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Good news because there is a lot to be done to build the networked IT infrastructures that the world needs to help it move far away from recession. And it may well be good news, depending on your place in the food chain, even if it actually means that Gartner are forecasting a decline in IT spending of some 5.5%.

It's far too complicated to address here but this is not the full picture because, as Gartner research vice president, John-David Lovelock explains, "…this is not a market crash" and "IT activity is stronger than the growth in spending indicates. Price declines in major markets like communications and IT services, and switching to 'as a service' delivery, mask the increase in activity." So there is good news - you will continue to be busy!

But being busy has never really been an issue, and now that the relationship between IT, networking and the organisation that funds them is so inextricable, the expectations of what IT and networking professionals can achieve are much higher than ever before - and will continue to rise.

If you don't want to be involved in this messy business of your organisation objectives, management and delivery, then the best advice I can offer is to remain in a pure technical role. If, however, you want to advance what you know and establish it in a specific and meaningful context, then you must move out of the silo and demonstrate that IT and networking professionals can augment their skills to contribute towards the success of a business or organisation just as easily as the non-technical staff can become IT networking experts through the success story of BYOD.

Make the right choice - and above all enjoy your success.

Ray Smyth - Editor, Network Computing.
Ray.Smyth@BTC.CO.UK | https://twitter.com/ItsRay?