ITWorks

In this guest blog post, Naomi Hewitt, director of HR, The NET-A-PORTER GROUP, writes about why it is time to teach tech at schools.

The founder of a new after school coding club for 10-11 year olds recently claimed that http://www.rec.uk.com/press/news/2080"We're teaching our kids to be secretaries rather than programmers." I can understand her concerns as they echo those of the Corporate IT Forum's Education and Skills Commission, which recently called for ICT education to be replaced with "IT in business" lessons. I do believe that more could be done in schools and universities to encourage and inspire young people in learning about technology and the essential role it plays in business today.

In the UK specifically there seems to be a disconnect between Academia and 'the real world' with many of the computer-related courses on offer bearing little relevance to the exciting technology roles available in the business world.  This may be symptomatic of a legacy of both free higher education and the pursuit of traditional liberal arts subjects, but it is certainly not helping to make the transition to the job market any smoother for young people.

As a fast growing ecommerce business, The NET-A-PORTER GROUP, whose brands include NET-A-PORTER, THE OUTNET and MR PORTER, is as much a technology as a fashion company. Recent new technology launches include the development of new shopping platforms for tablet, mobile and TV, NET-A-PORTER LIVE, an interactive shopping experience and an augmented reality shopping app. To ensure we continue to stay at the forefront of technical development we require cutting-edge tech talent and find ourselves competing fiercely for the UK's top notch developers and programmers, who are very much in demand. To address this, we recently launched an e-commerce academy, training tech-savvy graduates in vital programming skills alongside developing a commercial awareness with a view to further enhancing our in-house team, who continue to create and develop innovative ideas to benefit our business and customers.

It has not been a big budget for job creation. The Chancellor said the government was committed to increase adult apprenticeship funding by £250 million a year by 2014-15. The question is whether this is enough?

David Bywater, a KPMG tax partner, said, "The government is trying to support apprentices. It is a measure that is welcome, but the question is: is it enough? What will be the tangible benefits for business?"

However, Bindi Bhullar, director, HCL Technologies said: "Far from worrying about being left behind by foreign economies such as India, the government should instead look to follow their example, and find local government sponsorship for training and support from high-tech multinational corporations. There are so many savvy young minds who are facing the prospect of long-term unemployment today, and if the government is truly serious about embracing innovation, it should invest in IT skills for the young as a means of creating jobs, and driving Britain out of economic uncertainty."

David Roberts, executive director of The Corporate IT Forum, said, "Apprentices need much more support because the fall out rate is quite high. There has to be a mentoring programme in place. Apprentices need to have access to a business savvy mentor.

A guest blog from Dr Mike Lynch, CEO and Founder of Autonomy

 

The reduction of STEM subject university degree courses is a worrying trend that will undoubtedly have an impact on the UK IT industry. The problem, of course, begins before university, and that is where it needs to be addressed.

 

In the last few years, the way ICT has been taught in schools has stilted the imaginations of the young by boring them with the tedium of learning to use specific applications, instead of encouraging them to be creative with how they use technology and gain more widely applicable skills.

 

There is too much focus on learning to use specific platforms and applications - which will be years out of date by the time pupils leave school - and not enough on the fundamentals of technology. Young people are inherently good at getting to grips with using technology - why spend weeks teaching them what they can teach themselves in hours?

 

Keeping children engaged in Maths and Science at school will improve the demand for those courses at university and, with the right kind of IT skills, lead to a more employable generation of graduates.

 

 

A guest post by Nick Wilson, UK Managing Director, of HP

 

The UK's ICT sector contributes £81bn of added value to the UK's economy. The sector is the largest in Europe and employs over a million people who contribute 10% of GDP, according to UK Trade and Investment.

 

On the surface the technology sector looks very secure - after all, the internet alone is worth £100bn a year to the UK economy.

 

It is clear that the UK is in an enviable position, but it is not a secure position. What the figures don't show is the technology investment gap in the UK, also called the IT skills gap. This is a problem that technology firms, and any organisation seeking to hire skilled technology staff, are facing right now.

 

The CBI's Building for Growth report that showed over 40% of employers struggle to fill these skilled roles; over half expect this to increase. I have no doubt the problem is more pronounced in small and mid-sized companies who find it hard to compete for the best IT staff. These companies are the engine of growth for the UK. We all need their innovation, energy and insight and we risk hampering their growth potential by not providing them the talent pool they need.

