Tech Jobs That the Cloud Will Eliminate - hands-on technical work(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Tech Jobs That the Cloud Will Eliminate - hands-on technical work
http://www.nytimes.com/external/idg/2009/07/22/22idg-the-tech-jobs-that-the-cloud-will-eliminate-4509.html
7 comments
local technical work
That's only partly true. What matters is competitive advantage. No company is more competitive because its (say) email server is more reliable than its rivals. Therefore email is ripe for outsourcing. But in any area where IT/software/computation is a competitive advantage, that will stay in-house (possibly using cloud-like technologies, but that's not relevant to this analysis).
That's only partly true. What matters is competitive advantage. No company is more competitive because its (say) email server is more reliable than its rivals. Therefore email is ripe for outsourcing. But in any area where IT/software/computation is a competitive advantage, that will stay in-house (possibly using cloud-like technologies, but that's not relevant to this analysis).
Yes, as they say:
""Some percentage of the jobs actually performing infrastructure services, monitoring, and datacenter operations in-house will shift to cloud service providers like Google, Amazon, and the telcos..."
But for start-up entrepreneurs, this can be the good news: that the creative work of assessing a consumer/business niche of need can move more quickly to the creative work of filling that niche need in better ways.
The cloud can really be the friend of our enterprising spirits.
""Some percentage of the jobs actually performing infrastructure services, monitoring, and datacenter operations in-house will shift to cloud service providers like Google, Amazon, and the telcos..."
But for start-up entrepreneurs, this can be the good news: that the creative work of assessing a consumer/business niche of need can move more quickly to the creative work of filling that niche need in better ways.
The cloud can really be the friend of our enterprising spirits.
Exactly. I see cloud computing as more enabling than disabling since people don't have to focus on the mundane as much as they can focus on the things that are unique to their idea. This is progress! Not something to be feared...
The point is there are people out there highly trained and experienced at focusing on the mundane, and if their jobs go away, what will they do?
Besides, poking about with hardware and sysadminning can be pretty fun, in limited short bursts.
Besides, poking about with hardware and sysadminning can be pretty fun, in limited short bursts.
The point is there are people out there highly trained and experienced at focusing on the mundane, and if their jobs go away, what will they do?
They should learn something new... Just because they're highly trained doesn't mean they get a free ride for the rest of their lives.
They should learn something new... Just because they're highly trained doesn't mean they get a free ride for the rest of their lives.
"Horseless carriage to eliminate animal husbandrists"
However, some of us entrepreneur-wannabees still rely on "hands-on technical work" while working nights to plan a start-up. This may call for extra resourcefulness for future start-uppers.
My experince with "cloud computing" has been that needs always grow to fill all available capacity.
As your capabilities expand within a given budget, new needs arise. All of the marginal applications that were impossible to pitch under the old cost structure are suddenly compelling choices.
Firms provision VMware environments in order decrease labor costs and consolidate servers. Before you know it, the business "needs" ten times as many servers as before.
As your capabilities expand within a given budget, new needs arise. All of the marginal applications that were impossible to pitch under the old cost structure are suddenly compelling choices.
Firms provision VMware environments in order decrease labor costs and consolidate servers. Before you know it, the business "needs" ten times as many servers as before.
Alternate title:
"Tech Jobs That the Cloud Will Produce - hands-on application development"
"Tech Jobs That the Cloud Will Produce - hands-on application development"
but who will administer the cloud ?
This applies even in technological backwaters such as I'm in - maybe even more so. Living out here does present some challenges for start-up work, but more and more luddite businesses are finding they have to be web-connected if not web-based. So they need me (and can have me - until my night job becomes my day job).