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In the clouds or on the ground?

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Gartner’s latest Hype Cycle Report has been released and showed that the hype around has reached its highest levels to date this year.

The analyst firm claimed cloud computing is among the emerging technologies that have moved into the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” stage of the cycle of acceptance and adoption that it charts using a proprietary methodology.

The hype-cycle, tracks technologies’ trends from their conceptualisation, through the hype of them being the “next big thing”, through the valley of despair as they fail to live up to expectations, to a plateau of maturity whereby that technology is used for what it is designed within realistic expectations.

This diagram, shows the Hype Cycle for cloud computing and can help us predict how the technology will be perceived and acted upon in the future.

Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner fellow, said “computing remained among those technology areas attracting ongoing interest and activity, alongside social media and mobile.”

At Resource on Demand we follow these reports with great interest and believe that whilst there may be a ‘trough of disillusionment’, this will be short-lived, likely due a double-dip recession where firms will seek to gain value for money from their IT systems, leading to a likely take-up of cloud computing. Indeed it is quite likely that we are already on the ‘slope of enlightenment’, as cloud and web platforms become increasingly common place, especially in the light of iTunes launching iCloud.

What do you think? Is this report accurate? Are we heading into the trough or already on the slope of enlightenment?

Source: Gartner, Hype Cycle for Cloud Computing, 2011 David Mitchell Smith Publication Date: 27 July 2011 ID Number: G00214915 © 2011

 


Teamworking communications: a beginner’s guide

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The good people at BizGene recently approached ROD, asking for our thoughts on online collaboration.  Our Operations Director, Theresa Durrant happily penned a few thoughts for them.

Here’s a snippet from that article:

“There are two sides to communications within a working team. One is technological – there are huge amounts of productivity tricks and tips which work now because we have the technology available which simply wouldn’t have happened a few years back. The second is the ‘soft skills’ side, the people element. Both are vital.

Collaborating over the Internet has expanded dramatically since someone first had the idea. It is possible and very desirable to allow people to work on files and projects simultaneously.”

To read the full article, including Theresa talking about Google Docs and Chatter, just click here.

 


Will the shortage of cloud architects lead to bad clouds?

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David Linthicum writes a compelling piece in infoworld.com, suggesting that there seems to be more cloud construction projects than there is talent to support them.

He writes:

The demand has exploded for those who understand how to build clouds. However, you have pretty much the same number of cloud-experienced architects being chased by an increasing number of talent seekers. Something has to give, and that will be quality and innovation as organizations settle for what they can get versus what they need.

You can read his article in its entirety here.  What do you think?  Does demand outweigh the talent available?  Will something give?  Is David right?


Can we speak the new language of the cloud?

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ROD was recently approached by the good people at Cloud Pro, who wanted our thoughts on how quickly people are adapting to new technologies like Cloud Computing.  Here’s a snippet of the article and the link to the full piece on their website.

Can we speak the new language of the cloud?

Cloud computing has created the need for a new vocabulary – and new languages. How quickly are we adapting to this new way of working?

It is perhaps no surprise that the ‘utopian’ world of cloud computing should throw up new set of programming languages. A new lingua franca was inevitable as software developers came to collude inside the fresh pastures of the cloud computing cloudscape with its untapped possibilities.

While cloud vendors have sought to pacify us with suggestions that software development methodologies and core technology principles translate ‘seamlessly’ to the cloud; the reality is that a whole range of new languages and systems tools has come to be and, as yet, not everybody speaks fluently in these new tongues.

Comparatively new names including Cassandra, Voldemort, Puppet, Chef, Map Reduce and Hadoop are starting to define the skill sets that by which we measure cloud competency at the individual coder level. So has the IT recruitment industry found itself on a blind curve heading downhill faster than it can manage? Furthermore, have programmers themselves recognised the new skills topography they will need to navigate – and what are they doing about it?

Back to school?

