Finding the IT Factor

For one of the articles in this month’s issue of Irish Computer, I asked a number of people in the channel for their views on what were likely to present the biggest challenges for them from a technological and commercial point of view in 2012. What were the issues that they worried about most in 2012 and how would they try to address them?

I’m glad to say that none of them seemed to be concerned by the likelihood of the world ending on 21 December 2012, despite all the brouhaha surrounding the Mayan prophecy of Earth’s destruction. Whatever else might give them cause for worry, they feel reasonably sure the world will still be here on 22 December.

Whether the euro will still be here is a moot point. Certainly the wider economic situation is a cause for anxiety although it’s becoming something that people don’t necessarily address overtly because it’s so much a part of everyday living. It’s almost like the background music to our society. This situation has given rise to a feeling that many businesses are now so in tune with the age of austerity they will be able to continue trading, no matter what the fates throw at them. The common response seems to be that while things have got tougher there is still business to be done.

Fitting in

If there’s one thing that could spell the end of the world for channel partners – not all of them, I hasten to add – it could well be cloud computing. A big challenge which people have been wrestling with for some time is exactly where channel partners fit into the cloud model.

Judging by my quick poll, people have different views on this, but they do seem to feel that those companies that fail to find their role could struggle to survive and end up losing customers to those that have progressed further down the path (or should that be higher up in the air?) to delivering cloud-based services.

If it’s any consolation, the cloud model presents challenges to vendors and customers too.

One area where I didn’t expect too much difficulty, especially given an unemployment rate of over 14%, was in recruitment, but a number of people said trying to find the right people to fill vacancies was a major headache.

Trying to identify and poach people from other companies is also becoming more of a problem because good people in good jobs are far less likely to make a move in difficult times. This is especially true when they know it could take them six months or even a year to build up a customer base at their new company and reach the same level of earnings from commission that they already enjoy. And although you’d expect there to be a fairly significant available pool of staff from candidates that have been axed over the past three years, a number of them are likely to have left the industry (or even the country) in search of greener pastures.

Short time

Some channel businesses are turning to graduate schemes and internships to try and develop the next generation and their interest in IT, but these take time. One unhappy byproduct of the economic situation where companies are looking for a very swift return on any investment, meaning time is in short supply.

Training people up from scratch can be expensive as well, making it far less attractive an option than it might have been four or five years ago. And there’s a risk that the people they invest in won’t make the grade at the end of the day.

It’s a source of sadness that there should be a disconnect between the wider Irish society where so many people are struggling to find work and the Irish IT industry where companies are struggling to find people. Something needs to be done to try and align them more closely – yet another challenge for 2012.

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