The Next Five Years | Part 2

Part 1 of a two-part "Skills of the Future" series identifies the skills that information technology (IT) managers project they will need over the next five years.

Part 2 reveals the largest single potential growth opportunity for Web technology professionals over the next five years.

Skills of the Future | Part 2

A research study released last week projects that the Web browser market for portable devices will explode by nearly an order of magnitude (10-fold increase) over the next five years. Here are the projections for Web enabled phones:

• 2007 | 76 million devices
• 2013 | 700 million devices

Mobile browsing is set for a major growth trend, and smartphones, like the iPhone, are leading the way. According to the Silicon Alley Insider (quoting m metrics), nearly 85 percent of iPhone owners browse the Web on their phones vs. just 13 percent for the overall U.S. mobile market.

Mobile Developers Needed

Wikipedia offers an informative overview of the mobile development landscape. A few of the more popular foundational skills needed to thrive in the mobile development space include the following:

• Java
• C++
• C#

Web professionals who want to focus on mobile development, but who don't wish to delve into these programming languages, can expand their opportunities by developing skill proficiency with "the two biggest variables that will spur mobile browsing", according to the research study:

• Ajax (JavaScript + XML)
• RSS

A press release of The Mobile Browser Market is available at the ABI Research website.

The Next Step

Web professionals should check out the W3C Mobile Web Initiative to learn more about mobile development. "The Mobile Web Initiative's goal is to make browsing the Web from mobile devices a reality", according to Tim Berners-Lee, Director of the Cambridge-based W3C and inventor of the World Wide Web.

Then, go to dev.mobi, "the world's most exciting mobile development community." Once there you can perform a Mobility Check by entering a Web address, previewing that website in various mobile device emulators and receiving a free analysis of how that site's web content is likely to function on a mobile device.

Lastly, mark your calendar for July 15 and attend the next meeting of the Web Innovators Group which has been organized to promote Boston’s Web and mobile innovation community. Details about the next meeting will be provided in an upcoming Beantown Web posting.

Go to >>> The Next Five Years | Part 1

The Next Five Years | Part 1

Part 1 of a two-part "Skills of the Future" series identifies the skills that information technology (IT) managers project they will need over the next five years.

Part 2 reveals the largest single potential growth opportunity for Web technology professionals over the next five years.

Skills of the Future | Part 1

A global survey of more than 3,500 information technology (IT) managers identifies the current tech skills in demand and projects tech skills that will be needed over the next five years.

Power Shift

Respondents to the survey were asked to rate skills on a scale from one (lowest) to seven (highest). Currently, the three leading IT skills are the following (percentage of skills receiving a six or seven rating):

• security (74 percent)
• general networking (66 percent)
• operating systems (66 percent)

The survey reveals that the following skill will grow in importance over the next five years to become the number one most valuable IT skill:

• wireless & radio frequency (RF) mobile technology

In an interview with ComputerWorld, a survey spokesperson stated the following:

"The findings are a warning to educational institutions to prepare IT graduates with coursework in wireless topics, including standards, software and hardware."

In an interview with eWeek, the same spokesperson stated the following:

"We'd certainly advise any school with an engineering or technology program for students to add wireless components, because we're going to need it."

Other skills expected to grow in importance through 2013 include the following technologies:

• Web 2.0
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
• Rich Internet Applications (RIA)
  
• Ajax

Additional Survey Results

Survey participants said that the top two things IT departments should be doing to grow tech staffers' skills are as follows:

• sending them to external, professional training classes (42 percent)
• offering rewards for workers who enhance their skill sets (41 percent)

In addition, the most likely positions to open up over the next five years will include the following skills:

• programming
• coding
• developing

The study was commissioned by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) and conducted by The Center for Strategy Research, a Boston-based market research firm. A press release is available for review. To review comments about the survey findings, access a related Information Week article.

The Next Step

According to the survey programmers/coders/developers will prosper over the next five years. Web professionals can continue to increase their skill profile by becoming proficient in the following Web 2.0-related programming skills:

• JavaScript
• ActionScript
  

JavaScript is the foundation of Ajax and ActionScript is fundamental in creating Rich Internet Applications in a Adobe's Flash environment.

The Top 20 Skills (see right-hand column) related to these Web 2.0 technologies include the following:

• XML (#5)
• JavaScript (#7)
• Flash (#13)
• Ajax (#15)

Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR technologies, while not in high demand currently, are worth monitoring, along with Microsoft's Silverlight technology.

Go to >>> The Next Five Years | Part 2

Boston Market -- 2008, Second Quarter

Despite gloomy economic numbers the job market for information technology (IT) professionals remains strong.

In fact, the job market for IT professionals grew more than nine percent from February 2007 to February 2008, according to the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB). A report entitled NACCB March 2008 IT Employment Index (pdf) states that IT employment in the United States stands at an all-time high of nearly 3.9 million workers.

Boston Market

Beantown Web's monthly Boston Market analysis confirms these findings. A comparison of job postings from early January to early April reveals that there are more job postings now than three months ago for 17 of the top 20 Web-related skills in the greater Boston area.

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston have been updated for April and appear in the right-hand column.

