CIO.com
10 hardest-to-find tech skills
By: Sharon Florentine
Rumors of Moore's Law's demise have been slightly exaggerated. Advances in computing power, data analytics, the cloud and other technologies just keep marching on -- albeit a bit slower. But as enterprises become more data-driven, it's not the hardware or the infrastructure that's at issue. It's the fact that tech pros with skills relating to organizing, analyzing and securing that data are increasingly harder to find.
"We're all familiar with Moore's Law, and what we're seeing is that as computing power increases over time, there's a huge influx of data being generated. What do companies do with it? They have to leverage their infrastructure to be able to store it, do so securely, understand it and use it to make better business decisions -- and right now those skills are very hard to find," says Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass, a labor market analytics and research firm.
Here, based on Burning Glass's research into more than 40,000 job posting websites from August 2015 to September 2016, and ranked by the number of days it takes to fill roles requiring that skill, are the hardest-to-find tech skills.
1. Cloud security
Time to fill: 96 days
Even organizations that balked at cloud technology in the past are finally jumping on board, driven by the efficiency and cost-savings the cloud can provide. "Even as organizations become more data-driven and move to the cloud, they're worried about how to secure that data, so cloud security skills are really important," Sigelman says.
2. JBOSS App Server
Time to fill: 77 days
The JBoss application server is used by enterprises to run Java-based, transactional applications. It's an open-source technology, which requires specialized skills.
3. Metadata Design
Time to fill: 73 days
Designing infrastructure around data requires specialized analysis and information about the types of data organizations have as well as compliance and access policies.
4. Integration Architecture
Time to fill: 70 days
Integration architects are often involved with database modeling, working with interface specifications or managing any other process that involves how data is integrated into a specific IT architecture.
5. Distributed Computing
Time to fill: 69 days
A career in distributed computing requires theoretical understanding of distributed systems, parallel programming, concurrency control, transaction processing, and databases; experience building systems that manage and process large data sets and the ability to develop components and subsystems of a multi-server, cloud-based infrastructure.
6. Information Architecture
Time to fill: 68 days
Information architects focus on organizing, structuring, and labeling content in an effective and sustainable way. The goal is to help users find information and complete tasks using technology seamlessly and effectively.
7. Apache Kafka
Time to fill: 66 days
Apache Kafka is a distributed, subscribe-and-publish messaging system that was first used by LinkedIn. Its benefits are that it's fast, scalable and reliable; as its popularity grows and adoption spreads, engineers with Kafka development skills will see demand for their experience grow.
8. Web Services Security
Time to fill: 63 days
Anything security related is in huge demand nowadays, says Sigelman, and web services is no exception. Web security engineers are tasked with making sure that internal systems, networks and web applications are all secure -- a critical job in the digital era.
9. Salesforce Integration
Time to fill: 62 days
The CRM platform is becoming a staple of today's digital businesses, Sigelman says. Any IT pro with Salesforce integration skills should be in high demand. "We see a big demand for Salesforce skills across many industries, which speaks to the ubiquity of the platform," Sigelman says.
10. Cloud Computing
Time to fill: 62 days
IT roles and related skills have changed as a cloud-based delivery model has become the norm in IT departments, Sigelman says. That means businesses need skilled professionals to do everything from designing cloud services to building and deploying cloud based storage and application delivery to ensuring the security of the cloud, he says.
