Sunday, August 06, 2006

Boston Market -- August

The summer ushered in a minor slowdown on the employment front in the greater Boston area. The Monster Local Employment Index (pdf) for June dropped slightly. This decrease appears to reflect a seasonal slowdown that Monster.com has experienced each of the last three summers. However, online demand for computer and mathematical (IT) positions reached a new high "suggesting an upbeat third-quarter hiring outlook for local technology professionals," according to the company's press release.

This continuing demand for IT workers is also reflected in the IT Employment Index (pdf) for July calculated by National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB).

This month's market analysis explores the demand for professionals with the title of webmaster. According to Wikipedia, "a webmaster (some women prefer webmistress) is a person responsible for designing, developing, marketing, or maintaining website(s). A broader definition of webmaster is a businessperson who uses online media to sell products and/or services. This broader definition of webmaster covers not just the technical aspects of overseeing website construction and maintenance but also management of content, advertising, marketing, and order fulfillment for the website."

So, a webmaster needs not only technical skills, but also, analytical and marketing skills. A search on keywords at job posting sites reveals that as the role of a web designer/developer expands from the expense side of the company's ledger (How much money will this website cost?") to the revenue side ("How much money will this website generate?") the number of job opportunities also expands.

Here is a listing of keywords commonly associated with "webmaster" along with the number of job listings posted for that keyword at two popular job search sites [ BostonWorks ] [ Monster ]:

  • webmaster [ 9 ] [ 14 ]
  • SEO (search engine optimization) [ 6 ] [ 19 ]
  • web analytics [ 9 ] [ 22 ]
  • e-marketing [ 5 ] [ 29 ]
  • e-mail campaigns [ 24 ] [ 37 ]
  • e-commerce [ 84 ] [ 268 ]

The bottom line is that web designers and developers who position themselves as valued members of the revenue-generation (e-commerce) team will experience more and better job prospects in today's marketplace.

The first step in positioning your skills for e-commerce opportunities is to demonstrate the basic ability to measure website traffic, referred to as web analytics. For an overview of web analytics, access a 13-minute podcast entitled Startup Guide to Website Analytics.

The market leading software company in this space is WebTrends. A basic open-source version of this software is available for FREE from Google. Google Analytics is offered by invitation only; however, you can request an invitation. My experience is that you'll only have to wait a few days to receive instructions for getting started.

Adding "web analytics" to your tool kit is an easy first step in developing the analytical skills necessary to position yourself on the revenue side of any company's balance sheet. And once you can demonstrate that your expertise pays for itself, what company wouldn't hire you?
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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

The 90 / 90 Rule

Over the next five years state and local governments will lead the push toward open source software, according to an analysis conducted by market research firm Government Insight. The report estimates a 30% compound annual growth rate in open source software spending through 2009.

Combine this trend with the shift toward Internet-based software (Software as a Service) in the form of Web applications and the future looks bright for Web designers with "back-end" programming and database skills.

Let's look at the data. According to Netcraft's July 2006 Web Server Survey, Open-source Apache Web server hosts approximately 60% of the world's web sites. Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) hosts approximately 30%. And Microsoft has experienced a resurgence in the past six months capturing market share from Apache. This growth spurt corresponds to Microsoft's release of Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and ASP.NET 2.0.

The practical implications are the following:
  • Web developers in the government, not-for-profit and small business sectors should position themselves for future growth by investing training time in learning "LAMP stack" technologies (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)
  • Web developers in the large-company, for-profit world should consider developing Microsoft-specific Web application technology skills centered on ASP.NET and SQL Server

Here's the 90 / 90 Rule:

"Ninety percent of the world's 90 million websites are hosted on two technology platforms: Apache and Microsoft."

Implication:

Web developers proficient in open source (PHP & MySQL) and proprietary (ASP.NET and SQL Server) technologies will be best positioned for career security for the remainder of the decade.
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Monday, July 31, 2006

Time for a Redesign?