 

A big impediment to growth, businesses face, is getting the right people with the right skills. Everybody I speak to, in the IT industry, agrees that the lack of job-focused IT skills in UK school leavers and graduates is causing recruitment problems in the technology sector at a time when we wrestle with unemployment across the country.

 

The eSkills UK Technology Insights 2011 report quantified this problem, reporting that the UK is failing to capitalise on the £50bn productivity gain which could be achieved through the better use of technology.

 

The technology industry is taking responsibility for this issue - we have to if we are to continue to innovate and grow. The sector is increasingly stepping in to help with approaches ranging from transforming the technology curriculum to investing in new entrepreneurs.

 

For example Vodafone Ventures global investment is set to invest in the next wave of wireless start-ups. Vodafone will also expand its high tech version of Dragon's Den called 'Mobile Clicks' to coach the next generation of online entrepreneurs. And Intel Innovators has launched a contest where entrepreneurs can win $100,000 each month for the best tech-based ideas.

 

For our part, we recently launched the 'HP Institute', a new set of courses delivered by schools, colleges and training providers. This will give up to 20,000 people over the next four years the business and technology skills to help them secure long term careers and help businesses benefit from their skills from day one on the job. The courses have been designed to provide the kinds of skills that small and mid-sized companies need most. They cover the full realm of technology as well as a course on cloud computing and a vitally important module on IT and business which grounds the technology in the world of business.

 

This is the latest initiative in an ongoing series of programmes that has seen partnerships with The University of the West of England, De Montfort University and Buckinghamshire New University where HP jointly writes and delivers courses to directly improve the employability of graduates. And last year HP committed itself to creating new entry-level technology apprenticeships, in the Gosport, Portsmouth and Glasgow areas.

 

We've also seen that the government understands this issue and is making moves to address the skills gap, in particular, with the computer science GCSE qualification.

 

That does not mean there is less for the technology industry to do. On the contrary, we need more companies stepping up to the challenge to help broaden the horizons of the young and encouraging more of them to join this exciting, fast moving and profitable sector.

In this video recorded at a Microsoft roundtable, Marc Waters, director of strategy and communicatuons for HP in the UK and Ireland takes about the the people business. He says 50% of HP's business is IT services, which means people are important. "They are the inventory and the R&D of the business. You have to invest in the skills of the people you have, and bring in the best people."

To support this, HP is identifying universities to form partnerships with and build innovations labs.

In the third video interview from our roundtable with Microsoft, Rehan Bhana, senior lecturer, Birmingham City University, discusses the benefits of the university working with industry partners.

Bhana is responsible for developing curricula for postgraduate and undergraduate courses. The university has worked with SAP to develop a Master of Science in Enterprise Systems Management. Through the course, he says, "A lot of our students get access to analytics software and an opportunity to [speak to] specialist staff."

The course provides students with relevant skills and an opportunity for student work placements at SAP and SAP partners, according to Bhana. The university also works with Microsoft and Oracle. It supports Oracle's Think Quest and Microsoft's Imagine Cup competition. He says such competitions offer the student an international platform and allows students to problem-based learning from an industry perspective.

In this video blog post Peter Goring, a student at Kingston University, talks about the need for university students to have some form of "guaranteed work placement." He says, "Many student do not understand the benefits of getting a placement."

It has been a few weeks since the last post. We have been busy at Computer Weekly working on a series of video podcasts on IT skills and training.

Simon May, previously worked in financial institutes, He has been a technical evangelist at Microsoft for a year. In this video May says that previously, there was a lot of stability in IT skills. However, things like cloud and consumerisation means that people have to upgrade their skills.

Given the state of the economy, he believes that businesses will need to reduce costs, while at the same time, grow. IT is one of the ways to achieve this, and so IT training is key.

 

City University London's IBM Enterprise Computing scholarship for a place on its Masters of Information Leadership course is now open for entries.

 

Peter Swingewood, winner of last year's Computer Weekly Step-Up Scholarship for City University London's information leadership course, shares his experience of the Masters of Information Leadership (MIL).

