09 Dec 2009
The
future of IT in the UK will be determined largely by our relationships with
offshore service providers, Digital Britain minister Stephen Timms told
Computing in an exclusive interview.
The IT sector will be particularly important to the recovery of the UK economy amid increasing global competition, he added.
“I don’t see offshoring as a threat, but as a resource to the UK knowledge economy. We will continue to see a huge amount of work going on in Britain,“ he said.
Timms added: “Our worldwide connections mean globalisation presents a great opportunity that the government is determined to make the most of.”
The UK IT industry – which employs more than one million professionals and represents more than 10 per cent of the country’s GDP – must focus on its core strengths to thrive as a digital economy, he added.
In a similar vein, secretary of state for business, innovation and skills Peter Mandelson said at an industry event earlier this month that it was important to “intelligently intervene” in strategic areas such as IT, as well as help to up-skill workers to enable them to face the challenges ahead.
Over the past three months, Computing has run a high-profile campaign aimed at identifying the skills future IT leaders need to acquire, as well as providing a career development path to aspiring professionals against the backdrop of macro-economic and technological changes.
“It is very important to discuss [the future of UK IT leadership]. We need to look at the career pathways, as well as training needs to enable workers to take on roles in the fast-changing technical environment they operate in,” said Timms.
“It is not the case that all technical-level skills will be offshored – th ere is a huge amount going on in IT in the UK and there will be big demands for good skills at all levels [locally] over the next few years,” he said. “I think people in [the IT] industry have a lot to look forward to over the next few years.”
Timms said the predicted growth of the UK technology industry – the EU Commission forecasts IT services growth of four to five per cent next year – will be the result of advantages specific to the UK including established links with cost-effective service providers elsewhere.
“The historic links we have with countries like India is a source of strength for the UK industry and countries around the world can see the quality and value of that resource,” said Timms.
The predicted growth in outsourcing/offshoring, as well as increased business focus on technologies such as cloud computing, means UK IT should be trying to build knowledge around supplier management rather than “commodity” skills, said London 2012 chief information officer Gerry Pennell.
“Technology professionals should broaden their experience by spending time outside IT and thinking of themselves as business managers who happen to be functional specialists. Conversely, businesses should offer opportunities for IT people to gain experience in other areas,” he added.
Pennell’s views echo points made by many IT leaders interviewed over the course of Computing’s campaign. These leaders unanimously agree that gaining international experience has become essential in an increasingly globalised technology market.
However, a recent survey on business attitudes to technology paints a rather depressing picture. Around 80 per cent of 156 UK IT leaders surveyed by recruitment firm Robert Walters find it difficult to get involved in any decisions made by the executive team.
In addition, 69 per cent of those polled said the biggest obstacle to
attaining a more senior IT leadership role is the lack of opportunities provided
by their employer.
On a more positive note, IT appears to be more valued by the board, with an
overwhelming 92 per cent of 100 CIOs surveyed by supplier Salesforce.com saying
their department carries greater sway now than it did 12 months ago.
This is particularly true of CIOs on the board at bigger companies as they face increasingly large IT costs to maintain old infrastructures and boards look to CIOs to help them reduce their IT spend, the study found.
Mr Timms has obviously not worked outside the UK much in a global context, so he may be excused for having such fanciful and glorious ideas.
I recall his lack of support or ambition in helping UK small business owners in his previous government roles, when he had the responsibility for e-Government and e-Commerce. Should he decide to spend more time looking for concrete opportunities for building the UK economy than making broad brush statements that are intended to help further his own career, then I will personally listen and even help him and his colleagues in realising their genuine objectives.
As a small business owner that is also engaged in the provision of IT professional services, I have seen the biggest disparity in the way the UK government has been nurturing the IT industry and innovation, with all the government-backed ponzi schemes such as the Technology Strategy Board, UKTI and BERR waste millions (if not billions) of our tax money.
They think they are helping businesses, but their approach is old-fashioned and completely useless and opaque, and I believe would not stand up to the EU scrutiny on how public funds are invested and benefits realised, properly monitored, and outcomes shared with the general public. They are actually wasting the precious time and resources of businesses, and that is the reason why the UK Plc is unlikely to succeed in achieving the aspirations of its people ? yes, as the purveyor of the industrial revolution, the people of UK are not lazy or lacking in ideas, but are handicapped by the expectation to some how survive.