How big is the Internet? According to Metamend, a search engine optimization (SEO) firm, when Bill Clinton was first inaugurated as President in January 1993 there were 200 hostnames in use and only eight of them ended in .com or .net! According to the Netcraft July 2006 Web Server Survey, during the first six months of 2006 an estimated two million hostnames have been added to the Internet -- that's 2,000,000 per month!

So, there is plenty of new work out there for web designers and developers. What about old work -- reworking sites that are already up and running?

According to Best Website Services, a Chicago-based consulting firm, here is the one question you can use to initiate a dialogue with a client about the potential for a site redesign:

"Is the basic design of your Web site more than two years old?"

If so, the potential client should consider a redesign. Here are seven follow-up questions you can use in your discussion with that client that will help clarify the need for a redesign:
  1. Was the site built on a tight budget?
  2. Does the site look dated?
  3. Has the client's business changed?
  4. Has the competition gotten ahead of the client?
  5. Has the client gained a better understanding of its customers?
  6. Is the content difficult or costly to keep fresh?
  7. Does the client need to increase the site's visibility?

For a detailed explanation of each talking point access "Seven Signs You Need a Web Site Redesign."
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Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Ajax Workshop

As we read in last week's post, Web 2.0 means different things to different people. But the one Web 2.0 buzzword that may add value to your resume right now is Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML).

A FREE AJAX Workshop is now available online. The first class starts Friday, August 4. One new class session will be posted each week for a total of ten weeks.

The workshop is offered by a technology architect at Sun Microsystems. While the course is designed as an overview there are prerequisites as follows:

  • Some HTML experience helpful but not required
  • Some JavaScript experience helpful but not required
  • 1 month Java programming experience
  • 1 month web application programming experience
The course creator offers links to tutorials to help you gain experience with technologies you may not feel comfortable with. In addition, several software packages and components need to be downloaded and installed in order to participate fully. Check out the Course FAQ for details to help you decide if the training is right for you at this time -- the workshop will be offered several times throughout the year.

To register simply join the Ajax Workshop Yahoo! Group or send an e-mail to ajaxworkshop-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

If you decide to make a commitment to Ajax training, additional materials are available to assist with your development. In particular, check out the following books available from Sams Publishing:

If you have more than ten minutes to devote to your career development, then check out the following:

The "10 Minute" books will set you back $15 each. The "24 Hour" book costs $25. When you become a Sams Publishing member -- which is FREE -- you'll receive a 30% discount on your first order.

So, for a maximum investment of only $40, plus a consistent time commitment over a ten-week period, you could become one of the first kids on your block to put Ajax to use. Wouldn't that make your mom proud?
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Saturday, July 22, 2006

Dale Carnegie Skills

"The only way candidates can win that next coveted job is to distinguish themselves from the other hundreds of job seekers vying for the role," according to Gary Lust, a senior technology recruiter. "Everyone . . . can do the tech stuff. To get to that next level you have to provide both the tech and the business skills necessary today," continues Lust in an interview in Information Week.

Lust suggests technology professionals should consider developing "Dale Carnegie" skills to help distinguish themselves from their equally qualified peers. The most valuable non-technical skill for technology professionals to develop may well be sales skills.

No matter where you are in the life cycle of your career, sales skills can make a difference when attempting to . . .

  • land that first job
  • land a better job
  • land a consulting assignment
  • convince a client they should use your services over your competition's

One of the best ways to learn about sales skills, and begin practicing proven sales techniques, is to follow the lead of business executives who are constantly looking for that competitive advantage. BusinessWeek magazine offers insight each month with the publication of The BusinessWeek Best-Seller List (pdf). Sitting in the four and five positions are the following:

In an earlier blog article I reviewed The World is Flat, the long-standing #1 on this popular list of business books. I outlined why technology professionals should read this book to help understand how to position themselves in today's global economy.