"I started the MIL in April and have already learnt a lot and benefited significantly. The academic side of the course is very stimulating and exposes you to ideas and viewpoints that you may have not come across before. The course forces you to step back from day-to-day operational concerns and really think about your work."

"The interactive way the teaching is delivered, with student group work during the weekends, means you really get to understand the concepts quickly as well as critically questioning them with fellow students, who also bring their backgrounds and experience to the weekend."

"The course brings in experts from relevant areas who are willing to share their experience candidly, which is a huge benefit and opportuntiy to learn from them. Our most recent module has been on the "Information Leader in Society" and we've studied and discussed the work of theorists such as Castells and Hayek and debated issues such as the "digitial divide" and learnt about how IT pollicy is formed and shaped in government."

"Finally the course also focuses on skills and self-development. We had an excellent weekend over the summer on negotiation where we were taught the ideas of Karrass and able to develop our skills through role play. I found this really useful and was able to use what I learnt immediatley - when I got back to the office I was able to negogiate a significant reduction from one of my suppliers!"
 
"I would thoroughly recommend this course to fellow IT professionals as you will learn a great deal of applicable knowledege and skills which you can start using immediately as well as gain a much bigger and broader prespective on key issues and the challenges facing IT."

"Plus, it is fun!"

Candidates can apply online for the 2012 scholarship by completing an application and submitting an essay, titled "What are the challenges IT leaders face in the sector you work in, and how would you address those challenges?". 

The deadline for applications is 12pm 16th January 2012.

The Open University's Kevin Streater looks at the IT sector's struggle to turn today's talented IT staff into tomorrow's boardroom decision makers. As IT becomes intrinsic to broader business strategy and CIOs increasingly sit directly under the Chief Executive in many companies, how can IT ensure more of its own are taking their seat at the top table?

Businesses are struggling to turn entry-level staff into senior management. At present around half of those brought into CIO positions come from outside the IT profession. This is worrying for two reasons. Firstly, it means a large proportion of those who make decisions on future IT strategy will have had no experience of delivering these strategies on the ground. Secondly, the lack of a clear path to senior positions will affect staff satisfaction and risks strengthening the tide of people leaving the sector.

The lack of IT workers moving up to the board should not be attributed to any lack of aspiration or ability within the UK's IT workforce. It's more an indication that up until now there has not been the tools to guide their development around the additional responsibilities they will face upon taking this step.

Whilst progression into entry and mid-level jobs requires an initial focus on reactive technical skills in order to understand the technology you are working with, as IT workers move further up in their organisation to senior management, greater demands are placed on their ability to collaborate and understand the results of the updates or innovations they deliver. These are the skills which enable good project work that produces clear business benefits.

At the final stages of development, learning should focus around the skills which identify CIOs as leaders. From an internal point of view this means understanding people, how they function within your organisation and how you develop them as professionals. But it's also about external, outward-looking leadership, understanding the changes in the market and the modern commercial realties of the IT industry and how these impact on your organisation.

Today's learning and development programmes must reflect these changes to give future CIOs the skills to thrive. 

The Open University has taken a large step towards addressing this issue by licensing the CIO Executive Council Pathways competency framework, which allows future CIOs to follow a clearly devised learning plan to board level.  The framework has been mapped to The Open University's extensive online curriculum, including courses from the University's top rated, triple accredited business school, to provide future CIOs with the essential skills required to reach board-level status.

The pathways framework aims to help companies improve their success in turning entry-level staff into the company's senior management and attract the best new entrants into the sector with the promise of a clear career path. It is the first ver learning tool specifically aimed at grooming future CIOs with the skills the industry needs and has been developed in collaboration with senior IT professionals who best understand the sector.

Following the pathway enables Open University students to have the right training at the right stage in their career. In the section below we look at the core skills required to make that step up to the board and how these additional skills-sets are applied in a real working environment.

Market Knowledge - understanding the market in which a business operates. This business context can include the competition, the suppliers, the customer base and the regulatory environment. Initially it comes down to knowing the basics of the market and how your business fits in to this context, but with further learning you will develop the skills and expertise to spot trends and anticipate, capitalize or even drives changes in the market.