The Biggest Losers

The only three technologies to post losses during the first quarter include the following LAMP stack technologies:

• #17 MySQL (down 3 postings)
• #19 Apache (down 11 postings)
• #21 PHP (down 35 postings)

This may reflect Microsoft's relentless marketing efforts to position .NET as the Web technology of choice, especially in enterprise-scale operations. The three-month trends for comparable Microsoft-centric skills are as follows:

• #4 SQL Server (up 114 postings)
• #6 C# (up 86 postings)
• #10 ASP.NET (up 56 postings)
• #16 VB.NET (up 26 postings)
• #20 IIS (up 25 postings)
• #23 Visual Studio (up 60 postings)
  

Web Designers

Job postings for skills traditionally associated with Graphic & Web Design are also up over a three-month period. However, these skills offer a lower demand profile in the marketplace. A few of these designer skills include the following:

• #11 Photoshop (up 48 postings)
• #13 Flash (up 65 postings)
• #18 Illustrator (up 41 postings)
• #28 Dreamweaver (up 10 postings)
• #29 InDesign (up 7 postings)

Skills that bridge the gap between Web developer and Web designer include the following:

• #7 JavaScript (up 67 postings)
• #15 Ajax (up 44 postings)
  

Emerging Technologies

It is worth mentioning that caution is advised when investing time and energy in learning emerging technologies. The following technologies may rate high on the "Web 2.0" buzz meter, but currently rank relatively low on the marketplace demand scale:

• #34 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (65 postings)
• #40 Ruby (45 postings)
• #42 Fireworks (33 postings)
• #46 Rails (23 postings)
• #50 Adobe Flex (8 postings)
• #51 Silverlight (8 postings)
• #53 WordPress (5 postings)
• #54 Drupal (4 postings)
  

The Second Quarter

Web technology professionals can not afford to let their skills atrophy. Should the economy continue to display weakness, job losses in the IT sector could emerge. Now, more than ever, it is important to upgrade technology skills to keep pace with market demand.

Evaluate your current skill set against The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston. If you find your knowledge lacking in Top Ten skills, upgrade now starting with Structured Query Language (SQL). This universal language of databases is not likely to vacate the #1 spot any time soon. Like the Boston Celtics, SQL now has home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The ability to capture information and display it in a Web page using SQL is a fundamental skill of Web development, regardless of whether that database is one of the following:

• Oracle (#2)
• SQL Server (#4)
• MySQL (#17)

Set a goal to develop one new skill during the second quarter and post a demonstration project that displays that skill. The Web will continue to evolve, and the Web professional who maintains skills that the marketplace demands will live in a technology world of abundance.

7th Annual Sources of Hire Study

Looking for a job? A new study provides insight into the most productive strategies.

Nearly 50 large employers were included in the survey. These employers filled more than 300,000 openings in 2007.

SOH Highlights

The CareerXroads 7th Annual Sources of Hire (SOH) Study reveals the following breakdown on how job openings were filled:

• positions filled by internal candidates (30%)
• positions filled by external candidates (70%)

So, if you are already on the inside, it pays to perform above average work and establish positive relationships with your coworkers.

And, if you are not on the inside, it pays to know someone who is.

Here are the two primary ways that external candidates land new jobs:

• employee referrals (28%)
• job boards (26%)

Agency placements (3%) and temp-for-hire arrangements (3%) accounted for a combined total of six percent of new hires arriving from an external source. Other strategies that yielded relatively low results included the following:

• responding to print ads (5%)
• attending career fairs (2%)
• attending open houses (1%)

Job Boards

Which job boards are most popular with these large employers (percentage of employers with contracts to post jobs and review resumes)?

• Monster (94%)
• CareerBuilder (81%)
• Hotjobs (77%)
  

The top "niche" site was Craigslist.

Conclusion

The report concludes as follows:

"Good or bad, we advise job seekers to never apply to a company without first networking to an employee in that firm for a referral. The difference in probability of getting 'up to bat' is too large to ignore."

A press release of the CareerXroads 7th Annual Sources of Hire Study is available for review along with a more detailed breakdown (pdf) of the survey findings.

Web Innovators Group | WebInno17

If you are interested in previewing the latest innovations on the Internet and mobile devices, check out the next gathering of the Web Innovators Group.

This 17th installment (WebInno17) will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

• Good2Gether | a new search and social media Web service that connects people to causes through a broad network of websites


• PicMe Photo Sharing | a tool for letting you easily see, view, share and enjoy your thousands of pictures.


• Jack Cards | "Jack" is an imaginary correspondence butler who takes care of your special occasions by sending paper greeting cards in a timely manner
  

Side Dishes

• Traackr | track your songs, videos, photos & measure your popularity


• Moborazzi | a social content sharing platform for the on-the-go mobile generation


• Lingro | the coolest dictionary known to hombre!


• Yamli | search the Arabic web using English letters


• Entrecard.com | an easy way to network with other blog owners


• FLIMP | create sophisticated audiovisual messages that zoom through every bandwidth


• StylePath | Shop with Style -- find what you love from thousands of sites in under a minute

Details

Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 6:30 pm

Royal Sonesta Cambridge

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of several hundred pre-registrants to determine if this networking event is right for you.

