Top 7 Technology Trends to Look Out for in 2017

A recent survey by IT staffing firm TEK systems has shown that IT candidates are very much in control of employment opportunities in the IT Domain, with information technology taking a huge leap forwards in terms of demand.

A leading representative of TEK systems has stated that around 500,000 to one million IT jobs remain vacant due to lack of professionals. Some market analysts have gone on to say that the number of unfilled IT job vacancies touch 2 million. The demand for such IT talent goes well beyond the regular supply of professionals.

Here’s a look at the top 7 most sought out tech skills in 2017:

1. Programming/Application Development

This will come as no surprise to professionals across domains since programming is the foundation for most of not all programming activities. A third of the hiring Managers surveyed have said that they will be dipping into this talent pool heavily in the next few months.

Developers and Programmers persist to this very day in being the most sought after IT professionals across the board with universal demand from various avenues.

Enterprises based on software products look upon applications and web were as their bread and butter. This makes Programmers and Developers essential cogs in the enterprise framework.

Organizations these days require technological professionals who can personalize and commercialize applications which are off-the-shelf, at the same time working on APIs and integration points. What the enterprises also currently need is the development of proprietary software as even Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) can’t meet highly specific needs that are put forth by companies in the IT Domain. Maintenance and constant updating of the software product will keep Developers relevant even when programming tasks are minimal.

High demand for such IT programming specialists means IT pros get the pick of the litter with hiring Managers luring currently employed developers with astronomically high pay packages.

2. Help Desk/Technical Support

As with the category mentioned above, another one-third of the hiring Managers top pick will be looking for such unique talent that will add value to the enterprise. Employers face stiff competition amongst themselves to get the best of a lot when it comes to IT talent. Enterprises that will look for such talent focus on holistic skill sets such as bringing in new best practices and procedures and policies.

Helpdesk staff is in high demand because of the pervasive nature of technology.

Support technicians and staff are required by companies to have a comprehensive knowledge base of software and hardware systems to handle tickets (work requests) from all over the enterprise. This makes the requirement of help desk and technical support a critical one.

According to Robert Half Technology, an IT staffing enterprise, Tier 2 and Tier 3 employees are the most sought out tech staff in 2017 with annual salaries being as high as 80,000 USD for Tier 3 employees.

3. Security/Compliance/Governance

Over a third of the surveyed hiring Managers from large organizations and independent recruitment firms have stated that security and governance staff are part of the top picks for employee recruitment for the year 2017.

Sources from the Central Pension Fund in the US have said that there nine employees who handle security and compliance issues supporting over 70 employees in the NPO that is based out of Washington DC. Recruiters at this firm have said that security and governance competencies are on the top of the list in terms of selection criteria.

Organizational security by nature is a progressively evolving threat which takes a lot of effort to stay relevant. This means enterprises will have to ensure that their employees will have to stay updated in terms of what’s new in the emerging markets for enterprise threat deterrents.

4. Cloud/SaaS

Around a fifth of the surveyed organizations and professionals into recruitment said Cloud requirements will be the first on the list of candidates to hire in the year 2017.

Sources from the US based company named Data Recognition Corp, have said that companies around the world have begun to migrate to the cloud to cut down on costs and enhance productivity and efficiencies within the enterprise.

The accelerated growth of the cloud environment has led to tremendous job creation candidates through organizational change and enhancement.

While no single skill is associated with SaaS or Cloud technology, companies do look for a broad spectrum of skills and competencies in prospective employees for Cloud Associated jobs.

5. Business Intelligence/Analytics

More than a fifth of the organizations that were interviewed for surveys have revealed that Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Analyst (BA) are the most sought out skills by companies across the world.

Data Analytics team leads have seen their team sizes growing exponentially across domains in the previous few months and show no signs of slowing down. As organizations seek to gain a greater level of insight from data collected, they will also need to step out both the quality and quantity of Business Analysts hired in the current year.

6. Web Development

This particular technical skill is fueling a corresponding technology trend in recruitment enabling hiring in this domain at an accelerated pace.

Internet being the universal medium that connects customers, Internal employees and External employees with an organization and outside, Web Developers have assumed immensely important roles within the organization to support and promote the internet and online technologies. As companies add social and media frameworks on a regular basis as extendable platforms to their business, skilled web executions have turned out to be invaluable for companies worldwide.

 7. Database Administration

The recruiting firm LaSelle Network has stated that Database Administrator (DBA) as a skill set and asset to the company has transcended barriers of geography and domains, making its presence felt irrespective of the state of the economy or the nature of data that needs administration.

A technological research firm named BLS has said there hasn’t been a better time to be a DBA than right now considering the past few years as a reference.

DBAs at the top of their corporate hierarchy are expected to have a wide array of skills such as data modeling and database design, along with the ability to ensure data integrity and database performance.                                                                                                         

Most enterprises are aligning themselves towards the emerging markets to harness market momentum and drive their businesses up. If an organization or employee refers to this set of essential current market worthy skills then they are bound to achieve success both on an enterprise and individual level.