Change Leadership - transforming and aligning an organisation through its people to drive for improvement in new and challenging directions. It is energising a whole organisation to want to change in the same direction. It's not just about accepting and adapting to change within your organisation but also proactively changing existing process and mobilising others to change as well.

Commercial Orientation - identifying and moving towards business opportunities. It is about having the understanding of how money is made in order to identify, prioritise and seize opportunities to increase profit and revenue. At the highest level it also includes inventing whole new ways to increase commerce.

Customer Focus - improving service to clients by better understanding their needs, and then using this information to anticipate future changes in their needs. After building up these value-added relationships with customers or clients, be they internal or external, CIOs should look to proactively shape the customer value proposition well beyond the transactional relationship.

Strategic Orientation -understanding the objectives within your own area of work and then looking beyond those to a broader business awareness and critical analysis of information. At the highest level it involves generating a strategic plan that integrates numerous business issues, functions and resources for effective action.

A full list of skills, how these have been mapped to the CIO pathways, and how they can be developed through relevant Open University courses, can be found here.

Also read:

Making your way in IT: Advice in entry-level IT professionals

IT sector must speak in skills to bridge gaps in capability and boost IT workforce

First steps towards a career in IT by the Open University

Matthew Poyiadgi, European VP, CompTIA discuss how we train the next generation of IT professionals, both for the specific challenges we face and to make the most of technologies we haven't even dreamed of yet.

"We should not get carried away. We need to continue teaching skills that businesses say they need today. Computers still need building, securing and connecting. Tablets, smartphones, and the plethora of bespoke technology used by different sectors, all still need integrating into existing systems.

That said, whilst dramatic change isn't instant, it may be pretty quick, and we need to make sure we are ready. We need two approaches to training; a short term one which trains in current and emerging skills and a longer term one which equips IT professionals with the skills they will need for life.

The short term approach means working closely with industry to identify what technologies they are using and what they plan to use, and develop training based on these. Right now this is probably cloud and tablets; in five years it could be completely different. Once these new technologies reach the tipping point whereby they can deliver serious business impact for a reasonable cost, then we need to work with the experts in these areas to develop the necessary training and certification.

Industry training can only really teach the technologies of the moment, and whilst these will provide an underpinning for some time, staying up to date means lifelong learning. However, this doesn't mean training can't equip people with broader skills that will always be needed. I will discuss this in my next blog.

The CompTIA EMEA Member Conference will include a session on how we train and motivate the next generation of IT professionals

The Open University's Kevin Streater looks at pathways open for those in entry level IT positions. What are the options for career progression and how can educators and industry work together to develop routes that increase IT's attractiveness as a career option?

Much of the focus on the skills crisis in IT has concentrated on getting people into the sector. It is sometimes easy to forget that the first step on the ladder should be the first of many, and developing our entry level IT professionals to become senior decision makers and leaders within their departments or organisations is vital to retaining talented people in our sector.

This commitment requires employees, employers and educators to forget about an off-the-shelf approach to staff training, which on its own is often too theory based with little relevance to direct business benefits, and instead look at staff development as a longer term, strategic process.

The Open University is spearheading a change in approach by driving better collaboration between industry, government and education to address this issue. The University was quick to recognise the importance of the work conducted by SFIA (the Skills Framework for the Information Age), which harnessed business expertise to develop a set of accurate IT job profiles. These detail the skills required for positions right up to board level from the point of view of those in charge of filling them. 

Below is a summary of the mid-level roles identified by SFIA that entry level IT workers can work towards.

Business Analyst
Accountable for identifying business needs, capturing requirements and determining solutions to business problems.

Development Manager
Responsible for ensuring that systems development (programming, coding, systems integrations etc) taking place in, or on behalf of, an organisation is aligned to the strategic goals of the organisation.

Enterprise Architect
Works with stakeholders, both leadership and subject matter experts, to build a holistic view of the organisation's strategy, processes, information and information technology assets. They then use this knowledge to ensure that the business and IT are in alignment.

Programme/Senior Project Manager
Oversees and controls delivery of several related projects. At the senior level this could involve managing a portfolio or projects or programmes.

Service Level Manager
A service level manager is responsible for the monitoring, reporting and ongoing improvement of a set of services and the associated service level agreements

IT Procurement Specialist
Responsible for the acquisition of goods and/or services at the best possible cost, in the right quality and quantity, at the right time, in the right place and from the right source.

