Bateleur Resourcing says that despite the industry-wide effects of an unpredictable IT stock market, it is still firmly focused on its prime objective - the pursuit of the right person for the job.
Companies are diving headfirst into e-business concepts and in some cases are forgetting that successful e-anything is still going to rely heavily on information and data being available on core/legacy systems.
Ivor Rimmer, MD, Bateleur
Supplying workforces to curb the Y2K bug was one of the first challenges facing the company, which was launched in November 1999, but MD Ivor Rimmer feels the challenge was adequately met. He says Bateleur can now concentrate on providing companies with the ideal employee to handle new market forces like e-commerce.
"Short-term goals revolved around gearing up to provide our existing contractors with an efficient and professional service to see them past Y2K, leaving the contractor base to concentrate on the job at hand," says Rimmer.
After achieving these short-term goals, the company is concentrating on becoming "a sought-after contract house with a real feel for contractors` and clients` needs and desires".
New market trends
Rimmer says the only certainty in this industry is change and he believes companies have to be flexible in order to move with short-term changes without losing focus. As an example, he points to the Y2K problem and the new set of challenges the phenomenon posed.
"More and more companies are now assessing the need for new or relevant technology before they dive into the backlog of work that was requested by users during 1998/99 but not implemented because of Y2K constraints. The market was waiting for a surge in requirements for people to address these 'urgent` user requests but, in a lot of cases, new needs had overtaken last year`s issues," explains Rimmer.
He predicts that by the middle of 2000, the industry will see the need for core skills increasing as legacy systems start interfacing with new technologies.
Rimmer says that as far as the e-commerce drive is concerned, companies should have a cohesive plan and avoid putting everything else on hold.
He notes that companies are realising the necessity of having the right skills and technology to back up e-commerce projects, but says "sanity has reigned as far as the IT staffing procedures are concerned" - referring to the huge salaries that have been proffered for scarce IT skills.
"Companies are diving headfirst into e-business concepts and in some cases are forgetting that successful e-anything is still going to rely heavily on information and data being available on core/legacy systems."
Rimmer says legacy systems form the foundation of e-commerce and he advises that companies wanting to tackle related projects should plough all resources into core systems.
The skills jungle
He notes that while contractors and permanent staff need to refocus on technical skills, the bigger picture of where the industry is going will also play a major role in defining application skills.
"Companies are fast realising that it is easier to train the application developer from Cobol to the new technology than it is to bring on board the new skills and then spend months or sometimes years teaching them the applications."
Rimmer believes employees are looking more closely at the type of companies they want to work for. The professional contractor is scrutinising benefits and incentives like salary, job security and stock options more carefully.
Meanwhile, the continuous battle between small start-up companies enticing potential employees with promises of share options linked to future listings, versus larger established players offering job security, is being affected by the recent stock market volatility.
The future
Rimmer says the company will continue to follow its plan of continuous development and the "bigger picture" of not throwing out, but creating. He says no major changes are envisaged and the real unknown factor, at this early stage, is the amount of deviations or challenges along the company`s path.
While there are no joint venture or partnership plans in the near future, Rimmer says there are opportunities to form some strategic alliances, but this is still very much in the pipeline.
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