2013 - Ten Tech Skills Heading the Way of the Dinosaur

skoal2k4

the_Grinch wrote: »

...I haven't seen a company willing to make the infrastructure investment to do VDI...

I believe this will be a pretty big hurdle to clear for most companies.

the_Grinch

It takes a lot to do it right and even then it still has issues. Gigabit ethernet is required, avoid anything graphically intensive, and when you look at the cost of dumb terminals they are almost the same price as a computer. I forsee more companies doing SaaS and running everything through the browser. We are currently just about 100% SaaS here and it is a dream. Create a few logins and send the link to the user. Besides the graphics people, the only application people truly get is Office. Couple one offs, but beyond that we don't have to worry about anything. Now if I could get the university to setup the network drives properly I could zap the VPN as well.

Sponx

Couple companies I have worked with have been trying to implement terminal stations to all the end-users, and they are also playing the VDI environments instead of going the vSphere way.

BigMevy

In regards to 9 & 10, there will always be a need for helpdesk. The job may change somewhat, as some have said to support mobility more, but it's not going away. Just because a business may outsource it, it's still needed and a foot in the door for the industry.

As to PC repair, frankly that's been on the way out for a long time. Who the hell want to pay someone to fix old machines when you can replace it for under a grand and be good for several years? The cost/return ratio hasn't really been there for years. I haven't seen an actual PC reapir tech in the business since around 2003... well, outside of Best Buy anyway.

onesaint

the_Grinch wrote: »

I think they are dead wrong about Fortran. Every year they say it is going away and every year I still see a number of job postings for Fortran.

My buddy's mom makes around 150K coding in Fortran. Still commenting that an almost 60 year old language is dead in the "2013 skills on the way out" is amusing to me.

"FORTRAN, 'the infantile disorder', by now nearly 20 years old, is hopelessly inadequate for whatever computer application you have in mind today: it is now too clumsy, too risky, and too expensive to use." --Edsger Dijkstra (1975)

powerfool

Haven't COBOL and Fortran been on that list for 30 years, now?

xenodamus

Helpdesk and desktop support aren't going anywhere. VDI environments aren't changing that either. We've converted 600 of our 2000 workstations to Wyse terminals connecting to XenDesktop. Desktop support and helpdesk are still needed, but they require a different skillset. We now need desktop support techs who know what a VM is how it changes the troubleshooting process. We need techs who have a desire to understand the big picture behind the VDI environment and use that info to troubleshoot issues rather than routing every ticket containing the words "thin client" to the VDI administrator (read: ME, lol).

N2IT

@Saint

I agree my mother still developes in COBOL and doesn't make quite that much but still north of a 100,000.

Infact SAP uses a langauge called ABAP to customize their modules etc and that is a 4th generation of COBOL language.

paul78

N2IT wrote: »

@Saint I agree my mother still developes in COBOL and doesn't make quite that much but still north of a 100,000.

Since onesaint quoted Dijkstra about Fortran, I figured I would quote Dijkstra about COBOL.

"The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense."

But then again Dijkstra seem to have a lot to say about the demise and failings of a lot of programming languages.

BASIC
"It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers, they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration."

OOP
"Object-oriented programming is an exceptionally bad idea which could only have originated in California."

LISP
"LISP has been jokingly described as "the most intelligent way to misuse a computer"."

PL/1
"Using PL/1 must be like flying a plane with 7000 buttons, switches and handles to manipulate in the cockpit."

APL
"APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection. It is the language of the future for the programming techniques of the past: it creates a new generation of coding bums."

FORTRAN
FORTRAN's tragic fate has been its wide acceptance, mentally chaining thousands and thousands of programmers to our past mistakes.

The quotes are memorable because they are snarky but out-of-context. If anyone wants to read the essay where are lot of these quotes are from, you can find it here: E.W.Dijkstra Archive: The Humble Programmer (EWD 340)

kurosaki00

COBOL is barely used anymore but every now and then I see jobs posting for it (usually bank related)
and they pay BIG BUCKS

eansdad

Of course Global Knowledge is saying tier 1 and PC repair are dying. How else would they scare people into their CCNA/M$ courses.

Will tier 1 change ... yes. I've seen tier 1 doing things that NOCs do. Both jobs can actually be tied together in some companies.

PC repair has turned into more of a lower level jack of all trades type. In smaller companies it isn't uncommon to see the tech doing lower end network troubleshooting.

Just like the TV repair man jobs will dry up but they will not go away. Today companies can get away with hiring interns or college work study students to do the lower end of IT (help desk, desktop support). IT has never been a career that you can stagnate at. Job functions continually morph and merge together. If you don't/can't adapt ... you'll find yourself looking at a new career choice.