Freelancer of the Future – Where is the Industry Heading?

No you won’t find anything about going to work on hoverboots or becoming one with your machine in the manner of the Matrix or the Lawnmower Man (look it up if you have to). Every so often, you have to take stock of the way you have always done things, and look at where the industry is going, and if you are going in the same direction as it….and find out what to do if you’re not.

As a reader of all things educational and IT related, the last few weeks have made my head ache and my eyes water (literally) as I digested (not literally, figuratively) page after page and screen after screen of future developments in the IT and education sector in the UK…and the future is coming to a screen near you! For the less well researched (or those with a full time job!) the rough/hitchhiker’s guide is as follows;

IT Users – set to become the ‘so what’ of the industry as there will be few or no jobs that required only IT using skills, but in fact will expect that members of staff will be able to use IT as part of their everyday role to carry out their normal duties. Consequently, IT user support will wane eventually as everyone will be better at using the tools they have to do their jobs (however, this will take a while!).

IT data transfer and protection is one of the big growth areas due to the number of remote and distant workers. Data management, storage and transferability, and opening up systems to be used remotely effectively will also be key.

IT outsourcing and management of outsourced operations will be an ongoing requirement, along with negotiating the surrounding factors for this area (and probably global languages as well). Service level agreements, communication skills and general reporting and managing key stakeholders is going to be at the fore.

IT Architecture – not just hardware but software too -putting together components of equipment or software to make a full system of machinery or data management. Programming in the bespoke way is on its way out, as more and more modules from vendors become interoperable.

Strategic IT Management – it won’t be enough just to manage the stuff and to hide in the basement – instead, the IT manager will also be a strategic part of the business – maybe it won’t even be a separate role but will be combined in the duties of the general strategic manager.

Training and Development – goes without saying, will have to match the priority areas for the industry, or it wouldn’t be worth doing.

Young up and comings – as qualifications are developed more in line with the national priorities (for whatever country you live in), the number of young up and comings is going to improve, and, as it does so, we are all going to need to improve even more, or be seen to be the anoraks of the past. Don’t let it happen to you!

Although this run through of the UK IT industry has been done quite breezily, and in the usual style of our site, this really is a serious matter, and, as a freelancer or a small business, this is one of the areas you can easily get left behind – alternatively, as you don’t have to call a board meeting every time you want to make a change, you may be able to respond more quickly than your competition.

Check out the link below and for an overview of the UK/European Industry overview.

http://www.e-skills.com (UK E-skills council)

Then, find any additional local data you might need, and give yourself some time to think, you might want to do nothing, you might already be preparing for this in some small way. Even if not, just knowing what is going on in your industry, in your country, can help you to prepare for the future more effectively than not knowing.