US reviews tech spending

Obama administration officials are considering overhauling 26 troubled federal technology projects valued at as much as $30 billion as part of a broader effort by White House budget officials to cut spending, reveals The Wall Street Journal.

Projects on the list are either over budget, haven't worked as expected or both, say Office of Management and Budget officials.

Administration officials aren't considering shutting down the programmes but instead considering ways to revise them or separate them into smaller pieces in the proposed 2012 federal budget, which will be released in February.

Specialisation can be a good thing in technology work, but it's not necessarily the future, contends vendor-neutral, non-profit industry organisation CompTIA, reports eWeek.

Hybrid skills that combine on-the-job expertise along with training and industry-recognised certifications are necessary. With technology job growth expected to expand by a government-estimated 18% by 2014, diversifying technology, business and management skills will help ensure employment over the long haul.

“Trends in technology are changing the employment landscape,” Terry Erdle, senior vice-president, skills certification, CompTIA, said. “It doesn't mean that we don't need people. It's just a different kind of job.”

A trio of mid-market CIOs on an XChange CIO Perspectives panel in Dallas said they are more reliant than ever on solution provider partners to help them innovate in an era of tight IT budgets, says CRN.

The mid-market CIOs said they were forced to scale back their IT organisations considerably after the 2008 economic meltdown and are now looking to partners to help them drive business innovation.

Key to getting a job with these mid-market powers is truly innovative solutions that help them grow their business rather than 'me-too' solutions or drinks and dinner, the CIOs said.