The IT job landscape is evolving quickly. Here's how to avoid IT extinction
Darwinism is no stranger to IT. Given the pace of innovation, today's plum post is almost always one shift away from becoming tomorrow's pink slip. But the trends currently taking hold of IT organizations may have a broader impact on IT employment than we've seen in years.
The 5 hottest IT jobs right now
这已经不是什么秘密了cloud computing revolution和infusion of consumer devices into the workplace有了脱胎换骨的IT巨大变化。曾经被认为是安全的职称是突然濒临灭绝，这要部分归功于一个世界里，business users no longer have to go through ITto get to the technology they need to do their jobs.
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叫它新ice age. And tech pros who don't evolve with the times risk joining the T-Rex and the triceratops in the tar pits.
We spoke with a number of IT pros about the jobs they see going away in the years ahead. Here are nine of the most endangered species in IT, along with advice on how you can avoid becoming one of them.
濒危物种IT 1号：布朗鼻子唱反调(Negativitus infinitus)For decades, the Naysayer held sway over all tech decisions, wielding the word "no" like a razor-sharp claw to slash all requests, citing security or budget concerns. But theBYOD revolution和宇宙的公众cloud services available to usershave rendered the Naysayer as harmless as a newborn kitten.
"We all know this particular type of IT pro -- the ones who think the customer is never right and users are guilty until proven innocent," says Tyler Lessard, CMO of mobile risk management company Fixmo. "They're part of the reason people are now storing business documents on Dropbox and connecting their own iPads to the corporate network without informing IT,creating new security nightmares。他们正在被新一代谁明白，我们需要腾出空间给员工的选择和自由消费，精明的IT专业人士所取代 - 恐吓的可能”
Organizations where the Naysayer still reigns supreme will have a tough time attracting top talent, warns Vincent Schiavo, CEO of DeviceLock, a provider of data leak prevention solutions.
"The prime habitat for the Naysayer are organizations unable to hire the most sought-after recent graduates," he says. "They'd rather work somewhere with a more progressive stance on enabling Android, iPhones, and other innovations in personal productivity technology."
如何避免灭绝：Practice forming the word "yes" with your lips, and embrace the new tech revolution. Then develop amobile device management strategythat allows for granular control of devices and policy enforcement for social media, says Schiavo.
Endangered IT species No. 2: The Data Center Dinosaur（Tyrannoserver雷克斯）与特定类型的硬件的深入了解，编码语言或开发方法，这些曾经不可一世的生物穿着像一个保护壳，他们的专业知识。现在，他们正在进化链替换flexible generalists with a broader skill set。
"In the past these clever creatures were coveted for their deep experience in one specific skill or tool," says Ed Nathanson, director of talent acquisition at Rapid7, a vulnerability management provider. "But thanks to Darwinism, IT pros with a narrow field of focus are largely confined to the 'short-term contractor' habitat."
在普渡大学，IT人喜欢这种被称为“拥抱者的服务器，” CIO格里·麦卡特尼说。“他们已经按件他们维护设备的定义自己的工作，”他说。“这是一个危险的姿势从专业的角度来看有，我想会有很少需要有本地面向硬件的技术知识。”
如何避免灭绝：Broaden and diversify your knowledge base now, while there's still time, says Greg Schulz, senior adviser for the StorageIO Group, an IT infrastructure consultancy.
"If you are the hardware guy, you better start learning and embracing software," he says. "If you are the software geek, time to appreciate the hardware. If you are infrastructure-focused, it's time to learn about the business and its applications. You don't want to be overgeneralized, but make sure to balance broader knowledge with depth in different areas."
濒危物种IT 3号：红腹修复技术(Breakfixus familiarus)修复科技股曾经是一个常见的景象在办公室，被要求换出死硬盘驱动器，更换油炸主板和keep expensive desktops up and running。但硬件和廉价的移动设备普及的成本直线下降都使得他们很大程度上是一个时代错误。
"The species was highly territorial, thriving on the native fauna of the small-business and home computer market," notes John Caughell, marketing coordinator for Argentstratus, a provider of cloud-based applications. "Sadly this once proud beast is fast on its way to extinction as the world moves to devices that seldom see a flat surface, except to recover and recharge."
硬件已经变得如此便宜，它便宜，以取代一些地方不对头，而不是浪费时间和金钱将其固定，增加了丹尼斯Madderra，对SIMPLETECH解决方案首席营运官，有管理的IT服务公司。
"With workstation prices falling, and more and more applications running from virtualized platforms or Web-based interfaces, waiting for a tech to replace a failed power supply or video card is quickly becoming more expensive than just replacing the box entirely," he says. "Why not replace the box with a freshly imaged computer and be off and running in minutes rather than hours?"
如何避免灭绝：考虑一个水平的飞跃服务器维护, says Madderra. "Anyone who can快速诊断硬件问题和错误在服务器上都会有工作，几年来“。
Endangered IT species No. 4: The Lesser-Spotted System Administrator（Networkus rebooti）Like worker ants or soldier bees, System Administrators have played a small but vital role in the IT ecosphere by keeping the lights on and the bits flowing. Now their数字是处于危险之中作为尚未已经外包管理工作可能很快就会发现在云家。
杰里·凯利，北美CIO对控股公司的多元化代理服务，说电子邮件管理员，一，可能很快将只能在博物馆找到。
“问任何启动，如果他们想建立和管理自己的电子邮件服务器，”凯利说。“他们会盯着你喜欢你疯了。大多数IT主管想获得更多的电子邮件将自己的环境了。如果你的公司没有移动电子邮件给私人或公共云，有一个很好的机会，他们很快会无论哪种方式，在公司传统的电子邮件管理角色会落得像渡渡鸟“。
Low-level administrator jobs will be tougher to come by, particularly at small and midsize firms, says Brian Finnegan, associate professor and faculty chair of IT at Peirce College in Philadelphia. While they won't disappear entirely, these tasks will migrate to cloud companies where the demands are higher and the competition stiffer.
