IT Hire Wire

This week I sat down with Susan Hilty, a Hudson IT PMP-certified project manager from our Chicago office, to get an industry veteran’s take on the trends affecting IT projects right now.

Leaders vs. Project Managers

Susan brings a unique background to her project management engagements. For many years she worked in store management roles at retail chains including Kmart and SportMart. Responsible for opening new stores, Hilty developed firsthand experience with the various people and complex processes that need to be setup and managed for a store to operate successfully. Susan said, “In retail, there were so many moving parts from HR, Payroll, and Finance - my favorite part was figuring out new processes on the fly and mentoring my staff to adopt those processes. We were not given exact instructions on how to open a store. We had to find the necessary resources and make sure that the goal was achieved.”

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It can be tough for software development professionals to crack into the Gaming industry. Veteran programmers will tell you that it takes passion for game development and a strong portfolio of gaming projects to even be considered. Job seekers often ask me how they can get the skills and experience they need to get their foot in the door.

It is possible to transfer skills from related industries, like computer simulation to video game development. A good example is Terry Michaels, Sony Online Entertainment, Everquest Developer, who used his experience as flight simulator programmer to land his first gaming job.
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I sat in on the webinar 6 Reasons to Embrace Cloud Computing Now, hosted by Hudson IT on Tuesday April 7, 2010. Here are some interesting insights into two CIO’s views into Cloud Computing via my live tweets.

Mike Whitmer @mlwhitmer CIO of @HudsonIT, and Kirby Miner, CIO of @Trex_Company will speak on experience with #cloudcomputing #WhyCloud

Mid-sized cos. have had significant IT staff reductions, but still have large base of employees to support. Cloud can help. #WhyCloud

Formal def. of Cloud: multitenant shared platform…NOT useful to convince leadership. Go with simple. “Rent from the internet” #WhyCloud

Explaining IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, “ohhh. you mean servers, middleware and apps. Yeah I get it.” via @monkchips http://bit.ly/a497dQ #WhyCloud

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Cloud Computing is becoming a very real consideration for CIOs in most industries in 2010. As the Global CIO here at Hudson, my job is to keep the operations of our company efficient, cost effective, and highly catered to the needs of our employees, clients, and consultants. To be able to meet these objectives I, along with my IT team, are heavily involved in exploring Cloud Computing options for many different aspects of our operation, from CRM and messaging applications to storage and infrastructure. I offered to share my Cloud Computing experiences with my colleagues here at Hudson IT, because they are putting highly skilled IT pros to work every day.

Here is a quick video where I’m discussing some of my rationale for exploring the Cloud in 2010.
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As we close out a crazy 2009 and head toward a new year, there are plenty of things to reflect on within your IT career. Apart from shifts in the economy and how business adapted to survive, it seems that technology underwent a seismic shift as well. Cloud Computing became a part of the mainstream vernacular. For the first time, the hardware, software, and Internet bandwidth needed to support the ‘network as the computer’ became a realistic possibility for enterprise IT. While CIO’s will be tinkering with their Cloud Strategy through much of 2010, it also begs questions for what changes the Cloud will have on rank-and-file IT professionals as the economy comes out of its deep freeze. In this video segment, I explore some of the main ideas in Leon Erlanger’s July InfoWorld Article, The Tech jobs the Cloud will Eliminate.

Watch my video and give the article a read. Let me know your thoughts on what you are doing with Cloud Computing going into 2010.

It’s back to school time and just when you thought those days were behind you the economy finds seasoned professionals seeking further education to gain an edge in the competitive job market. IT certifications are a great route, yet when charting your IT career path there are some important considerations to make before breaking out your money clip. In this video I discuss how an IT certification can bolster your career and what certifications are hot right now.

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Below is an excerpt from Bob Weinstein’s ‘Going Solo‘ article featuring Hudson IT recruiter Todd Harootyan published on Gantthead.com.

If you’re new to the independent contracting game and have visions of forming your own IT project management firm, a good way to sample the marketplace is by aligning yourself with an IT recruiting/staffing firm like Hudson IT in Chicago. “It’s a win-win situation for everyone,” says Todd Harootyan, a senior IT recruiter at Hudson. “The end client gets a substantially lower price tag on the resource, the contractor gets a well paying short-term project, and the recruiter makes his margin.”

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While survival is the paramount concern these days, how you survive will determine your true legacy. Today, IT groups must prepare for the inevitable rebound by investing in change. It’s not just about “keeping the lights on;” it’s about tuning the engine that makes innovation possible. If it doesn’t positively affect the bottom line, the top line and/or increase efficiencies, then it is not the change your company needs today. IT groups and enterprise stakeholders must have a tough dialogue on technology investments. During lean times, many enterprises cut IT to the bone. Typically the projects that survive will offer high value to the sustainability of the technology platform. Here are my tips on how IT can stay on the innovation track during an economic downturn and position your enterprise for growth during the rebound.

1. Mining The Data - While the task of data clean-up typically assumes a tedious groan, small strategic improvements can offer serious ROI now and later.
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Serious gamers with a passion for challenges and innovation might consider the career opportunities presented in the medical gaming and simulation field. A new report from the Games for Health Project shows worldwide sales for health-focused games such as Wii Fit, EA Sports Active and Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution have totaled USD $2 billion over an 18 month period. It is no surprise that this year’s annual Games for Health Conference had an unprecedented turnout. The once negative stigma associated with videogames has come full circle to now be embraced as a significant value-add to the learning and health of our society.

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Are you an IT job seeker being told “it’s all about who you know,” but recently found that you don’t know as many people as you once did? The hard lesson being learned by many job seekers in today’s IT job market is that they can not be a “fair weather networker.” In today’s job market, candidates are possibly competing with up to five other candidates for the same job. Building your IT professional network is not necessarily something that should be left on the back burner until you are in need of a new job. It should be a priority that is consistently developed.

If you need a quick fix to your professional network, here some simple guidelines to get you started.
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