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IT Jobs Growth - November 2014

11/12/2014

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According to this report from TechServe Alliance, after 9 consecutive months of a downward trend in the rate of growth in IT employment, the number of IT jobs grew 0.2 percent sequentially last month.

The US economy has added over 100,000 new IT jobs in 2014. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment has grown by 3.5% since October 2013 adding 159,300 IT workers. Now there are over 4.7MM IT workers employed in the US.

To review details of this report, click here
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What is Google Glass and how does it fit in business environment?

6/30/2014

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Google Glass is one of the more popular wearable technologies on the horizon. It sits on your face just like a pair of glasses. A glass prism sits right above the eye on the right side of the frame. Some people question if the glass prism creates an obstacle in front of the eye, but it sits above the eye and isn't intrusive. As a matter of fact, you can't see the glass image if you sit the frame too low on the face due to the angle that directs light to the eye.
 
Glass uses your smartphone's Bluetooth connection to synchronize your data. You use your smartphone's hotspot to connect Glass to the Internet. Because Glass is a wearable computer, it needs storage space. You get 16GB of storage space for videos, images and apps.

Google Glass is still in its beta stage, which Google calls "Explorer." You need an invite to get a pair of Google Glasses, and just being a beta tester costs you $1500 plus shipping expenses. Glass is wearable technology, which isn't at all innovative today, but the way Google Glass works is brilliantly different from any of its predecessors.
 
Glass was a catalyst for several app ideas for the visually impaired. The glass prism displays a clear image into the eye that can be used to help people identify unseen objects around them. Glass uses voice commands, so the wearer can take video and images without using his hands.
 
Some people criticize Glass as a hobbyist's toy, but it has potential and enough testers to possibly become the next wearable computer that people won't leave home without. It could even improve the lives of people with disabilities.

But is Google Glass only an end-consumer item? When smartphones and other tablets initially showed up, consumers were the first adopters. This also allowed the manufacturers to tweak their technologies, and allowed software developers to create useful apps for the business environment. With a plethora of apps now available, these devices have become a “Corporate” item. We have witnessed these devices in use in various corporate environments already. Any corporate websites built these days typically have to go through mobile/tablet testing, which means that corporate decision makers acknowledge that users will use their websites using mobile devices.

I see similar future for Google Glass. I’ve already heard apps being developed for the Glass platform that include GPS, iPod like music player, texting, personal fitness, sports simulation and others. They all typically fall under “consumer” space. But that’s no different from smartphones and tablets when they were first introduced. So how will Corporate America use these new wearable devices? Some ideas I foresee that could translate to business apps include a Presentation Projector, corporate database information lookup, inventory check-in/checkout in a warehouse environment (with a built in bar code reader add-on), and lets not forget the all important app “reading corporate emails”.

While I don’t see Google Glass in an office/desk environment, but I see uses for this device in mobile/active workforce not tied to a desk like me :-)But then again, when I am at my desk, I am typically using a PC, but when away from my desk, I do find myself using my smartphone and tablet devices.

So IT managers should get ready to handle more ‘wearable technology’ devices and integrating them with your current IT infrastructure.

What do you think?

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11 Tips on hiring an IT Consultant

6/30/2014

39 Comments

 
In the last two weeks I had 6 conversations with our current and prospect clients who discussed their challenges when hiring an IT Consultant. There was one clear theme. They all 'interviewed' the submitted Contractor candidates for technical skills, focusing on the technical nuts and bolts. But 5 out of 6 had poor experiences with the performance after the consultant was on-boarded on the project. Does this sound like you?


You've screened them for Technical, Business and Interpersonal skills. But are you done? There are many other steps you should be considering, including

1 - Do you check how many layers of vendors are there between you (the client) and the actual individual who will be performing services for you. I feel the number should be 1 or 2. I've heard some of my clients voice that the number should only be 1, to which I disagree. No one vendor has access to all Consultant resources, and they frequently work with subcontractors with certain niche skill sets. These vendors have invested time and resources into building a realtionship with, and screening from a large pool of subcontractors. So if you believe that the layer number should be only 1, you may be missing out on a larger talent pool available through the vendor's subcontractor network.

2 - Did you do only conduct Phone interview? We've heard stories of "Bait and Switch" i.e. a client interviews a candidate on the phone, hires the candidate, but a different candidate shows up on their first day. I understand that there are issues interviewing candidates who are located on the opposite side of the country. My in my experience, video interviews using free technology like Skype has proven beneficial. You may use Skype video + telephone simulataneously (disable Skype audio, or putting your PC speakers down), to improve the interview experience. There are other 'pay for' solutions available for video interviews. Which one you use is less important than using one.


