A Few Things You May Have Missed
A few new words that we will either all come to love or hate are recession, depression and where we're at right now -- contraction. According to The American Heritage College Dictionary, contraction is defined as among other things, "a period of decreased business activity."
We are all in a state of contraction. Our economy, the workforce, our 401k's, our stock portfolios, prices at the pump...wait, sorry about that. They're no longer in a state of contraction, instead they are rising again.
With contraction comes limitations, and because of some recent contraction in the publication industry, there has been some news that has fallen by the wayside, but is important enough to be noted here.
If you missed it, a recent Evans Data Global Development survey showed that more than half of all software and IT developers (51.9 percent on average) expect to work on programs delivered in the Software as a Service (SaaS) model over the next 12 months. SaaS adoption is expected to be strongest in the Asia-Pacific region, although the number of software developers working on SaaS implementations is highest in North America, where 30 percent said SaaS is part of their current development efforts.
In the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, fewer developers are using SaaS but 53 percent of respondents expect to be doing so within the next 12 months, unless, of course, the bottom falls out of every economy everywhere. Then we'll all be standing in line waiting for food and other necessities.
Another thing that you may have missed is a collaborative effort between BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, IBM and the University of South Carolina (USC). The three collaborators have created the Consortium for Enterprise Systems Management. Its plan is to build IT opportunities into the future; despite how grim the future might look now, the sun will come out again...someday.
The consortium aims to grow an IT talent pool, developing strong IT management expertise and cultivating business and organizational relationships. During a recent news conference, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina's CEO M. Edward Sellers said the collaboration will drive economic development in South Carolina. "What's happening in Columbia, South Carolina, is the kind of growth that the IT industry needs," Sellers said. "By converging business, academia and economic development, this consortium will engender an ‘IT greenhouse' approach that's needed in the Palmetto State and across the country."
The consortium will tackle IT hiring challenges in today's economy, and will examine ways to attract students to consider IT careers in insurance, banking, retail, airlines, health care, petroleum production and other industries that depend on high-volume transaction processing. It will also address efforts to direct students to companies that are hiring IT professionals.
USC President Harris Pastides said education is a first step in developing a strong IT workforce. "The university will work with educators in our state's middle schools and high schools to make sure students have the education and skills needed for IT careers," he said. "This consortium will...develop opportunities for businesses and industries within our state and seek to attract from outside South Carolina."