Another principle that doesn't change is that IT is about people, both clients and staff. Technology is powerful but people are the lifeblood of the system. As has been stressed in various tales on these pages, a key to our field is customer service; the core of what we do is taking care of the organization's people and systems. On the staffing side, ensure that being a member of the IT team is challenging and rewarding, and always be sure to recognize and acknowledge a job well done.
Next, business and IT must be aligned to meet today's challenges. Whether the organization is a nonprofit, part of the government or a commercial firm, the IT staff must understand the business deeply to best support it. We must possess an astounding amount of knowledge about the business and the company mission to demonstrate and convey the value of IT in our projects.
IT is also driven by standards. I see the increasing use of standards such as CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) and ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library), as well as governance initiatives like Cobit and others, as beneficial to the profession. Especially important is the use of solid project-management practices (project-management skills increasingly are in demand in IT these days). Our staff members are called to manage both projects and people. The most successful IT projects are those in which project-management standards are really used.
The final unchanging principle is to prepare for change. The nature of IT requires that we all keep up with many technologies. Leaders and managers must foster training and education as we're continually asked to learn new products, new processes and new skills. Don't underestimate the effort it takes to be at the "top" of your game in IT. I joke that IT staffers are like doctors treating patients--except with anatomy that changes almost daily.
Our field has grown into a true profession in my opinion--a vocation that calls for a great amount of specialized education across a variety of disciplines, as well as a considerable amount of hands-on practical experience. As with other professions, we in IT have training requirements, continuing education demands to keep up with the field, and certifications. We differ from some professions, such as law and medicine, that have regulatory bodies, but I could see IT moving in that direction in the future.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
There are many network courses that can address your present job's priorities and help you gain the needed skills to keep pace with industry changes and new technologies.