2008 Job Satisfaction & Retention Survey

More than half of employees surveyed report that they are likely to intensify their job search in the next three months. Amid the chaos, opportunities appear for those who are prepared to take advantage of them.

More than 7,000 employees and 200 company representatives participated in Salary.com's third annual Job Satisfaction and Retention Survey. A press release is available for review.

Money Talks

The five most common reasons for leaving a job according to employees who completed the survey are the following:

1. inadequate compensation | 27%
   
2. lack of career advancement | 19%
3. insufficient recognition | 17%
4. boredom | 11%
5. no professional development | 11%

". . . compensation may be a key factor as to why employees would consider leaving a job but it's not the top reason they stay in their current job," according to Bill Coleman, a Salary.com spokesperson.

So, why stay? Here are the top five reasons:

1. relationship with co-workers | 25%
2. relationship with manager | 25%
3. desirable work hours | 22%
4. attractive compensation | 20%
5. attractive benefits | 20%

Employee Walks

At least an 8% pay increase is needed to entice most employees to change employers.

When an employee does walk out the door, it costs an employer an average of $21,000 in replacement costs.

Employers seem to understand the cost of turnover. Counteroffers, when made, average 7% above current salary. This finding is interesting given that most annual pay increases average half that percentage and many workers receive no annual pay increase at all!

How likely is an employer to counteroffer?

• almost always | 14%
• sometimes | 51%
• never | 35%

A more detailed summary (pdf) of Salary.com findings is available for review.

Opportunity Knocks

Here are three strategies workers might consider to leverage these findings:

• If you are currently employed and like your work and employer, keep your eye on internal openings that might be created when a co-worker leaves for greener pastures. Make key decision makers aware of your willingness to take on additional responsibility.
• Initiate a dialog with your supervisor during your next performance review (or sooner) to discuss non-compensation issues -- career advancement, recognition, and professional development.
• If you are currently seeking greener pastures initiate a conversation about these non-compensation topics to learn more about how green this new pasture might really be.

Salary.com is headquartered in Waltham, MA. Their website currently features 23 job vacancies.

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey: Q2

Despite less-than-rosy economic headlines, the bottom has not yet dropped out of the employment market. Three new job surveys reveal that companies are still hiring, albeit at a more cautious rate.

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey

"A slowing in hiring intentions reflects a widespread wait-and-see approach among employers," according to a spokesperson with Manpower, a global employment agency.

The company surveys 14,000 U.S. employers on a quarterly basis. This quarter's survey reveals the weakest employment outlook outlook since the first quarter of 2004. That said, fully 26% of employers expect to increase their workforces during the second quarter of 2008, while only 9% expect staff reductions.

While employers anticipate a decline in hiring for the second quarter of 2008, the survey data points to "a gradual and measured downshift, not a sudden and overwhelming change."

Monster Employment Index

The Monster Employment Index for February reveals a moderate increase in overall U.S. online job availability following a three-month downward trend. "It's an encouraging sign of stabilization after three consecutive months of decline," according to a Monster.com spokesperson. A local Boston Index (pdf) is also available.

The upward tick in online employment postings confirms Boston Market -- March 2008 findings.

Conference Board Help-Wanted Online Data Series

The Conference Board measures online job ad placement across the United States. February 2008 showed a three percent increase over February 2007. While the growth is positive it represents the smallest annual growth rate since this series began in May 2005.

The New England Region, in particular, posted a decline in annual labor demand for the fifth month in a row. None-the-less, the metro areas across the nation where the number of advertised vacancies are plentiful in relation to the number of unemployed include Boston.

Also, "technical occupations continue to be in high demand in February," according to a summary of the Help-Wanted Online Date Series. A more detailed analysis is also available in pdf format.

Next Steps . . .

With three employment surveys revealing sluggish job growth, now might be time to increase your network of professional contacts. You never know when you might need employment help and you can always lend a helping hand to someone else who might be looking for an opportunity.

Here are two Web-related networking opportunities in the Boston area to consider:

• MobileCampBoston | Saturday, March 15
• Heroes Happen Here | Tuesday, March 18
  

You'll walk away from either event with new knowledge and new contacts. Even better, both events are FREE!

NOTE: If you live in the Washington, DC area check out a new Web Development certificate program being announced this Saturday at the campus of the Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) at Boston University.

2008 IT Salary & Skills Report

The national average salary for an information technology (IT) worker with a college degree is $76,400. The national average salary for an IT worker with a certificate or degree from a technical school is $65,700.

The average pay for an IT worker in Boston, regardless of education or training, is $75,500.

This data is presented in a newly released survey of more than 7,000 IT professionals coordinated by Global Knowledge and TechRepublic.

In addition to salary, nearly 50% of respondents receive a bonus and annual bonuses average nearly $4,000.

Average Salary by Job Function

Here are the average salaries by job function for Web-related professionals:

• Project Leader | $90,800
• Database Manager | $87,300
• Database Administrator | $78,500
• E-business Specialist | $77,400
• Database Analyst | $70,000
• Web / Internet | $62,700

Certifications

The most popular certifications are offered by Microsoft, as selected by 34% of respondents.

Those Web professionals who hold a CIW (Certified Internet Web Professional) certification earn, on average, $71,000.

