Your article about the skills gap is somewhat adrift from reality (Is the UK heading for another tech skills crisis?). The skills gap seems to be mythical, or at least artificial. As a recruiter I have not had any trouble finding good applicants for developer jobs.

The article also says that there are more senior jobs than applicants; in fact for any senior role there are likely to be several hundred applicants. Typically there are 300 applicants for every IT manager position and that has been so for at least the past 10 years, barring a brief excursion to 500-plus in 2001.

A lot of the key IT skills are vested in people who got fed up and decided that driving minicabs was better money for less stress. Next time you take a minicab, particularly in the south-west, ask your driver what they did before. You might then ask why so many people with sufficient commercial skills to become self-employed have all left IT.

The principal reason is that employers do not recruit people with business skills if those skills are on their CV. Those skills dilute the technology buzzwords that an agency needs to search for when they have 300-plus applicants for each job. If industry wants these skills it needs to take active steps to find the people who have them and then endeavour to keep them.

My advice to companies looking to recruit is to go easy on the mushroom management: your IT manager should be the first person you discuss strategic initiatives with. They budget today for the systems to buy next year to enable the bold initiatives that the consultants will sell you in five years’ time. 

The helpdesk knows more about how the business really works than the CEO does: tap that knowledge. Change your recruitment policies: insist on a much higher level of computer literacy in every management or potential management role: the poor technology knowledge of your middle-managers is a drag on your operational efficiency and agility. The poor technology knowledge in the boardroom is a drag on strategic agility: adapt or die.

Bernard Peek

Does a CFO really believe that the only way to run a business is by looking at the numbers (CIO role set to disappear, according to CFOs)?

Of course keeping the books balanced and managing cash flow is essential but without innovation, staff development, technological development, inspiring leadership, a CFO would end up managing the books of a business with no future.

George

So the poor darlings expect this, that and the other (Next generation of employees doesn’t respect IT rules)? 

Well, tell you what, get them to go to their boss and request that he see his boss to approve it at board level. Then it will be properly costed, fit in around the legal requirements the company has and everyone will be happy.

Yeah, right. More likely the board says the company is in the worst economic downturn for several decades and needs its cash to survive, and tells young Johnny to sling his hook and see what several months of the dole does for his social needs. The firm then gets someone else from the millions who would be extremely grateful for a job?

These people need to get real. It isn’t IT stopping you do this, it’s the business. Hassle the business about it to change.  If the leaders say do it, it will happen. The reality is, though, that there are strong reasons for locking things down, preventing data loss and corruption and protecting a company’s reputation.

Techguy

As a 17-year veteran of IT, I agree with the comments made by Schrodinger’s Dog (Young people know IT is a dead end). Increasingly, the cutting edge of IT is carried out by cheaper suppliers from overseas. What is the difference, for example, between a Java developer in London and a Java developer in Bangalore? Nothing except for the cost.

Indian suppliers in particular seem to be dominating the IT world. It is a long time since I worked somewhere that did not also use the services of Indian firms such as TCS, Wipro or IBM India. This is impacting on UK salaries, where the trend is either downwards or flat. I am currently paid the least I have been paid for a decade.

I used to be an independent contractor working on IBM WebSphere products but became increasingly concerned about the sporadic nature of work and the general drift towards overseas suppliers. So I have taken a permanent job for the security but do fear that I could be outsourced.

To mitigate the risk of being unemployed, I have now established myself as an IT and information security specialist, which I see as a strategic move. My hunch is that threats to the UK and UK industry are increasing, you cannot outsource governance and there will be a reluctance to have overseas persons working in security in areas that are related to critical national infrastructure or government. But I am also hedging my bets and looking to study an MBA in technology management with a view to being able to move to a more general management role.

The UK appears for the moment to need security specialists to combat the threats from hackers, cyber terrorists, hacktivists and state-sponsored cyber threats. I tell young people that if you want a career in this industry, study computer science, gain industry certifications, real-world experience through internships and complete an appropriate MSc. Otherwise, go study something else like business studies as a first degree and technology management as a MBA or MSc. Outsourcers still need to be managed and IT does need good managers.

Steve

The future CIO cannot be a “one-trick pony” but will need to have a repertoire of skills (What skills does an IT professional need to become a CIO?).

One of the key attributes of a CIO is situational awareness; being aware that there are no panaceas and every situation is different. I would also stress the need for flexibility and situational leadership – knowing when to follow and knowing when to lead.

Most important of all is the capability of judgment; the ability to make the right calls without perfect information. The best advice I have ever received was from Peter Fryer, managing director of Whitegates, the estate agents. He said as a leader you should expect to make at least one wrong decision out of three. A good leader recognises early that a wrong decision has been made and then fixes it.

We at City University London run one of the few open courses focused on developing the skills and capabilities of the CIO. Our Master of Information Leadership programme is taught by both practitioners and academics in a career-friendly way. This programme develops the skills that an aspiring or new CIO needs to be an effective contributor.

David Chan, director, Centre for Information, City University, London