In these companion books sales expert Jeffrey Gitomer provides insight into the sales process. Like many technology professionals I find myself a bit uncomfortable in my current roll as "salesman" as I attempt to advance my career by landing a new job. What I found most refreshing about Gitomer's approach is that many of the manipulative sales techniques we've all been exposed to from time to time (think: used car salesman) are actually counterproductive. Successful long-term sales is more about relationship-building and adding value up front before the sale is made.

If you are looking to land that first job, make more money, or otherwise advance your technology career, then The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers might be more valuable than any technology book on your shelf today. Buy them, read them, study them, master them -- profit from them!
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Monday, July 10, 2006

Web 2.0 Update

According to one viewpoint, Web 2.0 is a vague buzzword with no fixed meaning that incorporates whatever is new and popular on the Web (blogs, podcasts, social networks, etc.).

According to Wikipedia, "Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate and share information online."

According to the majority of Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Web 2.0 is a combination of promise and hype. The results of a recent poll of 184 CIOs reveals how they view Web 2.0:

  • a promising new business model (9%)
  • marketing hype (20%)
  • a combination of promise and hype (56%)
  • unsure (15%)

An analysis of the current job market confirms the viewpoint of the majority of CIOs. Listed below are a few of the buzzwords commonly associated with "Web 2.0" along with the number of job listings mentioning that keyword [BostonWorks.com, Monster.com]:

  • Ajax [ 22 ][ 68 ]
  • RSS [ 1 ][ 17 ]
  • blog [ 4 ][ 1 ]
  • wiki [ 3 ][ 2 ]
  • mashup [ 0 ][ 0 ]
  • podcast [ 2 ][ 0 ]

Clearly, Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is the one Web 2.0 technique that has value in today's marketplace. However, knowledge of the technologies that are used in the Ajax technique (JavaScript and XML) carry even greater market weight as follows:

By this measure XML is a full order of magnitude (10 times) more valuable in the marketplace than Ajax. If you want to place a bet on Web 2.0, it makes sense to place it on XML.

To learn more about XML, sign up for XML: Introduction, a FREE course offered at the HP Learning Center. Class begins Thursday, July 13.
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Friday, July 07, 2006

Boston Market -- Third Quarter, 2006

The Monster Employment Index hit another all-time high in June -- its eighth new high in the last 12 months -- indicating strong job demand. "Higher demand for white-collar occupations such as management, finance and IT suggests continued momentum of U.S. economy amid increasingly tight labor market," according to a Monster press release.

Beantown Web monitors IT jobs (Web-related jobs to be specific) on a monthly basis via the "Boston Market" series of postings. Beginning this month, and continuing on a quarterly basis, Beantown Web will conduct a more thorough TACK analysis. Acronyms abound throughout the technology industry and TACK is Beantown Web's contribution to the naming confusion. TACK stands for Tools, Acronyms, Containers, and Knowledge.

  • Tools -- software programs used in Web design and development
  • Acronyms -- languages used in Web design and development
  • Containers -- database programs used to store information
  • Knowledge -- certifications that indicate proficiency in a specific technology area

One way to gauge the current job demand is through a keyword search on specific technology skills at selective online job sites. Beantown Web monitors two sites: BostonWorks and Monster. Keywords are then grouped into one of the four TACK categories.

A few of the common keywords associated with Web design and Web development jobs are included in the listings below.

Note: the numbers in parentheses indicate the number of job postings that list that keyword in the job description. [ First number: BostonWorks.com ][ Second number: Monster.com ]

Tools (software)

  • Photoshop [ 92 ][219]
  • Flash [ 44 ][ 38 ]
  • Dreamweaver [ 46 ][ 81 ]
  • Visual Studio [ 29 ][ 116 ]

Acronyms (languages)

Containers (databases)

Knowledge (certifications)

  • The demand for certified professionals varies by discipline. All things being equal certification helps to distinguish you from your competition. An appropriate certification entry point for Web design and Web development professionals is Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW). For a complete listing of all technology certifications, along with links to the appropriate certification Website, be sure to check out the Web Apprentices Career Center.