By mapping our courses to this framework, Open University students currently at more junior levels within an organisation, can work with their employers and the University to tailor their learning to any of these roles, helping them make the right choice for the next rung on the ladder.

Click here for further details on the key skills those looking to move into these roles must acquire in order to succeed, and how these can be developed through specific Open University courses.

This new approach will not only improve the system that turns talented entry level IT workers into tomorrow's senior managers but also change perceptions of IT as a career choice for those outside the industry.

Whilst graduates in the early noughties saw IT as an exciting, energetic industry with real prospects for career progression and routes to well-paid senior roles, the view today is very different.

Low-level IT workers are underpaid compared to their colleagues in the city or law and unhappy with the opportunities to move up. A UNITE survey of UK IT employees at the start of the year found 62% felt they lacked the necessary training to keep their skills up-to-date.

As the industry loses unhappy but talented workers its reputation as a potential career choice for the next generation suffers. If companies want to attract and retain the best talent coming out of university and maximise the potential of the talent already at its disposal, they need to demonstrate clearer career ladders supported by intuitive and strategic staff learning.

Also read:

IT sector must speak in skills to bridge gaps in capability and boost IT workforce

First steps towards a career in IT by the Open University

Guest blog post: Kevin Streater is executive director for IT employer engagement at The Open University. The Open University are contributing a series of articles for ITWorks over the coming weeks, breaking down the skills requirements for making your way in the IT profession

The skills demand on those entering the IT profession has changed significantly in the past decade as IT professionals have become a strategic component of their organisation, engaged in all business decisions. However, it can often be this business onus that employers find lacking in their new intake.

Last month the minister for universities and science David Willetts proposed a dramatic overhaul of GCSE IT to make the subject more focused on business needs. It was a grassroots response to a problem which affects much of IT education, right up to graduate level.

The Open University's 'Developing professionalism in new IT graduate - who needs it?' report found that 43% of employers were concerned by how little knowledge graduate applicants had about business operations.

In a bid to overcome this skills crisis, The Open University has led a new effort from educators to not only increase the business relevance of their courses but also provide more routes into the industry for those from vocational or industry backgrounds, as well as those following the more traditional academic route.

Part of this means working with employers to understand the key skills students need to pursue a career in IT and linking them to a set of entry level roles defined by the internationally recognised Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA).

Your first job

Whilst the job titles may vary slightly, there are five main roles available to new recruits into the IT sector - recognised by government and across the industry as the first step on the career ladder.

•    Service desk agents - act as the first point of contact for all IT issues. Responsibilities  include fault reporting and first line problem resolution, customer service and communication

•    Support technicians - perform simple operational tasks running scripts and batch jobs

•    Systems operator - responsible for the day to day running of an IT infrastructure and may also contribute to the identification and resolution of faults in those applications

•    Application support - responsible for supporting users in particular applications that enable businesses to be successful

•    Network operations - responsible for the installation, basic configuration, management, support, and operation of networks

Whilst these job titles carry their own responsibilities and require their own unique skills sets, the paths into these roles are varied and open to people from a range of backgrounds who want to learn in different ways.

The Open University has developed resources to help both students and employers identify appropriate higher education modules, qualifications and continuous professional development (CPD) courses based on standardised professional skills set out in SFIA.

Below lays out examples of the different routes into these entry-level jobs, which provide an alternative to the traditional academic university path and the types of people the form of learning may best suit.

A vocational route

A modern day university education is a significant commitment and certainly not for everyone.

Potential employees to the IT industry are increasingly searching for alternatives which still allow them to demonstrate the right skills and expertise and secure that first job without having to commit to a university education up-front.

The Open University recently launched a higher apprenticeship programme with Capgemini that provides a vocational, skills-based pathway combining hands-on technical learning and professional development. It is specifically aimed at those looking to take their first steps on the IT career ladder but who haven't got the academic background required for university, or are simply put off by that particular way of learning.

For employers, it represents a new approach which sees them work with The Open University to grow their own graduate talent rather than relying on the output of traditional higher education. The higher apprenticeship programme instils in new recruits the most relevant technical skills within the context of their organisation and reduces the time employees spend out of the office.

