IT – A profession?
Unlike established disciplines such as Accountancy and Engineering, IT has only recently started seeing itself as a profession. Therefore, it is lagging behind other professions in terms of training and career development. Whilst great strides have been made by such bodies as the British Computer Society and its SFIA (Skills Frame in the Information Age), there still appears to be a disconnect in convincing organisations to adapt such schemes.
What skills and attributes do IT professionals value?
A significant proportion of IT professionals have come up through the “ranks” and have progressed quite often in organisations because of their technical skills. They will often have “management” thrust upon them and they have to adapt quickly, often without the comfort of a mentor or corporate development scheme. That said, the increasing importance of IT Service Management (ITIL) has helped IT organisations align closer to wider business need and processes.
What are the challenges for IT professionals in terms of career progression?
Notwithstanding the contribution of ITIL, many businesses still see IT as an expensive overhead which harbors unfriendly pointy heads. Often, IT is not seen as an important business driver (unless it fails) and the advance of consumer computing has created a perception by the business that “IT is easy.”
What skills and attributes do the business value?
Businesses value those who know and understand the business whilst making a direct contribution to the bottom line. They expect leaders to be strong focused individuals who can communicate, influence and motivate staff and peers alike. One important word here is influence. Quite often, those who climb the corporate ladder are those who can influence, usually through charisma, strong communication or sycophancy. The latter leads to the concept of seeking patronage which has been around since the days of Pharaoh’s court. A powerful patron will help his “student” create a strong personal brand and perception.
The previous paragraph probably makes uncomfortable reading for many IT guys because they probably believe that strong technical leadership in a meritorious environment will guarantee a passport to the top, i.e. becoming a CIO.
What can the poor nerds do?
Well, if you could an write an app or software programme then it might look something like this:
10: SET CIO = DREAMS
20: SET POTENTIAL = (20 * PERSONAL_BRAND) + (10 * BUSINESS_KNOWLEDGE) + (2* LEADERSHIP) + (0.0005 * TECHNICAL_COMPETENCE)
30 IF POTENTIAL > CIO THEN GOTO 100
40 PERSONAL_BRAND = PERSONAL_BRAND + SYCOPHANCY + POLITICS + UNDERMINING
50 GOTO 20
100 PRINT “WELL DONE”
The Technology Whodunnit 