A few quick observations:

  • Monster.com consistently lists twice as many opportunities as BostonWorks.com
  • Acronym (language) skills are in greater demand than Tool (software) skills
  • Container (database) skills are in greater demand than Tool (software) skills

Web designers and developers who want to maneuver their careers (TACK through the winds of constant technology change) should focus on one Acronym (language) and one Container (database) and set a near-term goal to obtain additional training and experience.

Recommended training courses for July are as follows:

All three courses are available for FREE compliments of the HP Learning Center. Classes begin Thursday, July 13.
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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

The 86 Best Places to Work

Computerworld has identified the 100 Best Places to Work in IT in America. Three of them are in Massachusetts:

The Society of Human Resource Management has identified the 50 Best Small and Medium Businesses to Work in America. Three of them are in Massachusetts:


The Boston Business Journal has identified the 80 Best Places to Work in Massachusetts in four categories as follows:

Emerging Companies (10-24 Employees)

Small Companies (25-100 Employees)

Midsize Companies (101-500 Employees)

Large Companies (500+ Employees)

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Friday, June 23, 2006

The Business of Blogging

On average a new blog is created every second of every day -- that's 75,000 new blogs a day, according to Technorati, a website that tracks the blogosphere. Many of these blogs are personal, but increasingly, they are seen as valuable business tools. In fact, . . .

"Blogs will make or break your business." This opening sentence sets the premise for a new research report published by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. The study surveyed 74 well-known and established bloggers in their respective fields.

From a business perspective blogs can act as "huge ongoing focus groups providing feedback and ideas." So the question that researchers asked was "how does a business enter and thrive in the blogosphere?"

The two primary reasons for starting a business blog are as follows (percentage of respondents):
  1. marketing / promotional use (31%)
  2. public relations / communicate with customers (27%)
Here are a few blogosphere truths outlined in the report:
  1. Blogs take time and commitment
  2. Blogs must be part of a plan
  3. A blog is a conversation
  4. Transparency, authenticity, and focus are good. Bland is bad.

For complete details access, Behind the Scenes in the Blogosphere: Advice from Established Bloggers (pdf).

Once you launch your business blog, consider providing a link to the iBlog Business Directory. Billed as the World’s First Business Blog Directory Solely Dedicated to Business and Corporate Blogs, your submission is free and the service could help put you in touch with potential readers for the business topic you are writing about.

What are the implications for Web designers and developers? That's easy. We possess the tools and information to help guide business leaders in establishing a presence on the Internet. A business blog is another tool designed to help businesses communicate and we are uniquely positioned to advise business leaders on the process. Download this report today, study it, and use it to open a dialogue with current and prospective clients.
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Thursday, June 22, 2006

IT Labor Market Update

New online job ads increased in May according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series™. The number of new online job ads in May was slightly lower than the record levels in March. New England remains the region with the highest number of new online jobs. For every 100 workers there were 2.38 job ads.

A closer look at the technology marketplace reveals that U.S. tech employment is near an all-time high while unemployment is around 3.0%, near its record low. According to a WashTech/CWA report unemployment is underreported and is actually around 3.6%. Any number less than 4% is below the national average for other sectors and suggests a healthy tech employment environment.

So where are the IT jobs? According to a quarterly survey of Chief Information Officers (CIOs), 13 percent of executives polled plan to add IT staff in the next three months and three percent anticipate cutbacks. The net 10 percent hiring increase is up two percentage points from the previous quarter’s forecast.

"As the employment market becomes more competitive, technology executives will need to focus their efforts on sound retention strategies," according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report.