Demographics

Here are a few demographics from the survey:

• average age | 43
• years in IT | 14
• male vs. female | 3:1 ratio

Nearly 80 percent of respondents were either "very" or "mostly" satisfied with their career choice.

Concerns

What concerns IT professionals the most?

• "Keeping up with skills" | 57%

Experience

By far the single most important factor in determining salary is experience within the field. Survey results broken down by experience reveal the following salary data for those workers transitioning into technology with less than two years of experience:

• 25 and under | $39,800
• 26 - 35 | $45,600
• 46 - 55 | $46,100
• 56 and over | $44,700

Turnover

Nearly one in four respondents stated they are considering changing employers within the next year. The full cost to replace a professional is 150% of annual salary. Therefore, a company will have to invest $110,000 to replace a worker valued at $74,000. These costs include recruiting, vacancy costs, productivity losses and training.

Conclusion

The survey concludes as follows:

"The level of your success in satisfaction and in salary is a direct result of your investment in yourself. The demand for the IT professional is increasing, but since critical technical skills are constantly changing, long-term success is achieved by broader education and experience."

A full copy of the report is available from TechRepublic. Registration is required and it is free.

Boston Market -- March, 2008

"IT employment remains strong . . . demand for IT professionals remains robust," according to Mark Roberts, CEO of the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB).

NACCB Survey

Information Technology (IT) employment reached an all-time high in December 2007 and was essentially unchanged in January 2008. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment grew nearly eight percent from January 2007. More than 3.8 million workers are employed in the IT marketplace in the United States. A press release (pdf) is available for review.

CIO Survey

In addition, recruiting skilled IT workers remains a challenge for many Chief Information Officers (CIOs), according to a new survey developed by Robert Half Technology.

CIOs were asked the following question:

"Of the following staffing issues within the IT department, which do you consider to be your greatest challenge as a CIO?"

The top two responses were as follows:

• Finding skilled technology professionals (24%)
• Providing staff with adequate professional development resources to keep skills current (23%)

Beantown Web Findings

These two surveys confirm Beantown Web's findings that the technology marketplace in the greater Boston area remains strong, despite an apparent slowdown in the economy.

The monthly Beantown Web survey of the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston reveals that 18 of the top 20 skills all posted increases in job postings from early February to early March. The only two skills that were mentioned less frequently in job postings were Perl and PHP. This may be partially reflective of Microsoft's marketing efforts to promote ASP.NET as an alternative server side scripting environment.

The Big Winner

Ajax was the biggest mover of the month jumping three spots from #16 to #13. Ajax was mentioned in 40 more job descriptions this month than last!

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston can be found in the right-hand column along with a new indicator of movement (up or down) from the previous month.

Training Opportunities

Adobe officially launched Flex 3.0 and AIR 1.0 late last month. While these technologies hold long-term promise for Web developers, neither skill demonstrates a strong demand currently. Neither skill cracks the Top 40 with Adobe Flex being mentioned in only 10 job descriptions and Adobe AIR mentioned in zero. Nonetheless, check out Adobe Developer Week 2008 to learn more about online training opportunities for these technologies.

On the other hand, SQL Server, C# and ASP.NET remain three of the Top 10 Web skills most in-demand. To get an overview of how these technologies work together to create interactive Web-base applications, check out a FREE online course offered at the HP Learning Center.

ASP.NET 2.0: Building Applications offers the following lessons beginning this week:

• Lesson 1: Take advantage of ASP.NET
• Lesson 2: Designing an ASP.NET application
• Lesson 3: ASP database tutorial: design your database
• Lesson 4: Create a connection to your database and retrieve data
• Lesson 5: Manipulate data
• Lesson 6: Understand application security and deployment, and widgets
  

NOTE: The Center for Digital Imaging Arts is announcing a new Web Developer certificate program at its campus in Waltham this Saturday at 10:00 am.

FREE Web Development Software

"Through DreamSpark, we are providing professional software development and design tools to university students around the world as a download at no cost."

Bill Gates | San Jose Mercury News | February 19, 2008

Introducing DreamSpark

With those words Microsoft launched DreamSpark in 11 countries including the United States. College students who want to learn programming such as ASP.NET can now do so without the burden of purchasing proprietary software tools.

Web developers in training will receive free, fully functional software from Microsoft, just for the asking! Here are the tools available for FREE download:

• Visual Studio 2008, Professional Edition
• SQL Server 2005
• Expression Studio
• Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
• XNA 2.0 Game Studio

One Billion Served

Bill Gates is concerned about the future. "During the last decade, the number of college students who study math and science in the United States has declined dramatically", according to Gates. "Today, there simply aren't enough people with the right skills to fill the growing demand for computer scientists and computer engineers."

The giveaway is now available to more than 35 million college students. As the program expands, up to one billion students worldwide could gain free access to Microsoft's development tools, according to an article in The Stanford Daily.

To learn more about the software giveaway check out a Bill Gates interview on Channel 8, Microsoft's internal communication network. You'll need Microsoft's Silverlight software to view this interview. Alternately, you can access a Flash version on YouTube.

The Future is Now

Thus begins what could become the greatest transfer of Web development knowledge from one generation to another that the world has ever witnessed.