3 - Did you give them an Online Technical Test - Again, I have heard stories of "Bait and Switch". One candidate takes the online test, and a different candidate shows on their first day. Considering the scenario that the candidate may be located on the opposite side of the country, what are you supposed to do? I personally like interviewing candidates and asking them questions for which there are no online tests. I talk to them about my project, and explain to them one particular issue I may be having. I look for their thought process, mastery of overall subject. I give them points even if the answer to the problem is incorrect, as long as they show their mastery of the subject matter. Why? I feel anyone can Google any question, and find the correct answer. What I am looking for is not the correct syntax for a line of code, but their ability to understand a problem, and then their thought process on their approach to solving the problem
 
4 - There have been some projects where my needs were to screen candidates for the 'syntax'. In this case, Id did a screen share with them - and showed them our code. And them I let them control my PC. What I was looking for was to see how quickly they can grasp the code. Then I asked them for suggestions on improving the code. I felt this process assessed their critical thinking, and problem solving skills.

5 - Where's their immediate family / spouse / children etc. Does their spouse work? What I learnt was most of us are not single and have some attachments to some people in our lives. I've noticed that when you remove people from these attachments, and the distance is large, there is turnover. So this is something I am always curious about

6 - Don't waste time on Reference checks - I feel 7 out of 10 candidates give references of people who will give them good references. So if you want to ask a reference "How were they at their job" expect an answer "Great". While I still see a value of reference checks, but getting accurate references can sometimes be very difficult. Sometimes insisting on this has resulted in me loosing some good candidates, where my competition hired that resource before I could finish reference checks. So if I have a need to check references, and I absolutely can't do without it, I would look at employers/projects where a candidate may have worked, and do my independent investigation on the candidate, calling people from my personal network, rather than relying on a reference provided by a candidate.

7 - Impose minimum wage rate to the actual assigned personnel working on your site. If the vendor tells you a bill rate of $100/hr. but is paying the assigned personnel $25/hr., you can bet that you will not have that candidate working at your site for too long. The candidate will soon find another opportunity that pays them a fair market value. Most consultants are fairly well educated about their market value, but sometimes circumstances lead them to 'accept' your assignment, only to see them leave within a couple of months. So I like to see in my contracts that the assigned personnel is getting paid a fair market value, which could vary between 40% to 80% of the bill rate (depending on layers, and whether you are hiring a Deloitte consultant or an IIT Consultant). I wouldn't impose on vendors a number like 80%, but different vendors have different costs. But sometimes I do ask them about their costs, and what percent of bill rate goes to the assigned personnel. My vendors work hard, and they deserve to make a living, and as long as I get a fair rate, I just want them not to abuse the assigned personnel.

8 - Ask candidates if they have any planned time off / vacations. This area is sometimes overlooked. Imagine hiring a consultant, who has a wedding planned right when you have your major roll out planned.

9 - Honestly identify who you 'really' are - Is  your company a Tier-1 player, Tier-2 player etc... hire a consultant at the same level as you.. Lets say you are Google or Apple, then you can afford to hire a Tier-1 consultant. But if you are not, and want longevity in assigned personnel, get realistic about your expectations. I feel you can hire mediocre people, put them in a good environment with excellent processes, and receive 'superior' work. So invest in your process, culture and environment, and hire personnel that are a good fit. And in many circumstances, superstars are not a good fit in various environments.

10 - Don't hire friends / family / close referrals.. They are hard to fire.. I don't think I need to comment more on this subject

11 - Give interviewed candidate a takeaway question, and ask them to email you back with a response (don't propose a deadline) (see how soon they respond, and look at quality of their written and their analytical skills further)




I am sure there are many other ideas out there, to improve this process further. Do you have one?




39 Comments

NYS OGS posts On-Boarding Data/Results of 1st 50 HBITS Task Orders

3/2/2013

1 Comment

 
NYS OGS posted on their website On-Boarding Data / Results of first fifty HBITS (Hourly Based IT Services Contract) task orders.

This data indicates that IIT was one of the TOP performers. To view this data, click here
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    Dinesh Gulati, Managing Director, IIT Inc.

    About IIT: Since 1995, IIT has been a leading provider of technology 
    services. Our core services include IT Consulting, Outsourcing and 
    Staffing Services.


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