The Open University's higher apprenticeship programme can be completed around an existing job so you earn while you learn. The first part of the programme  takes only seven weeks with a three-hour session organised at a location and time to suit each student and their employer. From then on the rest of the programme is delivered in the workplace using real-world experiences to provide the learning context.

A business relevant degree for career switchers

For career changers, already in employment but looking to make the switch over to IT, the cost of traditional higher education coupled with high unemployment represents a scary environment in which to re-skill and change career direction.

In this situation it is essential that universities give their students the best possible chance of finding a job and maximising the investment in their degree programme. This means not only providing a comprehensive grounding in technical skills but also giving students the experience and knowledge to apply these in a business environment to meet commercial objectives.  

The Open University recently launched a new joint honours degree which allows students to combine their IT studies with a complementary subject in business, design, mathematics, psychology or statistics. By adding new work-based learning modules, offering specialised pathways to particular IT roles and including the latest industry recognised Microsoft Server and Cisco Networking certifications, The Open University is working to ensure its graduates have the mix of technical skills and office experience employers want.

Dip your toe with a recognised qualification

For some potential career switchers the commitment associated with enrolling on a traditional full time degree, can be too much. The benefits of The Open University approach is it breaks down degrees into individual courses which not only offer credits towards a full degree which you can work through at your own pace, but also come with a recognised certification in their own right.

My Digital Life is a newly launched module from The Open University that provides a grounding in the subject - looking at the origins of information technology right through to the familiar computers of today. It acts as an introductory course to higher education IT but also stands alone as a recognised qualification which can help you get that first IT role.

As well as a way to demonstrate to potential employers your competence and interest in the subject, it gives you hands on experience in skills such as programming and the web which you can use in the workplace. Once you have secured that first IT job, your employer may well look to develop your skills further in other courses as you work towards a full Diploma or BSc in Computing and IT.

Also read:

IT sector must speak in skills to bridge gaps in capability and boost IT workforce

Kevin Farrar, IBM Academic Initiative & IBM Global Entrepreneur Lead, UK & Ireland highlights what to expect from next months IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year 2011.

We know that working together can drive change, and with the world becoming more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent, now is the time to use technology to address many of today's societal challenges. We want to team with entrepreneurs to build a smarter planet.

In today's challenging economic environment, technology start-ups can struggle to bring new ideas to market.

The IBM Global Entrepreneur initiative, launched in 2010, provides start-ups with no-charge access to industry-specific technologies in a cloud computing environment. Under the initiative, IBM also provides access to its sales, marketing and technical expertise.

November 2011 will see the second IBM SmartCamp take place in London. SmartCamp is an exclusive event aimed at identifying early stage entrepreneurs who are developing business ventures that align with our IBM Smarter Planet vision. Five finalists will be selected for a two-day event to network with 25 world-class entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts. The winner of the London event will then join winning startups from cities around the world to compete for the title of IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year 2011.

A guest blog post from Christine Hodgson, chairman at Capgemini UK, about the need for the IT sector to embrace apprenticeships

With the latest youth unemployment figures at around one million, it's very disappointing that just 2% of the technology sector currently employs apprentices. This is compared to 20% of companies who took on an apprentice in the year to April 2011, according to the British Chambers of Commerce.

The good news is the picture is changing. Apparently 21% of the technology sector plan to hire apprentices in the future which will put us somewhere near the national average.

Capgemini hosted a roundtable discussion recently, supported by Business in the Community, to review IT apprenticeships and to gauge the appetite of the technology sector to work together and create a national standard. Since this meeting, which was attended by 50 different organisations, we have agreed a Charter with our industry colleagues.

The Charter contains commitments to create more apprenticeships in our sector and to develop nationally recognised career paths for entry at apprentice level. This will build on the work already done by E-skills and the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS). It will be used to market to schools and careers advisers so young people can understand the different entry points to our sector.

One of the challenges is convincing the sector that school leavers are ready to add value to their company. Across all sectors, employers still have concerns about the quality of candidates and their qualifications.

At Capgemini, we believe that as long as young people have a certain level of intelligence and enthusiasm, we can train them in the skills that they need. Invest and nurture young talent and you will reap the benefits.