If you are a student, now is the time to begin learning SQL Server, C# (C "sharp") and ASP.NET, three of the Top 10 Web Technologies in Boston (see right-hand column for links to more than 1,000 job vacancies that list these skills).

If you are a parent of a teenager, now is the time to ask your child's high school administrators and teachers about their plans to introduce Microsoft tools into the educational curriculum. (Microsoft is expected to extent the software giveaway to high schools later this year.)

If you are neither a student, nor a parent, and still want to expand your career options, you can attend a FREE Microsoft Launch Event in your area and receive FREE Web Development software. The Boston event will be held Tuesday, March 18.

MHTC's Annual Business Climate Survey

Technology CEOs in Massachusetts remain confident in the state's economy.

Waltham-based Massachusetts High Technology Council (MHTC) released it Annual Business Climate Survey at last week's 2008 Annual Meeting and here are the findings.

Survey Says

Highlights include the following:

• 64 percent of participating CEOs expect job expansion this year
• only 7 percent anticipate work force reductions at their company

More than three out of four CEOs surveyed (76 percent) felt Massachusetts was an "outstanding" or "good" place to run a technology firm.

According to the survey, CEOs at technology companies place education reform at the top of the list of priorities. The Massachusetts technology economy will continue to be vibrant only to the degree that an adequate pool of trained technology professionals enters the workforce. Workers who continue to upgrade their technology skills should excel in the current high tech economy.

The annual survey has been conducted since 1987. To learn more access a story in Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology.

MHTC Council Members

The MHTC council membership is comprised of 99 organizations in Massachusetts. These organizations are most likely to be hiring technology professionals in 2008:

• Abbott Laboratories Inc. Worcester
• Advanced Electron Beams Wilmington
• Allegro Microsystems, Inc. Worcester
• Altria Corporate Services, Inc. Milford
• Amgen, Inc. Cambridge
• Analog Devices, Inc. Norwood
• Analogic Corporation Peabody
• AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, LP Westborough
• Avant Immunotherapeutics Needham
• BAE Systems Acton, Burlington, Lexington, Pittsfield
• Bentley College Waltham
• Biogen Idec Cambridge
• Boston Foundation Boston
• Boston Scientific Corporation Natick
• Boston University Boston
• Canaccord Adams Inc. Boston
• Carruth Capital, LLC Westborough
• Charles River Ventures Waltham
• Choate Hall & Stewart, LLP Boston
• Cognex Corporation Natick
• Comcast ?
• Communications & Power Industries, Inc. Beverly
• Constellation NewEnergy Boston
• Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Lexington
• Deloitte Boston, Waltham
• Doubletree Guest Suites ?
• Draper Laboratories Cambridge
• Dynamics Research Corporation Andover
• EMC Corporation Hopkinton
• EnerNOC, Inc. Boston
• Entegris, Inc. Billerica
• Ernst & Young LLP Boston
• Feeley & Driscoll Boston
• Fidelity Investments Boston
• FIRST Manchester, NH
• Foster-Miller, Inc. Waltham
• Fraen Corporation Reading
• General Dynamics Needham
• Genzyme Corporation Cambridge
• GlaxoSmithKline Newton, Westborough
• Goodwin Procter LLP Boston
• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Wellesley
• Headwall Photonics, Inc. Fitchburg
• Hewlett-Packard Company Cambridge
• IBM Littleton
• InterSense, Inc. Bedford
• JACO Inc. Franklin
• Konarka Technologies, Inc. Lowell
• KPMG LLP Boston
• Kronos Incorporated Chelmsford
• kSARIA Lawrence
• Lahey Clinic Hospital, Inc. Burlington
• Lilliputian Systems Cambridge
• Lockheed Martin Sippican Marion
• L. S. Starrett Company Athol
• Massachusetts Port Authority East Boston
• McCarter & English, LLP Boston
• Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. Chelmsford
• Millipore Corporation Billerica
• MIT Lincoln Labs Lexington
• MITRE Corporation Bedford
• MKS Instruments, Inc. Andover
• National Grid USA Northborough
• North Bridge Venture Partners Waltham
• NSTAR Westwood
• OATSystems, Inc. Waltham
• Pfizer, Inc. Cambridge
• Philips Medical/Cardiac & Monitoring Systems Andover
• PricewaterhouseCoopers Boston, Cambridge
• Riverside Partners Boston
• Rohm & Haas Electronic Materials, LLC Marlborough, North Andover
• Satcon Technology Corp. Boston
• Schott North America Southbridge
• Scully Signal Company Wilmington
• Senior Aerospace Metal Bellows Sharon
• SolidWorks Corporation Concord
• Skyworks Solutions, Inc. Woburn
• SourceOne Boston
• Sovereign Bank Reading
• Stratus Technologies, Inc. Maynard
• Sullivan & Cogliano Waltham
• Tatum, LLC Newton
• TD Banknorth Insurance Group Andover
• Temptronic Corporation Sharon
• Teradyne, Inc. North Reading
• Textron Systems Wilmington
• Thermatron Engineering, Inc. Methuen
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Worcester
• TIAX LLC Cambridge
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. Gloucester
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Cambridge
• Waters Corporation Milford
• Wheelock College Boston
• William George Associates Georgetown
• Windward Investment Management Boston
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester
• Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Andover, Cambridge
• Zoran Corporation Burlington

Boston Market -- February, 2008

Evidence continues to reveal a slowing in the U.S. economy.

