IT industry

[jostha2007]

How many of you guys are in the IT industry? What are current trends looking like? are you guys safe? Jobs heading over seas?

My shop is shipping 85% of the work load to India.

[ChristopherM4]

I’ve been in the computer industry for 12 yrs and doing IT work for about 9yrs. Safe, not really…waiting for the next wave of layoffs to occur in the next week or so. This is after already cutting multil-mil from Q3 budget and them wanting another few milti-mil on top of that! Sadly it looks like the writing on the wall….I think I’m still in denial. If it happens it happens and I’ll find something else. Sadly I’m currently unwilling to give up the high pay and possible severance package to find something else. Do you jump ship early with less pay or wait to see if you go down and get a package with it? Its hard and I honestly would have never thought I would be in this situation. With all that has been happening in the past few weeks it almost seems safer to be at a large company if you can keep dodging the axe then possibly at a smaller shop.

As far as your original question about overseas, yeah a lot has gone and still more going. But even the regions have been hit with the axe, its global and that’s the really scary part!


Topher

[Dedpoet]

I'm an IT manager for a medium-sized automotive supplier, so I suppose I'm in the IT "field" but not necessarily the IT "industry." I'm responsible for a handful of locations in the US and Mexico and have been doing this for about 15 years. Automotive being as it is, we run pretty lean. We have only one IT support person in each of my locations. The bad part is that we're each one-man shows. The good part is that even if these offices only had 10 people in them, you'd likely still need IT.

As for the industry in general, it's definitely trending overseas. Every help desk I call anymore, except for the Dell premium support that we pay dearly for, is in India. All of the big IT companies and all of our domestic customer's (Ford, GM, Chrysler) support desks are there. Almost any hardware company's support is based there.

That being said, my opinion is that after entry level, helpdesk-type stuff, there will always be work for skilled IT professionals here, especially in niches. Search a site like Careerbuilder and you'll see lots of IT jobs available. They're just very specialized. Disciplines like Oracle database administration, systems architecture, and anything to do with SAP are in high demand right now. The key is to keep your skillset up to date with what is hot in the industry. Of course that can be prohibitively expensive in both time and money if you have to do it on your own.

[CarlosDJackal]

I've been in the IT field for over 13-years. Most of that as a Government Contactor (which is what I am now). What we are experiencing currently is the same as it always is and probably always will be. Layoffs are dependent on whether or not we have enough funding for the contract. If you are lucky enough to be on a contract that is considered vital and will continue to receive funding regardless of the economy, then you don't have much to worry about.

Of course, having that all-important Clearance is a hughe plus!! :D

[b_saan]

MCSE/CCNA working as a network administrator for a financial firm. Prior to this job (which was the only one that I appled for when considering leaving my previous company due to too much travel with a new baby on the way) I was hired within 2 weeks of arriving in the Phoenix area after having not applied for any jobs prior to the move. My wife and I are now moving back to MN at the end of the month after both receiving job offers this week in order to be closer to our family. Again after only applying for 2 positions, I was interviewed for both and had an offer I could not turn down all within a week of applying.

That said if you are a help desk type person, don't count on retaining your position forever, programmers also need to be fluid enough to work contracts or be willing to move from company to company.

[Ridge_Runner_5]

Im in my final year of studying for a Certificate in Networking, also need to actually take the A+ exam...Ive done a few install contracts with Dell and they actually just the other day offered me a contract with Excel Energy that would've lasted the rest of the year, but I had to pass because it interfered with my studies:(

[sl4mdaddy]

Been doing the I.T. security-type thing for about ten years now after deciding to leave law enforcement after about 11-12 years behind a badge. It seems that a lot of support related stuff gets farmed out but the security monitoring and managed services seem to be holding strong for the most part.

[Littlelebowski]

Im in my final year of studying for a Certificate in Networking, also need to actually take the A+ exam...Ive done a few install contracts with Dell and they actually just the other day offered me a contract with Excel Energy that would've lasted the rest of the year, but I had to pass because it interfered with my studies:(

A+ is a waste of time, hit the Cisco stuff hard. Pick up a scripting language as well.

Virtualization is the way go, gents. I'm an MCSE/CCNA but a full time Unix/Linux engineer (because I don't use Microsoft trash). If you want a certification, get VMware certified.

As long as people run servers in the US, there will be IT jobs. The outsourcing is mainly development work.

[chadbag]

I am kind of in the IT industry. I run a small hosting outfit and am also a SW developer. But I am self employed and have not worked for a company since around 1999.

A lot of the people shipping development overseas are having it come back and bite them in the butt. Hidden costs show up and they end up paying for it...

[HES]

A+ is a waste of time, hit the Cisco stuff hard. Pick up a scripting language as well.
+1. I worked 12 years with I Be Miserable and Ma Bell as a network engineer. Cisco is the way to go in networking. I had my CCNA. Since I started my own non-it business 4 years ago I forgot to renew this year. Now with the economic slow down I've been looking for work in the IT industry, but they all want at least a CCNA and I have to study again and retake the test. :(

I would suggest after your CCNA to concentrate on the Cisco security certifications. A lot of the infrastructure has been emplaced already (which is what I did). Security is where I see a lot of action and that action staying in the US.

A+ certification is good if you want to work for a small outfit or a a business unit like 'Geek Squad' or 'Firedog' (but dont expect to get paid a lot) doing SOHO work, but the good money is with the large corporations.

[jostha2007]

I have to agree.. VMWare / Virtualization is the way to go. I just got my VCP, and am doing SAP SRM and SOLMAN servers on our VM env. This type of experience along with the RHCE and GSEC i got earlier this year should make me pretty marketable. However the trend is still leaning toward off shoring.

I am about 1/2 a step from bustin my butt back into shape and going to the Police Academy and doing something I would much rather be doing.

:D