At the individual level, software application developers are of course responsible for their own skill sets. As such, they can take it upon themselves to ‘train up’ for the cloud by using online training tools and resources if they wish. However in practice, not every developer will choose to augment his skills, so inequalities in the programmer job market have become more pronounced.

“One thing we have always noticed as cloud recruitment specialists is that there are truly excellent programmers who excel at everything they do; and then there are average programmers who ‘just about get by’ and are sometimes carried along by other members of the team. But, crucially, when it comes to the cloud, this disparity is magnified and there is an even greater wedge between the two tiers,” said Theresa Durrant, operations director of cloud-specialist recruitment consultancy Resource On Demand Limited.

“We typically work for large global IT consultancy brands and our clients are becoming very demanding when it comes to skill sets for the cloud. This issue needs to be highlighted right the way back to the student level, or we risk the uncertainties of a job market suffering from a dearth of core skills. Aberdeen University has apparently started to offer MSc/PgDip in ‘Cloud Computing’, but this is a mere drop in the ocean in terms of what is needed,” added Durrant.

To continue reading this article on the Channel Pro website, please click here.

 


Universities Encouraged to Embrace Emerging Technologies

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Resource on Demand, today sent out a press release encouraging Universities to embrace emerging technologies, like cloud computing.

You can read our press release below…

(London, UK) Leading cloud recruitment firm, Resource on Demand, is encouraging universities to introduce industry-recognised modules in a bid to increase the employability of graduates.

Theresa Durrant, Operations Director at Resource on Demand (ROD), said:

“Higher Education Institutions need to further their commercial partnerships with organisations and platforms in order to give under-graduates the edge in a crowded job market. Through offering modules in contemporary technology, such as cloud computing, graduates will enter the job market better equipped for the task in hand.”

From September 2012, universities in England will be allowed to raise tuition fees up to £9,000 per year and ROD are arguing that this presents a great opportunity for Universities to invest in emerging technology markets.

Theresa Durrant and ROD, are pioneers in the cloud recruitment market and are blazing the way for graduate opportunities, she said:

“We are currently seeing graduates enter the job market with no certification at all, which is the bare minimum they would need to work with a platform such as salesforce.com.  There is then additional training they need to undertake before they can begin to work, which we hope can be avoided in the future.”

One of the few universities to embrace Cloud Computing is Aberdeen University who offer a MSc/PgDip in ‘Cloud Computing’, but ROD is encouraging places like Aberdeen to expand their offering.

Theresa Durrant added:

“Universities can use recruitment companies, like ROD, to gauge the direction that technology is moving in, and adjust their courses accordingly – at the moment recruiters tend to be a dirty word – but we believe there is a strong partnership that if forged could help graduates, Universities and the job market.”

Lee Durrant, ROD MD, said:

“Our suggestion is that Universities take advantage of the free tools that salesforce.com offer, such as developer accounts, wide-ranging online training, and free social collaboration tools.  The culmination of this is the student undergoing the certification process as an integral part of their course and leaving University with usable and employable skills. Providing a vocational and work experience led qualification that meets both the industry and direct company employment needs.”

ROD launched in Feb 2009, and are now recognised as a leading light in the Cloud eco-system.  They were one of the first UK recruitment companies to focus purely on Salesforce.com and Cloud recruitment.

 


Online Professional Networks: Part Two

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In a recent blog post, we spoke about the huge growth that is currently occuring in the Online Professional Network sphere.  Fuelled by reports that LinkedIn and Viadeo are set to go public.

In Part One of this blog mini-series, we detailed the stats of LinkedIn with their rather nice infographic.  This time round we’re focusing on Viadeo, who are rapidly gaining ground on Linkedin, having opened an office on Linkedin’s doorstep in San Francisco and who claim they are number one in Europe – being as they are a French company.

While the tech press tends to concentrate on LinkedIn, its rival has a substantial audience in a number of regions, as this infographic shows.

