Unit 1 overview of IT Industry

Unit 1 overview of IT Industry
Concept Learning
IT Industry Outlook
The term technology commonly refers to society’s application of scientific knowledge to solve
practical problems in industry or commerce. Technological innovation, or the application of
technology, takes many forms and often involves the interplay of expertise across multiple
disciplines and industry verticals. One framework for categorizing technology entails the use of
five distinct groupings, namely, information technology (IT), life sciences, advanced
manufacturing, advanced materials, and energy & environmental sciences.
Each segment of this technology framework has contributed to economic growth and the
well-being of society. The magnitude of advances in medicine, transportation, safety,
manufacturing, agriculture, media and communication are almost difficult to comprehend. Since
the turn of the millennium though, the one segment that arguably has had the greatest impact on
businesses, consumers and other industry sectors is information technology (IT).
Information Technology (IT) can be defined as the utilization of computing via hardware, software,
services and infrastructure to create, store, exchange and leverage information in its various forms
to accomplish any number of objectives. Additionally, the term encompasses the workers that
develop, implement, maintain and utilize information technology directly or indirectly.
At a macro level, the year ahead will once again feature the usual mix of optimism, progress,
uncertainty and regressions. The amazing pace of innovation over the past five years will deliver
new benefits to untapped users around the world, small businesses and other non-early adopter
segments. Businesses and users of all types will continue to seek value from technology in the
form of capabilities, but also in its ability to reduce complexity rather than add to it. In the
backdrop sits the ever-present hand of government policymakers. In an increasingly inter-
connected world the stakes have never been higher for tech policy.
From a technology standpoint, many of the trends from previous years will enter a new phase of
maturity in 2015. Businesses will begin using cloud and mobile to build advanced systems. The
ability to manage data will become a critical and highly demanded skill. The potential of many
connected devices and sensors will lead to new areas of opportunity. And over it all, security will
have to change as technology evolves to drive new business prospects.
For the IT channel, 2015 stands to be the year to really up its game. Business transformation will
remain the buzz word of the moment as channel firms of all stripes continue to assess the direction
Unit 1 overview of IT Industry
of their companies in the age of cloud computing, mobility, managed services, big data, social
media and other market and technology forces. Navigating new routes to market and evolving
customer buying habits will challenge channel firms to focus just as much on their own branding
and marketing as they will on elevating their tech skills.
Globalization, driven largely by technology, becomes ever more pervasive and influential with
each passing year. The number of people with access to the Internet recently crossed the 3 billion
threshold, representing 42% of the global population, according to Internet World Stats. Less than
two years ago, U.S. websites accounted for 9 of the top 10 slots worldwide. Estimates now suggest
the list includes far more international representation with sites such as Alibaba, Baidu and
Tencent capturing huge market shares. Similarly, U.S. technology companies maintain a hold on
many of the top slots in hardware, software and IT services. Although this too may change as new
generations of global-minded entrepreneurs seek to make their mark.
Since the Great Recession, the “do more with less” mentality has dominated corporate strategy.
This undoubtedly led executives to pursue strategies such as simplification with the end goal of
cost cutting in mind. It should be noted that while simplification often goes hand-in-hand with cost
cutting and the elimination of waste, it is not always the case. Simple, elegant solutions that are
embraced by workers and customers alike typically require much more than trimming fat at the
margins. Another factor driving the renewed push to simplify stems from innovations, such as
cloud computing, mobility, business process automation (BPA), managed services, big data and
other developments that have given businesses unprecedented access to tools to support
simplification efforts. For IT companies, opportunities lie not only with implementation, but also
with providing a true consultative experience to their customers. Simplification may take the form
of helping CIOs shift from maintenance mode to innovation mode, helping to balance the security
needs of the organization and the needs of workers or helping customers navigate the sometimes
overwhelming number of technology options.
