Cloud Computing

noel123ie

Hi all

A sys admin friend works for a large multinational who are outsourcing alot of work to India

He reckons alot of IT jobs will be gone due to this cloud computing where most storage etc will be done at large datacentre which will result in alot of IT jobs going as no sys admins etc

IT will be like a commodity gas water etc

Any opinions?
Noel

Therhino

noel123ie wrote: »

Hi all

A sys admin friend works for a large multinational who are outsourcing alot of work to India

He reckons alot of IT jobs will be gone due to this cloud computing where most storage etc will be done at large datacentre which will result in alot of IT jobs going as no sys admins etc

IT will be like a commodity gas water etc

Any opinions?
Noel

Get into the DOD or DOJ jobs they cant outsource

bertieb

I don't know exactly which field you work in, but the security considerations of cloud computing at the moment scares me silly and gives me a migraine just thinking about how you would deal with issues such as auditing/legal compliance/recovery and so on.

That being said, I do think this will impact significantly on IT Pro's performing junior and lower level sys admin type roles. If executives can identify a cost saving measure they will likely go for it - more so when their competitors have done the same, are saving costs are are therefore able to be more competitive in the marketplace. As a brief example, a big advantage of the 'cloud' is that there is no hardware capital expenditure upfront - I can see many CEO/CFO types rubbing their hands together already at this - and you'll see a corresponding reduction in the roles of those who used to or would have looked after these physical servers. I don't think every role or department will go because of this though, just numbers would be cut, and in it's current guise cloud computing is not for everyone anyway. The smallish ISP I work for is trying to develop such a platform based on feedback from existing clients and sales people who have been asked by owners of SME's, so it's coming though if you like it or not.

The thing is, IT is constantly evolving. Wholesale uptake of cloud computing technologies will cause job losses in some areas, I've little doubt about it. It'll also generate many new roles and positions. It's safe to say that anyone in IT who expects their current skills to be cutting edge and valid say 5 years from now is likely to be out of a job anyway. I say don't panic, adapt, improve, learn and embrace new technologies rather than worrying or being annoyed that one day a new technology may make your current role redundant.