AIGA Design Leaders Confidence Index

AIGA is "the professional association for design." Graphic Design and Web Design professionals belong to this organization.

The AIGA Design Leaders Confidence Index is a quarterly survey of influential members constructed to provide a snapshot of the current conditions within the design economy.

The index has dropped substantially during the last two quarters indicating a slowdown in design-related opportunities.

Despite this drop in confidence AIGA claims the design economy is expected to outperform the national economy in 2008.

Source: AIGA

According to a press release, " . . . only one-third of respondents feel [business] will decline in the next six months. Only one in four reduce their likelihood of hiring new employees."

Graphic Design vs. Web Design

A quick look at the Boston Market for technology talent reveals the following job opportunities at Boston.com:

• Graphic Designer [ 34 ]
• Web Designer [ 27 ]

Still, Web Developer opportunities surpass combined Graphic Design and Web Design opportunities by nearly 50%:

• Web Developer [ 89 ]

This analysis, however, is crude since most organizatiions are looking for a basket of skills and don't necessarily rely on labels when searching for talent. A more precise method is to search on technical skills mentioned in job descriptions, not job titles.

Web Development

A keyword search on technology skills most in demand reveals that the only two traditional Graphic Design skills to land in the Top 20 are as follows:

• Photoshop [ #11 ]
• Illustrator [ #19 ]
  

Traditional Web Design skills offer greater opportunities as follows:

• JavaScript [ #6 ]
• Flash [ #13 ]
  
• HTML + CSS [ #17 ]
  

The remaining 15 skills, while not exclusively Web-related, do reflect skills commonly affiliated with Web Development, including programming and databases, both in an open source and a Microsoft environment. These skills have been updated for February and are listed in the right-hand column under Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston.

Developer's Note: The chart for this article was developed using Google's Chart API. Developers who want to add simple charting functionality to their Web projects should check it out.

Dice 2007 Annual Salary Survey

The average information technology (IT) worker in the U.S. earns a salary of $74,600. Web Developer/Programmers average slightly less at $68,600.

Boston Metro Area

Salaries in the Boston metro area are higher than the nationwide average. In fact, Boston is the second highest paying metro area behind Silicon Valley with an average IT salary of $83,500. So, the average salaries for Web Developer/Programmers in the greater Boston area are likely to be higher than the $68,600 national average.

This salary information was released this week as part of the Dice 2007 Annual Salary Survey that encompasses more than 19,000 technology professionals. Dice is "the career hub for tech insiders." A press release (pdf) is available for review.

Survey Highlights

Technology professionals continued to be in high demand in 2007, with an annual average unemployment rate of 2.1 percent -- less than half the national average.

Even entry level tech workers fared better than many entry level employees in other industries. The nationwide average starting salary for entry level tech workers is $41,500.

Those technology workers with the highest average pay increases in 2007 possessed skills in the area of e-commerce.

Six Figure Salaries

For the first time in the history of the survey, two job titles averaged more than $100,000 in base salary. These titles were as follows:

• IT Managers
• Project Managers

Conclusion

Technology professionals are valued in today's marketplace, despite an apparent slowdown in the economy. Web technology professionals who want to maximize employment options in 2008 should focus on adding value by seeking out opportunities in the following three areas:

• assume responsibility for managing a technology project from start to finish
• gain supervisory experience by leading others
• join a team involved in developing an e-commerce website

Boston Market -- 2008, First Quarter

Massachusetts ranks 49th in the creation of jobs during the last six years. The only state creating fewer jobs is Michigan. Ouch!

The source for this statistic is a report issued late last year by MassINC. A summary of this report, as it relates to high technology jobs, is available from Dice -- The Career Hub for Tech Insiders. [ Readers in other metropolitan areas can access a Local Market Report specific to your city. ]

Dice Quarterly Market Report

According to Dice, the number of Boston area technology job listings dropped nine percent in the fourth quarter. Listings declined in December -- the first drop since June. Seasonal factors are partially to blame.

Now that we are entering a traditionally strong period for hiring, what can technology workers expect in 2008?

The Dice report provides insight into the current demand witnessed by Sapphire Technologies, an IT recruiting firm. Boston office Branch Manager, Terry O'Leary, sees a demand for the following technology professionals:

• project managers
• business analysts
• systems administrators
• software developers (J2EE and .NET)

This projection reflects the Top 10 ranking of technology skill sets requested by employers when posting jobs on Dice.com during the fourth quarter of last year.

Top 20 Web Technologies

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston have been updated for January and are listed in the right-hand column. This list is derived from Web-related keywords placed in the search engine at Boston.com which uses Monster.com to manage its job postings.

Beantown Web's analysis (right-hand column) includes common Web design and development technologies such as HTML [ #4 ], JavaScript [ #7 ] and CSS [ #12 ].

Comparison

The Dice Top 10 IT Skills Sets list includes three Microsoft-centric Web-related technologies:

• .NET [ #4 ]
• SQL Server [ #7 ]
• C# [ #10 ]
  

The Beantown Web list also includes three Microsoft-centric Web-related technologies in the Top 10:

• SQL Server [ #5 ]
• C# [ #8 ]
• ASP.NET [ #10 ]

Implications

The Boston marketplace appears to offer greater opportunities to technology professionals equipped with Web-related skills that include programming and database expertise.

