Online trading brings IT crowd out of basement�report
IT departments working in isolated basements, as parodied in TV�s The IT Crowd, may be a thing of the past, research by six Sector Skills Councils has shown.
The study led by Skillsmart Retail found that because of the growth of online trading, IT workers, far from their traditional image, now have to be creative, world-aware and business-savvy to succeed. They are now a central part of the wider workforce and drive future development in sectors as diverse as retail, transport, finance and hospitality. It also found that booming e-commerce means sectors not traditionally linked with IT are creating brand new technology-related job roles throughout their businesses and working much more closely with IT workers to help them succeed. The research, carried out by IFF, was one of the first ever studies into how online trading affects working practices and saw 63 in-depth interviews with experts and senior executives from bluechip to microbusinesses. They represented sectors within the footprint of the following Sector Skills Councils: Go Skills, People 1st, Skillsmart Retail, Creative and Cultural Skills, Skillset and Financial Services. The results of the study were broken down into two broad areas; �enabling� sectors, which provide the technical expertise to facilitate online trading, and �consumer facing� industries; which sell products and services to the end customer. Ian Wheeler, Research Manager at Skillsmart Retail, which led the research, said: �We�ve uncovered a take on IT that is very different from that conveyed on shows such as The IT Crowd. Online trading is in fact now an integral part many businesses work and IT must be woven throughout the business to make sure that they can provide an online presence that fits in with the company�s culture, aims and strategies. �This means that business people must be much more knowledgeable about IT and IT workers need to show that they not only have the technological expertise to deliver these results, but also the creative flair and business knowledge to do so.