When asked which technical skill sets were needed most within their IT departments, CIOs responded as follows (percent responding):

  • Microsoft Windows administration (Server 2000/2003) (79%)
  • network administration (Cisco, Nortel, Novell) (76%)
  • database management (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2) (69%)

The implication for Web designers and developers is clear: to improve marketability formalize your training and expand your experience in the following two areas:

  • Web server administration
  • database-driven Web applications
One class to consider is Firewall Basics available for FREE at the HP Learning Center.
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Saturday, June 10, 2006

Offshoring Update

Are technology jobs moving offshore? Research suggests that concerns are overblown. If fact, "IT positions requiring advanced degrees and business knowledge are growing at a pace on par with the boom years experienced in the 1990s," according to a newly released research study.

However, low-level technology jobs are most at risk for moving offshore. These jobs generally meet the following criteria:
  • labor intensive
  • easy to codify
  • requires little face-to-face contact

A press summary and a detailed report (pdf) of "Offshoring of Information-Technology Jobs: Myths and Realities" is available from American Sentinel University.

So, what are some of the high level technology jobs that are likely to continue to be in demand?

According to Money Magazine's Best Jobs in America two of the Top 10 jobs are the following:

How does your job compare? Check out the statistics on The Top 50 jobs, as well as, 166 additional job titles.
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Sunday, June 04, 2006

Boston Market -- June

Average IT workers are doing well financially in America. Average is good enough to earn $73,000 as an IT staffer. If you have management expertise then average is good enough to earn $99,000 as an IT manager. These figures represent salaries (and bonus, if applicable) and do not reflect the value of benefits which can add an additional 30% beyond salary. These findings are summarized in the InformationWeek Research's National IT Salary Survey, an annual query of more than 10,000 technology professionals.

The lowest-paying IT jobs are in the following categories:

  • networking
  • training
  • IT support

Job titles matter. If you want to earn a six-figure income work your way into a job title that includes one of the following:

  • architect
  • sales support engineer

If you are manager the largest pay packages includes that following job functions:

  • data mining and data warehouse
  • human resources IT
  • Web infrastructure
  • ERP
  • enterprise application integration

Charts are available to graphically represent the compensation for staffers and managers in the most common IT functions. Compensation for Web design and development averages $64,000 for staffers and $88,000 for managers. How does your pay check compare?

So, what do you do if you want to enjoy a bigger pay day? Here are three options to consider:

  • acquire additional technology skills
  • prepare for a move into management
  • acquire business skills

"Technology is integrated into all aspects of business, which means technical aptitude alone will not suffice for IT candidates," according to a representative of Robert Half Technology. Their national poll of more than 1,400 CIOs from large companies reveals that forty-one percent said they are placing greater emphasis on job candidates’ knowledge of business fundamentals. To be competitive in today's IT marketplace technology workers need basic business proficiency in finance, marketing and management.

So, here's the training recommendation for June:

  • Learn higher level technology skills
  • Learn to manage projects and people
  • Learn more about business
In order to earn more you have to learn more. What you learn this month will be reflected in what you earn next month and beyond.
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Friday, June 02, 2006

20 Questions

IT workers are on the move. Nearly half of all IT workers are planning a job change. Here are the three top reasons why technology professionals are testing the waters:

  • higher compensation
  • not liking their current company's management or corporate culture
  • seeking more personal fulfillment
The following "niche pockets" are seeing a greater than average demand for talent:

  • business analysis
  • project management

For details on the survey of more than 8,000 employed U.S. adults including more than 500 who hold IT jobs, access Information Week.

So, let's say you are a Web technology professional preparing to shop your talents. Here's a game plan for preparing for a potential interview.