When we look at countries such as Germany, France and Spain, they have consistently taken strategic steps to safeguard key industries and maintain critical mass of indigenous people ? who will provide future revenues for the public tax and pension coffers.
There is also a real lack of meaningful support to help them play on a skewed playing field. Instead, we keep people like Mr Timms employed so that he can express his grandiose and ambiguous ideas.
We have schemes most of which are designed to be 'jump through the hoop' or 'tick box' exercises. Mere comfort providers to Whitehall. It's about time we recognised that UK Plc companies have been slimming down over the past two decades. The IT playing field is no longer the premise of the big companies alone and never will be. There are many small companies and individuals who can often do the job more cost-effectively, professionally and innovatively than larger outsourcer. And in doing so generate greater, wider and more sustainable benefits for local economies and communities.
So, as step 1, why not make the government a customer or a client of the local businesses? After all, most local authorities know more about local companies than outside suppliers, because of their regular transactions (Council Tax) and interactions (kids at local school). Sure, the bureaucrats will then ask us: 'But how do we ensure probity and risk management?' To that, my answer is: Well if the banks can get away with billions of pounds of public underwriting, what does it take to underwrite the risk of local suppliers? Besides, most suppliers want to succeed, employ additional staff, not just pay themselves big bonuses. And if they wanted to milk the system, they would have already signed up on the dole queue rather than strive to make their businesses successful despite of politicians like Mr Timms.
Perhaps if we were to have a system whereby politicians from countries such as India could immigrate to the UK and compete for local MP positions, at least then our beloved Mr Timms would know first-hand what it feels like to have the rug pulled from under your own feet.
I would urge the likes of Timms and Mandelson to properly wake up, and remind themselves that when you shoot yourself in the foot then there is no longer any point in telling the others to use struts. What we need is a strategy backed by concrete action (not volumes of strategy papers defending the government's mediocre track record) that seeks to harness the competitive advantage of the UK. And by that, I mean setting up robust support for businesses to help them establish, grow and sustain themselves. When an economy or nation starts to value bankers more than its inventors and entrepreneurs and people with tangible talent (not just those shifting money) then that economy will, at some stage, falter. Romans knew it, India and China know it, Dubai has just known it, and it's about time we take action too.
Posted by: Andy Smith 24 Dec 2009
to Stephen
I've worked for the Indian outsourcer companies, so offer you the following thoughts
Firstly the IT recruitment business in the UK does not rate the skills you mention, there is next to no credit for the business skills you list, you are talking fantasy and anyone following the course you recommend will quickly find themselves unemployable, AND the IT business is already weighed down with too many folk with limited substance who joined with little other than business skills.
As for offshoring, this country is being raped, especially by India! You are talking complete fantasy, which can only come from the conference circuit and being targeted by big business.
Often Indian nationals are brought here and the UK workforce is forced to train them, then as soon as possible the Brits are kicked out and the Indian nationals remain at significantly less cost. We are training up a competitor nation with a significantly lower cost base, in the very things we were and should be leading the world in.
Sadly almost all of the CVs for worker bees in the Indian outsourcers are full of lies, total and utter fantasy in many cases to get their bodies shipped into a UK company.
The Indian outsourcers are violently racist among the various Indian casts, and even more racist to brits. I wouldn't believe how bad it was if I hadn't seen it first hand with my own eyes.
And bullying, they have no concept of how to organise projects properly, their only strategy is throwing bodies at it and bullying the staff. It's often little more than slavery as here and in the US the worker bees have no choice but to put up with it as their Visa forces them to stay if they want to remain in the country and of course saying no is a one-way ticket to the slums of India.
The big Indian outsourcers are like big pyramid schemes ? they totally depend on having new layers of newcomers to bully, and their only sales approach is dropping prices.
Intra company transfer visas kill the incentive to train the UK workforce.
The work visa system encourages "job qualification inflation" where the outsourcers insist on degrees to keep Brits qualified by many years of experience out while bringing in young grads from india, often with abilities that really question the quality of their awarding colleges.
Outsourcers routinely break the immigration and employment rules, none of this is policed, its totally out of control!
I personally know thousands of IT and telco staff currently out of work, and I have been on the inside of the Indian outsourcers and know how many immigration and employment laws they routinely and cynically break!
We need to get a grip, you need to stop being naive and throwing away this country's intellectual property!
Posted by: Lemmy Kilminster 10 Dec 2009
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