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
什麼是 IT 勞動力
IT 勞動力來自兩個不一樣的方面：1 是 IT 公司，2 是 IT 職業。
IT 職業勞動者
•  包括技術職業，例如軟件開發人員、網絡工程師、計算機支持專家等等。
他們工做在各種垂直門戶行業，如醫療、教育、製造、專業服務等。
•  除了核心 IT 職業，還有一系列的技術密集型的外圍崗位，一般稱爲知識
型工人。
IT 行業勞動者
•  包括技術職業，例如軟件開發人員、網絡工程師，計算機支持專家等。
•  包括非技術崗位，如銷售、市場營銷、人力資源、財務、以及運營與管理
等支持和促進 IT 公司運做的崗位。
•  其特色是，技術職位在 IT 公司全部崗位中佔的比例從 25%到 75%不等。
影響這一比例的因素有不少。例如，新成立的公司中的首批員工幾乎都是
與軟件工程師、程序員以及其餘技術人員構成。隨着公司規模的擴大，可
能開始增長銷售以及營銷人員從而下降技術職位的比例。
IT 職業勞動者 --- 這一部分到 2014 年末共僱傭大約 488 萬人，增
加了 11.6 萬個崗位，職位增加 2.4%。 2014 年職位增加略高於 2013
年的 2.1%，即 10 萬個崗位的增長。對比而言，美國整個 2013 年
的全部行業的職位增加在 1.5%到 1.8 之間。
Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
IT 職業勞動者遍及各個垂直門戶行業。例如，某家醫院的 IT 技術
部門會僱傭各種高級、中級以及初級 IT 技術人員以保障醫生、護
士和醫院的行政人員對計算機、網絡以及應用軟件的使用。
2014 年 IT 職業崗位增加排名（按百分比排序）
1. 網頁開發工程師
2. 信息安全分析師
3. 計算機系統分析師
4. 軟件開發師（應用軟件）
5. 軟件開發師（系統軟件）
6. 計算機用戶支持專家
7. 計算機及信息系統管理者
8. 數據庫管理
除了核心 IT 職位，還有許多周邊技術密集型職位。例如 IT 項目管理、醫療信息
技術人員、音視頻技術人員、技術相關銷售、文員、計算機自動化製造操做員以
及 IT 培訓職位等，都須要不一樣技術方面的專業知識和經驗。雖然這些職位不屬
於「IT 技術部門」，但確是 IT 勞動力的重要組成部分。因爲標準的不一樣，外圍和知
識密集型崗位還會有 100 萬到幾百萬不等。
因爲各個行業對技術的需求不斷增加，IT 技術崗位已遍及全國各個地區。 雖然說
存在技術扎堆的狀況，如硅谷集中了大量的技術工人，但不少不知名的地區也有
數量龐大的技術工人。例如在美國的山脈州地區就有着超過 32.5 萬名 IT 工人。
根據百分比排序，2014 年 IT 職位增加最快的州包括內華達州、德克薩斯州、蒙
大拿州、佛羅里達州、北卡羅來州、北達科他州、特拉華州、猶他州以及西弗吉
尼亞州。這些州中，每一個州的崗位增加都在 4%及以上。對比而言，總體 IT 技術
職位增加達到 2.4%。
Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
IT 就業前景
美國勞工統計局數據顯示，截止到 2014 年 12 月，全國失業率爲 5.5%，與 2013
年同期的 6.6%相比有所降低。在過去的 36 個月裏，美國的就業形勢出現緩慢而
持續的好轉。勞工局的官方失業率並無包括怯志工做者（不想就業的人）以及
一邊作兼職一邊尋求全職職位的人。若考慮到這些因素，失業和未充分就業率會
更高，這使得整個就業狀況不容客觀。
勞工局對計算機和數學行業（基本上等同於 IT 職業）類別職業統計的失業率仍
然遠低於全國失業率。2014 年 11 月，這一類別的失業率爲 2.0%，比全國失業率
的一半還要低。這一最新數據低於 2013 年和 2012 年的 3.3%。
IT 技術工人的低失業率以及對某些技術類型工人的強烈需求使得僱用環境至關
具備挑戰性。68%的 IT 企業主管認爲在 2015 年技術崗位的招聘將至關具備挑戰
性。
根據美國 BGTLI 的統計，2014 年第四季度，美國企業發佈大約 58 萬個核心 IT 技
術職位招聘信息，比第三季度略有增加。
如前所述，2014 年，核心技術職業勞動力增加了 11.6 萬。這也說明了職位招聘
數據的一部份內容。公司規模可能在擴大或轉行，所以須要僱傭大量員工。
另一個做用因素是勞動力流失，也叫勞動力流轉。包括退休、跳槽以及進修、
家庭緣由的離職或開除、下崗等。這也說明爲何崗位招聘的數量超過了新增崗
位的數量。