IT Pros to Broaden their Experiences

According to Forrester research, the future of technology related careers will include moving in and out of the IT department. Gone are the days where one would start out as a programmer and move up the ladder from there.

Here are the current paths as Forrester sees them:

• Sourcing Path: An IT professional moved from vendor administration and relations to sourcing contracts and ecosystem management.
• Management Path: The worker moved from project management to portfolio or IT line-of-business management.
• Innovation Path: An IT professional moved from a business analyst position through process management and ownership to internal consulting.
• Technical Path: Often considered the most exciting path, the IT worker moved from entry-level tech up the ladder through integration to architect.

The difference in the future will be that IT professionals will step in and out of different paths on their way up the ladder making IT not the finish line, but rather a gateway to other roles in the company. Of course, the ultimate goal would still be the CIO and CTO roles.

Forrester also found that one of the most significant changes to the IT job path is in focus. Whereas previously, IT pros are now expected to go beyond their current internal focus and to become comfortable pinpointing the external.

Researchers also found that while the old IT job involved writing applications, managing systems and localized peers, the new one involves integrating applications and managing business and vendor relationships, and has globally dispersed virtual teams. Most pertinently, the new IT professional works in a business, not IT, context.