As Web 2.0 continues to filter into mainstream business, the demand for dynamic, data-driven Website building skills will likely continue. In particular, Microsoft's approach to Web-related interactivity is well-received by those organizations that have already standardized on Microsoft's productivity tools.

Learn more about these Microsoft tools by attending a Microsoft Launch Event in your city.

The Crunchies -- Winners

Boston came up short at The Crunchies. Last night's inaugural ceremonies were held in San Francisco and no Massachusetts-based company walked away with a Crunchie.

The award is designed to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year. Web designers and developers can stimulate their innovation juices by reviewing the 20 best of the best . . .

2007 Winners

Best Overall:

• Facebook -- revolutionizing social networking

Best Technology Innovation / Achievement:

• Earthmine -- a spatially accurate, 3D inventory of our world

Best Clean Tech Startup:

• Tesla Motors -- an electric car with pizzazz

Best Video Startup:

• Hulu -- current primetime programming direct to your computer screen

Best User-generated Content Site:

• Digg -- users vote on the best online content

Best Mobile Startup:

• Twitter -- tell your friends what you are doing instantly

Best International Startup:

• Netvibes -- personalized Web portal

Best Consumer Startup:

• Meebo -- instant message anywhere, anytime from one website

Best Enterprise Startup:

• Zoho -- comprehensive suite of online business applications

Best Design:

• SmugMug -- priceless professional photos

Best New Gadget/ Device:

• Apple iPhone -- who wouldn't want one?

Best Business Model:

• Zazzle -- on-demand factory of consumer goods

Best Bootstrapped Startup:

• Techmeme -- digging up the news before it becomes news

Best Startup Founder:

• Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) -- Harvard's second most famous drop-out

Best Startup CEO:

• Toni Schneider (Automattic) -- open-source evangelist focused on simplifying the blogosphere

Best New Startup:

• iMedix -- a healthcare community of people helping people

Most Likely to Succeed:

• Automattic (WordPress) -- blog hosting, spam-fighting service

Best Use of Viral Marketing:

• StumbleUpon -- discover new websites by sharing your favorites with others

Best Time Sink Site:

• Kongregate -- XBox LIVE for casual games

Most Likely to Make the World a Better Place:

• DonorsChose -- connecting classrooms in need with interested donors

Additional details can be found at TechCrunch, one of four blog co-hosts of the event. Check out a video of the award proceedings.

Highlights of the evening include a live performance of Here Comes Another Bubble by The Richter Scales, a parody of Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire.

Web Innovators Group | WebInno16

If you are interested in previewing the latest innovations on the Internet and mobile devices, check out the next gathering of the Web Innovators Group.

This 16th installment (WebInno16) will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

• Make Me Sustainable | providing individuals and businesses with the tools necessary to identify and accomplish environmentally responsible goals


• SpotScout | helping individuals and communities solve parking problems by sharing timely information on space availability ahead of destination arrival


• Urban Interactive | discovering the secrets of a city with an interactive sight-seeing adventure
  

Side Dishes

• My Happy Planet | learn a language -- make friends -- have fun


• Survol | quickly move content to your customers' mobile workers


• Glassbooth | creating innovative ways to access political information
  


• MoFuse | mobilize your website or blog by using our WYSIWYG editor


• Buildium | online property management software


• Socrato | test preparation getting smarter

Details

Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 6:30 pm

Royal Sonesta Cambridge

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of pre-registrants.

MySQL Acquired

MySQL has agreed to be acquired by Sun Microsystems for $1 billion. A press release provides details. Check out Johnathon's Blog for further details from Sun's CEO.

MySQL is the "M" in LAMP [ Linux | Apache | MySQL | PHP ], an acronym used to represent a common, interrelated stack of open source technologies employed in Web development environments. For example, MySQL is the back-end enterprise-scale database used to power Google, Facebook and many other popular Web 2.0 applications.

The Big Three

According to Gartner, Inc. the Big Three in the world of relational databases are as follows:

• Oracle (Oracle)
  
• SQL Server (Microsoft)
• DB2 (IBM)

These three database systems account for the bulk of worldwide sales. MySQL has become popular as an open source (free) alternative.

Database Trends

In terms of job opportunities Indeed's Job Trends service reports that MySQL trails the Big Three in number of job opportunities:

However, when viewed on a relative scale, MySQL job opportunities have demonstrated a robust growth curve:

Implications

Sun now owns two of the Top 20 Web Technologies:

• Java [ #3 ]
  
• MySQL [ #16 ]
  

[ Note: See links to Boston job opportunities for these and other technologies in the right-hand column. ]

Look for Sun to aggressively market MySQL as a cost-effective enterprise database alternative to the Big Three. This acquisition will likely mean expanding opportunities for developers with MySQL knowledge and experience.

If you are new to MySQL, consider placing your name on the waiting list to be notified of the next session of PHP & MySQL: Building Web Applications at the HP Learning Center.

Beantown Web will continue to monitor MySQL job trends and report on changes over time as part of the Boston Market series of reports.

