Twenty Five years ago, when the PC was really just the IBM PC, Apple had their first Mac’s on the market and the IBM typewriter was still common place in the office going into ‘computers’ seemed like a great career move. If hind site is 20/20, would any of us do it again?
Its a tough question. There is no doubt that being technology savvy is very important in today’s world. The more self-sufficient you are and utilize technology as a tool, the better off you will be. I think the real question is what are the opportunities in the technology world and what trends have we seen.
Trend 1 – Technology has gotten easier to use.
The days when you would bring home the brand new VCR/Computer/TV/etc and spend hours setting it up a long over. All these devices come with a quick booklet at best with the 5 or so steps to setup the new device. The days of grumbling over which cable goes where are basically over. The proof is my mother setup her own computer with wireless and my support phone calls were really just that, moral support.
For businesses the same is true. Rewind 25 years and most business owners who got a computer to do their book keeping on, were almost always hire the consultant to come in and set it all up, teach the office staff how to use it and if they were lucky get a support agreement out of it. In today’s world it is nothing for a business owner to visit Best Buy and get a PC and QuickBooks, take it back to the office and set everything up themselves. The office staff most likely knows the software, or can learn it in hours. Take that to the next level, SAP Business One, can be up and running for a company in a day with a consultants help!
Things have gotten easier.
Trend 2 – We are not as afraid of it as we once were.
Look to trend 1 and we can see that yes it easier however trend 2 takes it another step forward. Even though the people in high school/college before the mid 80′s really were not exposed to compters and technology during their educational years, they absolutilly were after them.
Most in their 40′s and above remember when the ATM was introduced. I know it hard to believe. I do remember using one for the first time and thought it was the greatest thing. Now we have all the ATM’s in the country loaded in our GPS’s mounted in the car so we can find an ATM and then go to Starbucks.
The technology has become very pervasive in our society to the point where we just expect it. Everyplace from the grocery market to the car we drive has more technology today than we ever thought, at least back in the 70′s and 80′s. With all this technology we are even more comfortable and will even anticipate or expect the changes.
Trend 3 – Technology is not Packaged as a Product for Consumption
Walk into your corner gas station and you’ll find pre-paid cell phones where $25 gets you a couple hundred minutes. No software sales person making a big commission sold you that Quickbooks software or the computer it is running on. The technology is now almost incidental to the purpose it is to serve.
Take your cable/dish feed. You want to consume TV programming and have this digital box that has a hard drive, memory and input/output connectors. Its function is to decode information and display it on the screen, in High Definition and give you Dolby 5.1 surround sound too. You’ll command this powerhouse with a remote from the comfort of your couch just 10′ away.
These devices just work. No complex setup. No maintenance. Really no fuss. Of course when they stop working, we raise Cain. 
Trend 4 – Help is literally around the corner.
The kids, your younger brother, they all grew up with technology. In fact they crave it. Gotta have the latest and greatest cell phone, iPod, PSP, DS3, Wii, etc, etc, etc. Their appetite for technology is insatiable and the manufactures know it. When we have a problem we are calling on these people to help us out, and they will without ever looking at the manual. I know that pisses some people off, but they like it.
The fact is these are the people who may consider going into the computer technology fields. The difference is there are a lot of them out there making their service very much a commodity. Since they don’t need a license or even education to give their advice just about anyone can do it.
Trend 5 – Businesses have embraced technology and are reducing the need for specialist.
Most businesses I have come in contact with want to use technology. They only want it to make their business better. (Make more faster, make more better, make more stuff cheaper, figure out where the more stuff is going). They have made technology a tool and expect all workers to know the tool as well as improve the tool. This in turn is making for smarter employees and reducing the need for outside consultants.
There will still be a place for these highly specialized consultants. As businesses want to change what they have technology doing, they should hire a consultant to help them lay out the options and plan for the technology changes (aka Change Management and Project Management). Change and Project Management are two skills rarely possessed within a company and are the number one reasons why projects fail.
Trend 6 – Technology is Affordable
No surprise here. With the laws of computer science still holding true decades after they were conceived we, the consumer, are getting more for our buck. The Dick Tracey watch is real, and if you wait it will come free if you buy the 2 year contract.
Seriously, technology is becoming increasingly more affordable and will continue to do so. The prices on just about every device from LCD TV’s to Laptop Computers continues to fall each year and as a consumer bonus we are getting more and more features in the products. The pricing trends will continue but we have also seen the consolidation of devices and speciality devices begin to take center stage.
Consolidation devices are things like your Blackberry or iPhone that now serve many functions including being a telephone. In-fact it has almost become secondary for these devices. We have also seen the introduction of NetBooks, stripped down laptops intended really just to surf the web and be highly portable.
$1000000 Question
For anyone entering the IT technology industry will need to be highly specialized and highly trained if they are to be successful. It will be a long road to gain enough knowledge and experience to be considered an expert. So if you are looking for a quick buck, Information Technology is not it. I don’t think the geek squad is highly paid. Successful technology consultants are business oriented making a business background or degree a huge plus.
In the end, it is still a viable field, but the game has changed.