 

Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
Unit 1 Overview of IT Industry
Part Two Case Learning
什么是 IT 劳动力
IT 劳动力来自两个不一样的方面：1 是 IT 公司，2 是 IT 职业。
IT 职业劳动者
•  包括技术职业，例如软件开发人员、网络工程师、计算机支持专家等等。
他们工做在各种垂直门户行业，如医疗、教育、制造、专业服务等。
•  除了核心 IT 职业，还有一系列的技术密集型的外围岗位，一般称为知识
型工人。
IT 行业劳动者
•  包括技术职业，例如软件开发人员、网络工程师，计算机支持专家等。
•  包括非技术岗位，如销售、市场营销、人力资源、财务、以及运营与管理
等支持和促进 IT 公司运做的岗位。
•  其特色是，技术职位在 IT 公司全部岗位中占的比例从 25%到 75%不等。
影响这一比例的因素有不少。例如，新成立的公司中的首批员工几乎都是
与软件工程师、程序员以及其余技术人员构成。随着公司规模的扩大，可
能开始增长销售以及营销人员从而下降技术职位的比例。
IT 职业劳动者 --- 这一部分到 2014 年末共雇佣大约 488 万人，增
加了 11.6 万个岗位，职位增加 2.4%。 2014 年职位增加略高于 2013
年的 2.1%，即 10 万个岗位的增长。对比而言，美国整个 2013 年
的全部行业的职位增加在 1.5%到 1.8 之间。
Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
IT 职业劳动者遍及各个垂直门户行业。例如，某家医院的 IT 技术
部门会雇佣各种高级、中级以及初级 IT 技术人员以保障医生、护
士和医院的行政人员对计算机、网络以及应用软件的使用。
2014 年 IT 职业岗位增加排名（按百分比排序）
1. 网页开发工程师
2. 信息安全分析师
3. 计算机系统分析师
4. 软件开发师（应用软件）
5. 软件开发师（系统软件）
6. 计算机用户支持专家
7. 计算机及信息系统管理者
8. 数据库管理
除了核心 IT 职位，还有许多周边技术密集型职位。例如 IT 项目管理、医疗信息
技术人员、音视频技术人员、技术相关销售、文员、计算机自动化制造操做员以
及 IT 培训职位等，都须要不一样技术方面的专业知识和经验。虽然这些职位不属
于“IT 技术部门”，但确是 IT 劳动力的重要组成部分。因为标准的不一样，外围和知
识密集型岗位还会有 100 万到几百万不等。
因为各个行业对技术的需求不断增加，IT 技术岗位已遍及全国各个地区。 虽然说
存在技术扎堆的状况，如硅谷集中了大量的技术工人，但不少不知名的地区也有
数量庞大的技术工人。例如在美国的山脉州地区就有着超过 32.5 万名 IT 工人。
根据百分比排序，2014 年 IT 职位增加最快的州包括内华达州、德克萨斯州、蒙
大拿州、佛罗里达州、北卡罗来州、北达科他州、特拉华州、犹他州以及西弗吉
尼亚州。这些州中，每一个州的岗位增加都在 4%及以上。对比而言，总体 IT 技术
职位增加达到 2.4%。
Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
IT 就业前景
美国劳工统计局数据显示，截止到 2014 年 12 月，全国失业率为 5.5%，与 2013
年同期的 6.6%相比有所降低。在过去的 36 个月里，美国的就业形势出现缓慢而
持续的好转。劳工局的官方失业率并无包括怯志工做者（不想就业的人）以及
一边作兼职一边寻求全职职位的人。若考虑到这些因素，失业和未充分就业率会
更高，这使得整个就业状况不容客观。
劳工局对计算机和数学行业（基本上等同于 IT 职业）类别职业统计的失业率仍
然远低于全国失业率。2014 年 11 月，这一类别的失业率为 2.0%，比全国失业率
的一半还要低。这一最新数据低于 2013 年和 2012 年的 3.3%。
IT 技术工人的低失业率以及对某些技术类型工人的强烈需求使得雇用环境至关
具备挑战性。68%的 IT 企业主管认为在 2015 年技术岗位的招聘将至关具备挑战
性。
根据美国 BGTLI 的统计，2014 年第四季度，美国企业发布大约 58 万个核心 IT 技
术职位招聘信息，比第三季度略有增加。
如前所述，2014 年，核心技术职业劳动力增加了 11.6 万。这也说明了职位招聘
数据的一部份内容。公司规模可能在扩大或转行，所以须要雇佣大量员工。
另一个做用因素是劳动力流失，也叫劳动力流转。包括退休、跳槽以及进修、
家庭缘由的离职或开除、下岗等。这也说明为何岗位招聘的数量超过了新增岗
位的数量。