I would challenge all employers to look at their workforce and consider what an injection of enthusiasm and energy junior support might provide. I champion junior talent for a number of reasons:

-    To secure talent for roles in the rapidly changing world of technology
-    To grow our own talent in skills that are scarce in the market
-    To bring energy, enthusiasm and fresh ideas
-    To bring a new source of committed individuals as the retention of apprentices tends to be higher than average
-    To develop our leaders of the future

Capgemini has its own Higher Apprentice degree programme, with the first 34 higher apprentices joining Capgemini in 2011. It's a five-year programme of work experience and study which enables attainment of a BSc in Computing and IT Practice from the Open University and a Level 4 Diploma in IT Professional Competence from QA Training.

This enables young people to train and gain qualifications without the debts of going to University.

I firmly believe that junior talent can play a key role in all organisations not just the technology sector and I would urge all employers to embrace apprenticeship schemes - it is not onerous and there are real benefits for the individual and for business.

A guest blog by Matthew Poyiadgi, european vice president at CompTIA

Training vs Experience? Surely both.

Over five blogs, I will discuss some of the challenges that the IT industry faces in training for the present and future based on CompTIA's conversations with the IT industry. But to start with, I want to answer the question 'do we need training at all?'

It's probably unsurprising to hear that I think we do. But I come across plenty of people who say things like 'experience is all that counts' or 'why do we need so many certifications?'

Yes, experience does count, but only for so much. IT is a huge subject and advancing or transitioning means learning new skills. Companies have expertise in house, but if they want to use IT to expand or sell in new areas, they need to bring in new skills. This means either training, or hiring people who have been trained and certified.

There are so many certifications because IT is varied and different people need different skills. As technology develops, new courses will be launched, old ones updated, and some will fall by the wayside. Industry certifications are designed to assess the skills that industry says it needs. If there is no need they will not be developed. The question is not 'are there too many', it's 'which is right for me?'

You'd expect your doctor to regularly update his skills, so why not IT? After all, IT is changing at least as fast as medicine, probably quicker. Your customers, like a doctor's patients, will want to work with the best.

Matthew will open CompTIA's EMEA Member Conference on the 9th November in London. The conference will offer insights based on three tracks - The IT Channel, Learning & Development, and Training & Certification.

In this guest blog post, Doug Clark, IBM UK & Ireland cloud leader, writes about the role of the CIO. Businesses are powerd by IT, and as Doug discusses, the CIO has a unique opportunity to shape how business evolves, by smart use of IT to do things in innovative ways.

To be successful, CIOs must understand the needs and goals of their organisations and deliver on their unique mandates. Communicating effectively with colleagues to reach explicit agreement on how IT can best support business objectives is vital. So is disseminating that understanding so that executives and other stakeholders acknowledge and support IT's primary focus.

Yet these mandates represent a snapshot in time. They can change with shifts in the economic, competitive or technological landscapes. When the objectives of the organisation change, so too may the CIO mandate. And yes, every CIO still has to deliver excellence in the fundamentals: the secure and reliable delivery of information technology for example.

However, CIOs are uniquely positioned to help their organisations cope with the volatility and complexity of the 21st century - by generating valuable insight from data and serving as catalysts for innovation. In successful organisations the CIO is no longer looked upon as 'Chief IT Mechanic' but is now recognised for extracting value from technology and insight from complex systems.

For example, cloud computing is one of the critical tools that can enable CIOs to reallocate internal resources from routine system maintenance toward tasks that are most valuable to their organisations.

66 percent of every dollar spent on IT is spent on maintaining current IT infrastructures versus adding new capabilities. Moving to a cloud environment offers the chance to free up infrastructure and resources and be redeployed into the front line (while also reducing costs). It also offers the ability to create projects 'on the fly', setting up and even turning off projects quickly - in essence you get more chances to get a business solution right and then, keep it in perfect tune with the evolving market needs.

CIO's of all types of organisations need to get out of an 'overheads' way of thinking and get into a 'business value' mode, by broadening their ecosystem they can enable the opportunities for business growth.

Further resources >>

In a speech at the international WorldSkills event in London, business secretary Vince Cable spoke about the government's investment in skills to help employers develop apprenticeship schemes, new professional standards and closer partnerships with education and training providers.

Watch the speech below: