Want an IT Job? Add 'Cloud' To Your Buzzword List 187
jfruhlinger writes "There was a predicted uptick in IT hiring for late this year, but it's mid-November and it hasn't happened yet. Kevin Fogarty does see growth in one area, though: cloud and virtualization experts are being fought over, lured away from in-house jobs to cloud consultancies popping up everywhere."
no I won't (Score:0, Insightful)
I want an interesting job: administering java legoes written by computer idiots is not exactly a dream job.
Today's word..."Cloud" (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it's important to define the word "Cloud" as no one else seems to, yet the definition itself lends great insight to the concept.
The "Cloud", as referenced here, is nothing more than the delegation of responsibilities...specifically those of infrastructure. That's it. It's not some mystical cure all. In fact, it's nothing more than a glorified way to outsource applications.
Now there are specific technologies which lend themselves to this concept ( those of virtualization, certainly ), but the overall goal is the same; the business doesn't want to worry about the infrastructure behind their app. They simply want it to work.
Which is why internal "clouds" have always amused me to no end...
Re:no I won't (Score:1, Insightful)
Sorry to break it to you, but most computer related jobs are quite boring. The low-level jobs anyway, like in any industry.
Re:Same old story behind the cloud (Score:2, Insightful)
I believe it's the latter, plus data mining.
What better way to collect and sell valuable data than to have your customers entrust you with their confidential files and emails?
If the company that does no evil does it, what about those who don't care about what's good or evil?
I've also witnessed said "cloud" companies hold customer data ransom (ie, you cant just grab your files and go home, forget to pay the bills? bye bye data, and good luck pulling them out of some systems.)
Remember everyone's fears in 2003 when it was suspected that microsoft and other companies would start charging you to access your own files and essentially control your data?
Funny how that came true and people are buying the idea up, it just didnt happen to the desktop..
yet. (Watch, windows 8 will become more "cloud" dependent) Soon your logins (unless joined to a domain) will be handled with a .Net passport and your documents will be synced on "the cloud" and if you dont pay for the cloud services, the local copies will become locked and will not be accessible otherwise due to being stored in a encrypted and DRM locked down file that mounts as a filesystem.
Re:Today's word..."Cloud" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:To the Cloud! (Score:2, Insightful)
Running a remote desktop session for a single app that could just as well have been installed locally is pretty much the definition of "cloud computing" according to Microsoft.
Re:To the Cloud! (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, it is a very bad thing (Score:4, Insightful)
Is that a bad thing not to want to worry about the infrastructure?
Yes, it's a VERY VERY bad thing if your business and it's reputation relies on said infrastructure.
Re:Yes, it is a very bad thing (Score:3, Insightful)
Is that a bad thing not to want to worry about the infrastructure?
Yes, it's a VERY VERY bad thing if your business and it's reputation relies on said infrastructure.
I agree. Which is why I would assume that your company manages the following infrastructure internally:
buzzward savvy (Score:2, Insightful)
The demand is there, like it or not (Score:5, Insightful)
One very simple example: Do you have ever set up Google Apps for a domain, with email, contacts, calendar, Google sites and so on? Yeah, it's all in the cloud and all you have to do is clicking on buttons and filling out forms. Now go and look at some user trying to set this up. More likely than not he will get as far as configuring the MX-records and then he will cry for help.
All this cloud stuff seems to be so simple, but it very much isn't. And yes, this actually is nothing a real pro would like to bother with (you'll be fighting more with the UIs than anything else) but there is high demand for this, people think they can finally get away without someone who knows what he does, but they can't.
Most of this is in no way interesting or satisfying work but just fighting half-wit user interfaces. It's sometimes insulting, actually. Instead of really setting up things and controlling things you're hanging off someone else's setup and try to beat some sense out of it. It's often frustrating, you often will have to come to the conclusion that things you would like to do just can't be done because they're not offered and you can't do anything about that. But hey, it's just work.
Me? I'd rather setup a full server park from scratch with old PCs and Linux than fighting the "cloud", but guess what's in demand more. And yes, there's a whole army of trained monkeys out there, knowing every cloud service under the sun and with superhuman point-and-click abilities, but if you really know your job and also know about problems and limitations you can still easily make some money with this. Fun is this not, though. Fun is making things, not using things.
Re:Yes, it is a very bad thing (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:But only those with experience are wanted. (Score:1, Insightful)
And referring to all those job ads asking for more years of experience in a certain tech than that the tech is around.
Well, how else are companies supposed to hire H1-Bs?
Re:ignoring the 5 brain-dead replies so far... (Score:3, Insightful)
No idea about WPF and WCF, but the others are pretty old, well-established technologies. They show you do exactly the same things that everybody else has been doing for quite some time now.
If I want to hire a good Java programmer, I'd rather hire someone who also knows a bit of Scala, than someone who knows just Java. The Scala guy is more likely to be someone interested in new technologies, and more likely to be aware of new ways of doing stuff.
Re:Yes, it is a very bad thing (Score:4, Insightful)
And by the same token, smaller companies don't provide that infrastructure. This is exactly why "cloud computing" services are commonly targeted towards smaller companies. When you have three people in your office and a total budget of $500,000/year, buying and managing any infrastructure--for computing, power, communication, transportation, or water--can be daunting. Outsourcing management of these functions allows you and your employees to focus on your strengths.
And despite what the business weeklies may pretend, a massive part of our economy flows through small businesses rather than megacorps with on-campus roads and storage ponds.
Re:no I won't (Score:3, Insightful)
My wife is in the same boat. She's currently enrolled in Innumeracy 201.
"All it takes is a dollar and a dream."
"Gotta be in it to win it."
Great ads and they work better than the truth of: Have no bloody clue what a probability is.
Re:no I won't (Score:4, Insightful)
I know, I know.
I heard it put once that the best definition of the lottery was: " A voluntary tax for those that can't do math".
But when I buy $5 worth every once in awhile....it buys me about 2 days or so of daydreaming of what I'd do if I won all that money....