"Network, storage, and related infrastructure administration jobs -- the kind of work that keeps the bits flowing through the pipes in individual organizations -- are available with the cloud providers, but you need to be ready for the big leagues," he says. "Those that do remain will require engineer- and architect-grade skills. Working in the server room at your small or midsize company is a world apart from working in a server room at Google or Rackspace."
如何避免灭绝：Become a security wonk or adata analytics expert, two tech fields that are flourishing and will for some time to come, says Purdue's McCartney.
Endangered IT species No. 5: The Pink-Crested Credentialist（Certificatus鲆）Trailing a long list of technical certifications behind it like a vestigial tail, the Credentialist can still be found in its natural habitat -- usually the HR department of a company it wants to work for. But it has been marginalized by IT pros with actual skills and experience, says Mike Meikle, CEO of the Hawkthorne Group, a boutique management and technology consulting firm.
"This species is known for taking so many certification courses you can't figure out how they manage to get actual work done -- besides installing Transcender software," he adds.
The days when you could slap some Cisco or Microsoft certifications onto your rA(c)A3AumA(c)A A!nd write your own ticket are long over, says Lenny Fuchs, owner of My IT Department, which provides contract tech services to small businesses.
"Without the work experience to back it up,certifications are almost useless， “他说，福克斯增加了他得到一个踢出来看到rA的（C）A3AumA（c）该读A3A” 李四，MCTS，CCA，CTSGIT，MCITP，CCNA，MCP。最后担任的位置是：在星巴克经理助理“。
Thanks to increased automation, even high-level Cisco Certified Infrastructure Engineers could be facing the same fate as encyclopedia salesmen, paperboys, and switchboard operators, says Dante Malgrino, CEO and co-founder of Embrane, a平台作为一种服务供应商。
“在新的网络编程模型，它将不再是关于人类通过CLI或GUI配置的机器，而是更多的机器和软件通过编程接口进行通信，”他说。
如何避免灭绝：Become an engineer/programmer by mastering a scripting language likePython, Ruby, orPHP, says Malgrino. Or turn your attention to creating your own intellectual property, such as journal articles and presentations at industry conferences, advises Meikle. "That will help you truly stand out from the crazed credentialists."
濒危物种IT 6号：公共网页设计师(Templator fillerupus)At one time they numbered in the millions; now there are only a handful left. Automated site-creation tools and increasing dependence on sophisticated marketing techniques has deprived millions ofHTML与自然的Web土地的Flash设计他们曾经打电话回家。
“删除无聊的散文成模板是不会削减它在今天的市场漩涡”的SimpleTech的Madderra说。“这些公司希望基于坚实的SEO [搜索引擎优化]媒体利用，写作和设计围绕一个营销计划元素组织原则蓬勃发展的在线需要建立内容，互联网与企业在该位迫不及待蜂拥来提供这些服务，有些甚至是免费的。”
As Fuchs from My IT Department notes, "My mom has a website. She made it herself with Go Daddy's tools. Once your mom can master a technology, experts begin to disappear."
如何避免灭绝：Become an SEO maven, says Fuchs.
"With all these site-creation tools and the move to less dynamic websites that are more friendly to mobile devices, Web designers need to become to SEO experts very quickly or they will be out of a job."
Endangered IT species No. 7: The Woolly Unix Mammoth（Mainframus作废）一旦在企业生物圈中占主导地位的生物之一，Unix servers- 以及由此延伸，the people paid to tend them-- are heading for the tar pits. Not because they can't still do the work, but because they're being replaced by more nimble and less expensive Linux boxes, says Anthony R. Howard, author of "The Invisible Enemy: Black Fox" and a technology consultant for Fortune 50 companies and the U.S. military.
当甲骨文在2010年收购了Sun，它de-emphasized Sun hardware让Unix的支持逐渐减少，霍华德说，虽然没有跟上功能的增加和开源替代品的显着降低成本。
“在UNIX服务器收费服务器超过25,000 $，”霍华德说。“现在的Linux可以运行大部分相同的应用和成本每台服务器。只有约$ 3,000一家公司的，我个人的专有Unix架构的迁移关到Linux中保存超过十亿美元，未来五年的工作。随着越来越多的人迁移到Linux上，Unix的管理最终会在霸王龙的方式，他们在他们在地上的时候吃得很好，但他们的日子已经屈指可数了。”
如何避免灭绝：Build up your Linux chopsin a hurry, and become an expert on which applications can migrate to Linux and which ones need to stay on Sun, says Howard. "When your org does decide to migrate, you can lead the effort instead of getting left behind."
Endangered IT species No. 8: The Purple-Tufted Programmer(Codus cobolus)开发商谁削减他们的牙齿Cobolor Fortran are a dying breed, but they're not the only ones. IT pros who hack code -- and only hack code -- may quickly wind up on the wrong side of the evolutionary divide.
Routine programming jobs are largely being offshored or eliminated outright, notes Peirce College's Finnegan.
“如果你渴望打算写代码为生，你最好做好心理准备，软件工程师的水平，做到这一点，”他说。“这意味着做了一个非常大的规模较大的组织，有一个工程师的重视过程和质量控制，以及人民技能功能，在这样的环境。”
Even mobile developers aren't immune, notes Chris O'Connor, CEO of Taptera, a provider of enterprise-ready, social sales mobile applications.