Six Top IT Skills you Must Get if You Want to be Relevant in 2016

The outgoing year 2015 is an IT-driven year. Individuals, businesses and even the government utilized IT infrastructures to achieve various goals. Many more people are acquiring IT skills and building their careers in IT development. The year 2016 will not be different as more and more IT skills will be on demand in the marketplace. Here are the six top IT skills that will arguably be on demand in the year 2016.

Data Management

Data managers develop and execute architectures, policies, practices and procedures in order to manage the information lifecycle needs of an enterprise in an effective manner. The sheer volume of data required to be managed by corporate organizations has increased significantly and is now sometimes referred to as big data.

Data managers are in charge of Data Life Cycle management (DLM), a policy-based approach to managing the flow of an information system’s data from creation and initial storage to the time when it becomes obsolete and deleted. They are also in charge of Master Data Management (MDM), a comprehensive method of enabling an enterprise to link all of its critical data to a single file called a master file which provides a common point of reference.

Applications Development

Applications development is indeed one of the most lucrative IT skills, especially for Technopreneurs. App developers are in high demand and their work easily attract financial support from individuals and organization powering ICT innovation across Africa and around the world. App developers provide technological solutions to different problems by building apps which can run on mobile or desktop devices. In Nigeria, there are coding training centers where candidates are trained how to code for free e.g. Andela.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing involves storing and accessing data and programs over the internet instead of on computer hard drives. With cloud computing, accessing data from anywhere is fast and easy. More businesses now utilize different cloud computing products for data management. There are clouds that are Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), where the business subscribes to an application it accesses over the internet. Some businesses also create their own custom applications for use in their companies. This is called Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). There are also big players like Microsoft, Amazon, Google etc that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) which are made available for companies to use on a premium basis.

With the need to handle, store and access data safely and securely, more cloud computing experts would be needed by companies.

Enterprise Business Applications

Enterprise business applications are applications or software that a business would use to assist in solving its enterprise problems. They are usually used by big companies to handle complex and critical enterprise systems. These applications are used in financial management, human resource, supply chain and customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

More companies would need IT experts in this area to handle their critical systems. Some Enterprise Business Applications products are; Oracle e-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise Applications, Microsoft Business Solutions etc. More IT firms are also providing consultancy services for enterprise systems solutions and more experts in this area would be needed.

Information Security Management

With the rising threat on information security, companies are continually looking for ways to protect their business data. Companies want to reduce risk, mitigate liability, ensure business continuity, reduce operating costs and future-proof their business, therefore, IT experts are needed in Information Security Management. Solutions such as Security Management Systems (SeMS) are being used to combat information security problems.

Programme Management

If you’re familiar with project management then programme management won’t be strange. Programme management is about managing groups of projects to achieve a desired outcome or benefit for an organization. It’s about the structuring and control of different projects in order to deliver effectively as a group. Many companies with a network of projects at hand will require the services of programme managers. Programme managers acquire certification in programme management called Programme Management Professionals (PgMP)® which is issued by the Project Management Institute.