  • Step #1 -- review the 20 potential interview questions below
  • Step #2 -- select one question a day for the next 20 days and formulate your response

Step#1

A Seattle-based search engine optimization (SEO) company called SEOmoz developed the following 20 interview questions:

  1. What industry sites and blogs do you read regularly?
  2. Do you prefer to work alone or on a team?
  3. How comfortable are you with writing HTML entirely by hand?
  4. What is the w3c?
  5. Can you write table-less XHTML? Do you validate your code?
  6. What are a few of your favorite development tools and why?
  7. Describe/demonstrate your level of competence in a *nix shell environment
  8. What skills and technologies are you the most interested in improving upon or learning?
  9. Show me your portfolio!
  10. What sized websites have you worked on in the past?
  11. Show me your code!
  12. What are a few sites you admire and why? (from a webdev perspective)
  13. Fix this code, please.
  14. I just pulled up the website you built and the browser is displaying a blank page. Walk me through the steps you'd take to troubleshoot the problem.
  15. What's your favorite development language and why?
  16. Do you find any particular languages or technologies intimidating?
  17. Acronym time (oh boy!)
  18. What web browser do you use?
  19. Rank your interest in these development tasks from 1 to 5 (compiled from a list of tasks the job requires)
  20. What are a few personal web projects you've got going on?

For details about the rationale for each question access Interviewing Web Developers and consider SEOmoz for your search engine optimization needs as a way of rewarding them for their contribution to the Web development community.

Step #2

Tackle a few of the more time-consuming questions first, one at a time, because they can make the most difference in separating you from your potential competition. In particular, the questions related to organizing your work and training experiences include the following:

  • Show me your portfolio!
  • What sized websites have you worked on in the past?
  • Show me your code!
  • What are a few personal web projects you've got going on?
If you are just starting out and don't have an amazing portfolio, that's OK. You're not expected to. However, organizing the work you do have in one clean, easy-to-navigate Website can go a long way to making a positive first impression.

Remember: The World is Flat -- start running!
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The World is Flat

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion,
or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle,
or it will starve to death.
It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.

This African proverb provides the tone for The World is Flat, a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. Author Thomas Friedman will receive the award for Webby Person of the Year at the 10th annual Webby Awards on June 12.

Business executives across the country have kept this book atop the BusinessWeek Best-Seller List for more than a year. These leaders are making decisions about the future of work in America, the future of your work -- your job. Can you afford not to add this book to your personal reading list?

Friedman chronicles The Ten Forces That Flattened the World. Starting with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 these ten forces reached a tipping point around the turn of the century. About that time you and I began competing, unknowingly, with 150 million educated, Web-enabled workers outside the United States. These workers want your job and are willing to take a lot less money to do it.

Friedman details how you and I can stay relevant and remain competitive in a flattened world. The goal is to become an Untouchable -- a person whose job can not be outsourced. Untouchables come in four categories:

  • workers who are "special"
  • workers who are "specialized"
  • workers who are "anchored"
  • workers who are "really adaptable"

The bottom line is that "while technology advances make last year's work a commodity, reskilling, continual professional education and client intimacy to develop new relationships keeps him or her ahead of the commodity curve and away from a potential offshore."

The World is Flat, start running!
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The Globe 100

The Boston Globe has released The Globe 100 -- the best performing public companies of 2005 in Massachusetts. Topping the list as Company of the Year is dot-com survivor Akamai Technologies, Inc. of Cambridge.

A complete list of 27 stories is available at the Boston Globe. Registration is required, but is free.

If you are looking for a job, consider the 50 Fastest Growth Companies. You can also consider the Top 10 Technology Companies ranked by revenue. They are as follows:

  1. Raytheon
  2. EMC Corporation
  3. Analog Devices
  4. CMGI
  5. Teradyne
  6. Avid Technology
  7. Parametric Technology Corp.
  8. Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates
  9. Kronos
  10. MKS Instruments
Looking to work for a company a little closer to home? Then access an interactive map of The Globe 100.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Webby Awards -- 2006

The Webby Awards is the leading international honor for Web sites and the innovators behind them. New York Times proclaimed the Webby Awards "the online equivalent of an Oscar." This year's winners have been announced in 69 categories.

The 10th Annual Webby Awards received a record 5,500 entries from over 40 countries around the world. In addition, more than 300,000 votes were cast by people around the world to identify the People's Voice Awards.

