Great Concern Part II

Here is a reply to that email I blogged earlier on:

I feel the IT Industry has about the same number of jobs as there were 3 years back; a good survey is neded to find the exact situation. But the IT job complexion has changed significantly.

Previously most graduates went into a software houses and did sw development.
Now most of them go into IT depts of local companies and mnc's. Package
selection and implementation is increasing as the industry matures and moves away from custom sw development.

ERP consulting, Business Analysts, IT auditors, security consultants, network gurus, Quality Appraisers, Project Managers .... these are the new IT job areas.

Business Analysts are rightly considered a focus area by Ponder Alliance. It is a critical industry reqt today .... as it was 20 years back when IBM set up the IBA CCS in 1983!

Unfortunately many of our present IT graduates lack analysis and documentation skills which are very much required for these new IT job areas.

Business domain knowledge is usually gained thru MBA, ERP knowledge thru
package certifications such as SAP Academy, Audit and security knowledge thru CISA/CISSP/CISM and various NW certifications. Quality Assurance areas are covered by ISO 9001 and CMMI courses. Finally, PMs need PMI certification to really excell in their project management.

Good academic institutions modify their syllabus on regular basis to keep themselves mkt oriented.

Academia / Industry liasion is weak mainly because there is no defined process for such activity in our academic institutions eg. what is the teacher's share in the revenues? Most IT teachers are very good in explaining things, their real job. But are usually lost when they have to prepare an agreement for a industry/institution project. Hence the teachers need to be trained too ... in industry practises and proj mgmt techniques ... before academia/industry liasion can pick up.

Sorry for a long answer
Humayun