after IT professionals at present are those with expertise in:
fibre optics,
system restructuring,
e-commerce,
web development, and
wireless communication.
This does not mean that:
programming,
software delivery, and
analysis design
are no longer in demand. As technology becomes more imbedded and more invisible in the way all of us work and live and learn, the greater the need for people that can help apply that technology.
We can guarantee you that technology skill sets will be in demand two or five years down the road. Precisely which combination of skill sets will be most in demand is difficult to predict, given that neither fibre optics nor wireless communication were at the top of employer wish lists two years ago.
Given that most of the employment openings are on the application side of the technology, senior executives and top recruiters are saying loud and clear they require people with good written and oral communication skills, the ability to analyze and solve problems creatively, interpersonal skills that contribute to participating and managing teams and the aptitude and motivation to learn new skills.
Technical savvy ranks below these. When employers want to hire new IT professionals they are looking for people with the know-how to apply technical expertise right away. On the production side employers will seek employees with key technical skills.
Our advice to high school students looking ahead to a career in IT five or more years from now is to get a solid secondary education in an area of interest and then build on IT skills and get experience along the way.
Seek out IT programs that give you opportunities to develop and apply your knowledge in business settings while you are learning. ITI and ITP are two examples of programs that incorporate business, IT and communication skills.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net