Postgraduate study is another route to IT
career
Andrew Tuson
Head of the Department of Computing,
City University London
I read with interest the article
"Retraining existing staff will be key to avoiding skills crisis,
says E-Skills", which makes a number of valid observations on
the IT industry's skills needs.
The article neglects one route by which shortages in high-level
IT skills can be addressed. Postgraduate studies can deliver these
skills quickly compared with undergraduate and school provision,
which the Leitch report focuses upon, as an MSc takes only one year
to increase the skills of a graduate.
IT-related master's courses such as those offered at City
University London have a long and successful track record of taking
graduates from a wide range of backgrounds and increasing their
skills to help create highly employable IT professionals. In
particular, City University London's postgraduate internships in
the IT industry allow masters students to gain the essential
non-technical skills, such as business awareness, that E-Skills
rightly emphasises.
SMEs want integration first, technology
second
Mark Greatrex
Product and services director, Lakeview
The article on
financial and accounting software for small and medium-sized
enterprises is right to highlight the increased software
functionality now available to companies of all sizes.
Yet in bringing enterprise scale and sophisticated technologies
to the SME market in this way, many software developers are
completely missing the point in meeting the real needs of this
growing and attractive market.
SMEs are not so interested in client server technology, web
interfaces and SOA. At the top of their business software agenda is
the need for a fully integrated, reliable and robust system. They
want one system that covers the whole business, from manufacturing
and sales to distribution and accounts, so that when a transaction
is entered on to the system it is visible to all.
At the same time, SMEs are looking for rapid implementations
that deliver short-term benefits. Suppliers must set realistic
project expectations. Once in place, quality of service and support
must be of a consistently high quality - traditionally not the
strongest suit of IT providers.
All of these issues are technology-agnostic. And many SMEs
making such investment the second time around will previously have
had their fingers burnt by poor implementations and a lack of
support - issues rarely related to an enterprise system's
underlying technology.
Providing the technical capability for SMEs to complete with
their larger counterparts is undoubtedly important. Yet benefits
will only accrue if such superior capability forms an integral part
of a fully rounded, enterprise-wide product and service system.
Employers have a role to play in skills
shortage
Julian Divett
Chief operating officer, FDM Group
I read Rebecca Thomson's article
"Employers struck by shortage of .net skills" and was compelled
to comment. The IT skills shortage, now at a six-year peak, is well
publicised, yet businesses are still not doing enough to tackle the
issue.
Certainly, it is the responsibility of universities to equip
graduates with the core tools they need for the modern workplace,
and no doubt there is still more work to do here. However,
universities are not geared up to offer training in the latest
technologies and skills.
Rather than laying the blame for the skills shortage firmly with
the UK education system, businesses need to recognise that they
have a role to play in bridging the skills gap.
IT managers are under pressure to deliver systems in
ever-decreasing timescales, and as a result they do not want the
burden of junior recruits who will require training. This has led
IT departments to recruit only experienced staff, which compounds
the skills shortage.
The IT recruitment market is overlooking both graduates and
novices, so the next generation of IT professionals is not gaining
the valuable experience needed to ensure the future success of the
market.
The mindset of business leaders needs to change when it comes to
recruitment. Universities can only provide students with an
introduction to IT - it is up to businesses to build on this.
Providing a long-term development programme for first-time jobbers
will allow businesses to attract and retain them once they are
commercially trained.
Businesses need to recognise the rewards that come from
investing in training, forging relationships with training schools
and universities, and letting first-timers through the door.