Skills diversification across traditional boundaries within IT divisions and organisations will become a reality in the near future, says John Mahoney, Gartner IT management chief of research.
Mahoney told delegates at the Gartner Symposium in Cape Town this morning that companies are already moving away from the idea of separate skills for separate jobs.
This trend, he said, will lead to an imbalance within IT organisations, with too many skills focused on IT. However, by 2010, 40% of IT professionals will have substantial business experience.
By 2011, leading-edge companies will switch emphasis from deep IT to business IT versatility. As a result, the concept of an organisational hierarchy will be obsolete by 2012, Mahoney said.
What is driving this trend is the changing face of business, in which business cycles are compressed, the market is global, companies have a growth imperative and automation is increasing.
In the near future, staff will no longer have specific jobs, but will have roles that span traditional silos. By 2015, over 60% of jobs will be unique to a company - that is, fluid, customised and without comparison.
The space in between the organisational structure will require new skills and capabilities. The most important asset in IT will no longer be technology; in the future assets that are important will be processes, relationships and services, he said.
Mahoney said companies will need to create skills and bring in career planning, or run the danger of putting future projects at risk. Some of these roles will be in the areas of business process architecture, IT process management, product management and relationship management.
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