IT leaders are taking a different approach to the downturn

It is an opportune time for employers to consider both significantly changing the way their business operates and focus on strengthening their IT departments. Current market conditions and wider changes in technology are having a profound and long-term effect on the IT sector.

Before the recession began, employers were stressing the importance of leadership and the struggle to find strong leadership qualities among IT professionals. Focus for many businesses has continued to be on attracting and sourcing such talent, but it hasn’t been easy. Research by the UK’s leading recruitment company, Hays IT, recently revealed that leadership is still the hardest quality to find and yet the most highly sought after. In a recent forum, James Lloyd-Townshend, Managing Director at Hays IT, met with London-based IT directors, to discuss this and other key issues facing the IT sector. Amidst the wide spread effects of the recession there is an undercurrent of change; the take up and implementation of new technologies such as Virtualisation, Cloud Computing and Social Networking are changing the way IT professionals both work and recruit. As well as this, businesses are using the recession as an opportunity to assess the role of IT within their organisation, and ultimately the brief for their new hires.

Lloyd-Townshend believes that as a result of this IT specialists are still very much in demand: “Specialist IT skill sets are few and far between, even in a recession. At the more senior end, IT Directors with both technical and people skills are highly sought after, as larger organisations require strong leaders to see them through this period of change.” Cost cutting is not surprisingly the buzzword of the moment, but this doesn’t necessarily mean a halt in recruitment, according to Lloyd-Townshend: “Businesses are ultimately after professionals who can provide technical solutions in a structured and cost effective way and consequently this has led to sustained demand for architecture expertise. Enterprise architects in particular can still command excellent salaries and remuneration levels reflect the substantial cost savings that these individuals bring to a business.”

John Robinson, Group IT Director at Morse, agrees that driving cost efficiencies is imperative: "Reducing costs is high on many IT directors' agendas this year. We are implementing efficiencies through virtualisation and business optimisation. It has never been more crucial
to engage with the business and look beyond your own department. You must understand the financial figures, understand the business's strategy and align it to your own."

This focus on cost efficiency has fuelled demand for business intelligence consultants, whose remit is to prepare management information reports, keep senior stakeholders informed on all aspects of company performance and highlight areas where resources must be diverted to optimise financial outlay. Sharepoint experience is therefore increasingly in demand, and a Sharepoint Specialist working in London can typically expect a salary of around £40,000 - £50,000 or £350 - £550 per day. “Finding such effective cost-saving solutions, enabling faster data access across organisations and sharing information for the purpose of operational efficiency will all help organisations through the downturn and provide a solid platform for economic recovery,“ says Lloyd-Townshend.

Interestingly, many IT companies are already preparing for an upturn. Some of the larger organisations in particular are increasing expenditure on IT projects during this second half of the year. Lloyd-Townshend comments: “Initially we expect that senior interims will manage the majority of projects. We would then expect to see companies increasing their permanent headcount gradually as the market starts to pick up and confidence improves.

“Employers have been presented with a window of opportunity. The recession has resulted in a higher level of talent on the market and many businesses are taking advantage of this. Rather than asking what IT costs, there is a shift toward looking at what IT enables and what costs are therefore worthwhile,” says Lloyd-Townshend.

The forum which involved over twenty IT directors, surmised that that the pressure is on IT leaders to continue innovating and remain ‘lean and mean’ in this economic climate. “A new breed of IT leaders is emerging,” says Lloyd-Townshend, “they are forward-thinking and understand how to use technology as a business tool. These strengths will put them in good stead to power their business through these challenging times.”

For more information on Hays Information Technology please visit: www.hays.com/it