Microsoft Launch Event

Microsoft is launching three new products that directly impact the Web development community. These three products are as follows:

• Windows Server 2008
• Visual Studio 2008
  
• SQL Server 2008

December 2005

The last time Microsoft coordinated upgrades for Visual Studio and SQL Server (2005 versions) was December 2005. The Web server market share at the end of 2005 clearly favored open source solutions, namely Apache:

December 2007

Fast forward two years and the marketplace has changed considerably. The Web server market share at the end of 2007 reveals that Microsoft has clearly made its Web services initiative (aka .Net) a marketing priority:

Implications

It should be no surprise that .Net is one of The 8 Hottest Skills for '08. Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 are three tool sets used in developing ASP.NET and Ajax applications.

As Microsoft gears up to promote its latest Web services offerings, it will likely continue to capture market share from its open source competitors, especially in mid- to large size companies. Microsoft may even overtake LAMP (Linux | Apache | MySQL | PHP) and become the preferred Web hosting environment by the end of 2008!

Heroes Happen Here

Microsoft is coordinating a nationwide tour called Heroes Happen Here to promote the 2008 upgrade to its popular Web development tools. The tour kicks off in Los Angeles at the end of February. Registration is now open for most dates extending through May and covering more than 60 cities.

The Boston date is Tuesday, March 18, 2008. The event will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Register now! This FREE event will fill up fast.

2008 Job Forecast, Part 4

Beantown Web presents a series of Special Reports on the prospects for work for Web technology professionals in 2008.

• Part 1 focuses on big-picture hiring trends for 2008
• Part 2 focuses on non-entry level skills in demand in 2008
• Part 3 focuses on information technology skills in demand for 2008
• Part 4 focuses on non-technical skills in demand for 2008

Part 4

The non-technical skills that are in big demand, according to chief information officers (CIOs), recruiters and information technology (IT) staffing specialists include the following:

• project management
• financial analysis
• communications

"Companies love finding employees who can make sure that technology is being used to deliver business value," says Matt Colarusso, Woburn (MA) Branch Manager with Sapphire Technologies, the fourth largest IT staffing company in the United States.

"They are always looking for people who can communicate, who can bring together the technical side with the business side and the customer side, " stated Colarusso in a Network World article entitled IT Job Skills that Matter Now.

Assignment #1: Prepare a list of examples where you have applied project management, financial analysis, and/or communication skills to a Web technology project.

Strong IT Leaders

In addition, the three deliverables that IT leaders need to demonstrate in order to earn promotions in 2008 are as follows:

• run the IT department like a profit and loss center
• generate ideas for business growth
• solve business problems

Details are available in 2008: The Year Only the Strong IT Leaders Survive.

If you are looking to expand your technology career in 2008 and want to initiate a dialog with an information technology leader, either for informational purposes or during a formal interview process, then a must-read document is The State of the CIO '08 (pdf), available for free download from CIO.com.

Assignment #2: Prepare a list of examples where you have demonstrated profit/loss responsibility, business growth idea generation and/or business problem solving techniques as part of a Web technology project.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that technology is a tool kit that gets utilized to support the business enterprise. A technology professional who wants to thrive in an uncertain business climate must learn quickly to think like a business professional who happens to have technical skills.

Before initiating any networking opportunity in 2008 review your list of six non-technical examples from the above two assignments. By being prepared to discuss the non-technical value you can add to an enterprise, you can elevate yourself above your peers, even if you don't currently possess the The 8 Hottest Skills for 2008.

2008 Job Forecast, Part 3

Beantown Web presents a series of Special Reports on the prospects for work for Web technology professionals in 2008.

• Part 1 focuses on big-picture hiring trends for 2008
• Part 2 focuses on non-entry level skills in demand in 2008
• Part 3 focuses on information technology skills in demand for 2008
• Part 4 focuses on non-technical skills in demand for 2008

Part 3

"There is a distinct shortage of certain IT [skills], and that shortage seems to be growing," according to Neill Hopkins of the The Computing Technology Industry Association Inc. (CompTIA).

" . . . demand is red-hot right now . . . " for people with Web 2.0 skills according to Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director at Robert Half Technology.

The skills that make this in-demand list include the following:

• Ajax
• .NET
• XML
• PHP

These are just two comments from industry leaders in the field of recruiting technology professionals. The above four skills highlight the continuing trend away from static Web page development toward dynamic Web development that involves scripting and data access.

In addition to "programming/application development" seven other technology trends for 2008 are listed below:

1. Programming/application development
2. Project management
3. Help desk/technical support
4. Security
5. Data centers
6. Business knowledge
7. Networking
8. Telecommunications

Forecast 2008

For details access The 8 Hottest Skills for 2008 as presented by Computerworld. This article is one of 18 featured in Forecast 2008: IT Trends & Predictions for the New Year.

Training 2008

While it can be a challenge finding quality, low-cost training opportunities to learn Web 2.0 skills, the best option is the following:

• XML: Introduction

This FREE online course is available from the HP Learning Center and begins Thursday, January 10. Additional Web 2.0 courses that will begin later this year include the following:

• PHP & MySQL: Building Web Applications
• ASP.NET 2.0: Building Applications