CIOs Forecast Increase in Second-Quarter IT Hiring
Chief information officers (CIOs) expect an uptick in hiring in the second quarter, according to the latest Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. Nine percent of technology executives plan to hire additional IT staff and 4 percent anticipate personnel reductions. The net 5 percent increase is up two points from the first quarter's forecast and three points higher than the year-ago projection.

The IT Hiring Index and Skills Report is based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States with 100 or more employees. It was conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis.

Key Findings

• Nearly 80 percent of technology executives are confident in their companies' prospects for growth in the second quarter.

• The net 5 percent increase in hiring activity that is forecast marks the second consecutive quarter in which hiring expectations have risen.

• Recruitment and retention are emerging as concerns for IT executives.

• CIOs in the nation's central regions - West South Central(1), West North Central(2) and East North Central(3) - forecast the strongest IT
  hiring activity.

Confidence in Business Growth and IT Investment

When asked to rate how confident they are in their companies' growth prospects in the second quarter, 79 percent of CIOs said they are very or somewhat confident. Additionally, 40 percent of technology executives said they are optimistic their firms will invest in new IT projects in the next three months.

Recruitment and Retention

Recruitment and retention are re-emerging as concerns for businesses, survey results show. Forty-five percent of technology executives said it is challenging to find skilled IT professionals today. Thirty-one percent said they are worried about losing top performers to other job opportunities in the next year.

Skills in Demand

When asked in which functional area it is most challenging to find skilled IT professionals, 15 percent of technology executives said networking. This was followed by security, with 12 percent of the response, and data/database management, with 11 percent.

According to CIOs surveyed, network administration is the technical skill set most in demand within their IT departments, with 64 percent of the response. Desktop support was a close second at 63 percent, followed by Windows administration at 61 percent. (Note: CIOs were allowed multiple responses.)

Industries Hiring

The finance, insurance and real estate sector leads the nation in hiring optimism for the first quarter, research shows. Twenty-three percent of CIOs plan to expand their IT departments and 3 percent forecast personnel reductions, for a net 20 percent increase in hiring activity. Twenty-five percent of technology executives in this sector said it's most difficult finding skilled IT security professionals, compared to 12 percent for all industries combined.

When asked to rate how confident they are in their companies' likelihood to invest in IT projects in the second quarter on a scale of one to five, one being the least confident, 56 percent of CIOs in the finance industry cited confidence levels of four or higher.

Technology executives in two other sectors forecast hiring activity above the national average. Eleven percent of CIOs with business services firms expect to add IT staff and 2 percent project personnel cutbacks, for a net 9 percent increase in hiring. In manufacturing, 9 percent of executives plan to expand their IT departments and 2 percent foresee staff reductions, for a net 7 percent increase in the hiring of IT personnel.

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Demand for Pay-per-Use Software Pricing Will Force a Reassessment of the Industry's Value Framework
While customer interest in pay-per-use (PPU) pricing is not a new phenomenon, the expansion of software as a service (SaaS) offerings and the advent of cloud computing are accelerating this trend. A recent software pricing survey by International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that customers want software pricing models that allow them to pay only for what they use while maintaining an even distribution of costs over time. To achieve this, vendors and customers will have to work together to redefine the software value framework.

Software vendors must immerse themselves in the activities of their customers to determine what they are hoping to achieve with the software. Once the vendor understands how the customer is using its software, it will be easier to determine the metric that is most appropriate for per-use measurement. But the move toward greater granularity and flexibility in pricing presents vendors and customers with a series of challenges, including: increased complexity in the applications; the need for tools to measure use; concerns about revenue and cost impact; and the fate of the partner ecosystem based on traditional notions of value.

It is not yet clear what impact usage-based pricing models will have on the economics of the software industry as a whole. In the meantime, software vendors need to focus on a series of issues to prepare the way for PPU and utility licensing options:

• Selecting resource utilization metrics that make sense in the context of software business value is one of the first challenges that a software vendor will face in moving to a PPU model. Vendors will need to work closely with their customers to determine what makes the most sense.

• Vendors must also be able to provide complete and detailed billing summaries that eliminate the customer need to collect usage information. The ability to provide accurate and timely resource utilization information will be crucial to winning customer acceptance of any new pricing structure.

• In addition to PPU pricing and tracking, the software architecture and delivery methodology must enable fast and flexible deployment of software resources to meet customers' changing business needs.

• Because customer preferences vary, vendors need to be prepared to offer a portfolio of licensing and delivery approaches.

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Survey Reveals 38% of IT Managers Ignoring Web 2.0 Risks
FaceTime Communications' fifth annual survey showed social media and Web 2.0 applications have been adopted by 99% of end users to support business processes, even though 38% of IT professionals believe there is no social networking present on their networks. Web chat also featured in 95% of organizations, yet was recognized by only 31% of IT Managers showing vivid differences between IT estimates and reality. IT Managers also reported an increasing requirement for the logging of IM (40% of IT respondents) and content posted to social networks (27% of IT respondents).

The survey shows that use of Internet applications has grown from being present in 78% of enterprises in 2007 to 99% of enterprise networks, with tools ranging from public IM, Skype, file sharing, web conferencing, and IPTV becoming commonplace. Some 53% of end users indicated that newer Web 2.0 tools are "better than those provided by my employer."

Social networking use for business has grown exponentially. While 95% of users now use social networking for business reasons, 61% said they use public social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube every day, up from 51% in 2008. Fifteen percent use these sites "constantly throughout the day." The use of tools such as Twitter for work purposes has risen almost sixfold in 12 months and now is used by 78% of end users.

While malware attacks through Web 2.0 applications continue to be the largest concern for IT professionals -- 69% of organizations reported at least one Web 2.0-related attack – worries about employee productivity with relation to Web 2.0 have fallen significantly, with just 24% reporting productivity concerns as an issue, down from 74% in 2007. Fourteen percent report data leakage over social networks and 18% indicate incidents occurring over social networks where disciplinary action was required.

A trend is beginning to emerge in relation to archiving and eDiscovery for Web 2.0 content. Sixty-six percent of organizations have been provided with guidance on retaining email traffic, this falls to 40% for IM and chat, but the requirement to retain content posted to social networks has appeared for the first time. Legal counsel has provided 27% of organizations with guidance on the retention of this content, with a further 42% of IT professionals anticipating that this will happen "shortly".

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The Napkin The Melon & The Monkey: How to Be Happy and Successful by Simply Changing Your Mind
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