The IT world is changing, and fast. Just look at the introduction of Agile methodology which has seen changes in job titles as well as new roles and responsibilities. As tempting as it is to stay with what you know, the reality is that to stay relevant and successful, IT professionals need to constantly adapt to change and upskill themselves. In this article, I discuss the emergence of Agile and what those in the IT field should do moving forward.
The Emergence of Agile
As more and more organisations go through transformation and change projects, we’re seeing more and more people lean towards Agile methodology to deliver their projects and products. Unlike the traditional Waterfall methodology, Agile allows and even encourages change whilst keeping costs down.
The emergence of Agile is not just changing the way projects are delivered but demands a new type of professional. As Analysis, Testing, Coding and Design are all continuous processes within an Agile team, the lines between roles are more blurred. Therefore, as an IT professional it is important to think about the future and changing roles in IT. For instance, if someone is currently a Business Analyst, will they move into Product Ownership and Product Management? Newer, Project Managers and Development Managers are becoming Agile Project Managers, Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters. Software Managers, BA Managers and Test Managers are becoming Resource Managers and Technical Leads are becoming Chapter Leads. With Devops and Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment CI/CD plus automation with Cloud technology, just because you’re a system engineer today that doesn’t mean this won’t change in a year two years’ time.
I mentioned earlier that Agile has brought demands for new types of professional as well as new names. By now, most of you will have heard buzzwords like tribes, squads, scrum teams, empowerment, fail fast, sprints and blockers – all of which we associate with Agile.
Finally, we are seeing that those who are still working in the traditional Waterfall way are likely to fall behind the competition.
Adjusting to Change
Humans are creatures of habit, which makes change difficult. When speaking to different candidates within the IT industry, there seems to be a split between those professionals who are set in their ways and aren’t interested in changing versus those who embrace change and are willing to learn and change old titles and face the challenge of taking their career to new heights. These latter individuals are the ones who know how to keep up with technology changes.
For instance, we’re finding more and more clients who are seeking Cloud experience and are automating. What are you doing to upskill and move towards Cloud technology and have you thought about automation and its impacts.
Upskilling may seem daunting, and though hands on experience is important, just as important is courses. More and more courses are becoming available and are a great place to demonstrate your interest in a subject. We’re seeing lots of AWS and Azure offerings and courses for people wanting to go into cloud technology, as well as Microsoft courses. Unsurprisingly, we are also seeing more Agile and Scrum Master courses being offered.
Although some organisations were slower to move, we’re seeing most clients now embracing Agile methodology. The exception to this is those still finding it hard to get buy in from Senior Executives to transition over to Agile, hence being stuck with the traditional approach to delivering projects.
Moving Forward
What does this mean for candidates and companies moving forward? For companies, the move to Agile comes down to cost savings. Instead of having a project for 12 months, Agile’s short sprint sessions help business to deliver better quality products, faster.
From the perspective of a candidate looking for future IT jobs, the lean towards Agile means change. While it’s difficult, it is vital to be adaptable and look at the positives – especially in an increasingly competitive market. For IT professionals, Agile brings empowered teams who are excited about accountability and being responsible for their success. It also allows teams to be involved in the timeline and decisions made around the product and the features due to the amount of communication and transparency within the Agile methodology. Not to mention, Agile is a much more collaborative process than traditional methods.
Summary
For those professionals in IT and transformation, the days of a traditional IT job are no more. Instead, it is evolving with job titles changing along with the roles themselves and responsibilities. Not to mention the skill set. With all this change, it’s important to think about your career and be adaptable and upskill to meet industry changes.
If you are looking for further advice on changes in the IT industry, or for support in your IT job search, get in touch with the team today.