Organizers also announced recipients of this year's Webby Special Achievement awards, including the following:

[ NOTE: Beantown Web will review Friedman's influential book, The World is Flat, in a upcoming issue. ]

The 2006 Webby Awards winners are as follows:
Learn more about the Webby Awards by accessing a press release. You can also review the People's Voice Winners and additional category nominees at the Web Awards Website.
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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Boston Market -- May

Trend #1: The Consumer Confidence Index rose in April to its highest level since March 2002. "Recent improvements in the labor market have been a major driver behind the rise in confidence in early 2006," according to a Conference Board representative.

Trend #2: The most recent Monster Employment Index for Boston (pdf) reached its highest level since it was launched 12 months ago.

Trend #3: The Yoh Index of Technology Wages ended the first quarter of 2006 at the highest level since its inception.

Trend #4: Microsoft will invest an additional $2 billion in a variety of technologies designed to transform its way of doing business on the Web.

So how do technology professionals capitalize on these powerful trends? By making a commitment to learning Microsoft's Web-based technologies. SQL is the generic database language that cements these technologies together.

BostonWorks.com lists the following opportunities:

Monster.com lists the following opportunities:

The best training value this month is to download the following FREE software:

Then, make an investment in one of three new Dummies books:

You invest $20. Microsoft invests $2 billion. Where can you get a better return on investment than that?
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Sunday, April 23, 2006

Streaming Media

In 2005, broadband Internet access surpassed 50 percent of U.S. households and is expected to reach 75 percent by 2011 according to a new research report released Friday. Along with high-speed connection comes the capability to deliver quality video content.

An increasing number of Websites are offering video content, not only in the form of entertainment (Lost and Desperate Housewives), but also in the form of product demos, educational seminars, and other so-called "streaming media" service offerings.

For additional information about the report findings access a press release and a market research report summary available from Insight Research.

So, what is streaming media? Two definitions follow:
  • media (Web content) that is consumed (read, heard, viewed) while it is being delivered (source: Wikipedia)
  • the transmission of digital audio and video files over an IP network or wireless network in real time or on-demand, while prohibiting users from storing the files locally (source: Insight Research)

The most important factor driving the consumer segment is content-on-demand -- the desire by consumers to listen and watch what they want at the time and place of their choosing.

The practical implication for Web developers is that clients will increasingly seek to differentiate their Web-based offerings via streaming media content and designers and developers should become knowledgeable and proficient in educating clients on the available options.

To learn more about streaming media access University of Wisconsin's Understanding Streaming Media tutorial series. Then visit the Creation and Production section to learn more about the five most popular streaming media technologies.

To understand the specific HTML code you would use to add rich media content to a Website access Embedding Streaming Video in a Web Page available from Media College. In particular, check out the technique used to enable video to be displayed in both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Code is available in the following formats:

As the Web evolves so must a Web professional's skills. And rich media content development is a skill consistent with the recent increase in demand for Web Marketing skills.
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Thursday, April 20, 2006

Skilled Tech Workers in Demand

Virtually all CEOs of the fastest growing technology companies say they have plans to grow their workforce over the next 12 months. However, 41 percent said finding, hiring and retaining qualified employees remains the major challenge.

Here are some of the strategies technology companies are using to attract quality workers:

  • increase stock options or some form of ownership interest (71 percent)
  • offer flexible work hours (49 percent)
  • offer additional vacation days (23 percent)
  • offer training and development programs (35 percent)
  • provide a career growth plan (28 percent)

So, what does it take to succeed at a fast growing high tech company? According to CEOs their success can be attributed to the following qualities:

  • entrepreneurial spirit (72 percent)
  • sheer determination to succeed (66 percent)

Making a lesser contribution were factors such as technical knowledge, upbringing, luck, personal relationships, and education.

A press release of The Technology Fast 500 CEO Survey can be found at the Deloitte Website. To access the websites of the 50 Fastest Growing Technology Companies in New England visit the Web Apprentices Career Center.
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