To put this in some context, LinkedIn boasts over 90 million members worldwide, including 20 million in Europe. While Viadeo is sitting at just over a third of the total users if we go by LinkedIn’s figures, we read that Viadeo stands by its claim of being number one in Europe and questions LinkedIn’s numbers.

Either way, France-based Viadeo is targeting developing markets for further growth. As the graphic shows, it sees significant potential in Asia and is set to open offices soon in Russia and Brazil.

Thenextweb.com report that Just weeks after LinkedIn filed to go public, it appears that rival social network for professionals Viadeo is thinking of heading in the same direction.

AFP reports that the company is “Studying the possibility” of an Initial Public Offering. Although the company doesn’t appear to be rushing into a decision, Dan Serfaty, co-founder of Viadeo, is quoted as saying “We’ve existed for five years, we have the size, we are credible. In terms of images and resources, it could be interesting,”

The Paris-based company isn’t yet even sure which stockmarket it might float on, considering emerging markets as one possibility. “The question arises of where we would do our IPO, in France or not. We’re number one in France, Italy, Spain, and in countries like China, Mexico, India and Brazil.” Serafty told AFP. “It could be that we would seek a listing on the stock exchange in an emerging market, because it would allow us to position ourselves as a social network in these countries.”

Demand Media and LinkedIn have kicked off a renewed appetite for tech IPOs this year. Zynga, Groupon and Facebook are all thought to be considering going public in the next couple of years. It looks like we can now add Viadeo to the list too.

 

 

Click here to see the full size version on thenextweb.com.


Online Professional Networks: Part One

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Great things are afoot as Professional Online Networks (LinkedIn, Viadeo, Xing) open new offices, break new growth barriers and generally seem to be entering into a season of growth.

After observing this, we thought it would be interesting to explore this further, so we ran a poll on our website were we asked:

How many Professional Online Networks are you part of?
The results were surprising:
5 or more (31%)
1 (27%)
2 (25%)
3 (13%)
4 (4%)

This shows that a third of visitors to our website are members of five or more professional online networks – not including social sites like Facebook.

LinkedIn, widely regarded as the number one Professional Online Network, has recently announced that it has finally reached a major milestone: 100 million users and counting.

The company, founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, reached profitability fairly soon, and its growth has been accelerating over the past few years. It took LinkedIn six years to reach 50 million users, but it only took a year and a half for the business social network to double that number. LinkedIn hit 85 million members in October 2010 and revealed that it had more than 90 million users when it filed to go public earlier this year. LinkedIn is now adding one new member per second.

To celebrate its new achievement, the LinkedIn team has released an infographic breaking down its growth and its overall membership. It comes with several interesting tidbits of information on who uses LinkedIn and even when they use it.

Here are some of the most intriguing stats from LinkedIn’s infographic:

  • 56% of LinkedIn’s users are outside of the United States. LinkedIn is experiencing its fastest growth internationally.
  • LinkedIn’s fastest-growing country is Brazil, with 428% growth year-over-year. Brazil is followed by Mexico, India and France.
  • The height of LinkedIn activity happens during the workday, peaking at around noon. Mobile usage, on the other hand, typically peaks around 8:00 p.m.
  • There are almost 1 million teachers on LinkedIn; 20% of the site’s users work in the service sector, while 9% work in finance and another 9% are in the high-tech industry.

For most of its 7-plus years of existence, LinkedIn has dominated its niche of social business users. The result is a valuation nearing $3 billion and 5.5 billion monthly pageviews. While it’s no Facebook, we bet most people would love to be in LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman’s shoes right now.

We’ve included LinkedIn’s infographic for your viewing pleasure.

You can also connect with ROD on LinkedIn

In our next blog post we’ll focus on French firm Viadeo, who are making waves in San Francisco.


ROD warns of Cloud plateau

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In a press release sent out today, our Managing Director Lee Durrant warned of the need for increased numbers undergoing training with organisations like salesforce.com.

He warned that if more people don’t get certified, then we risk a ‘plateau’ in this vibrant and blossoming sector.

If we can help you get trained, or if you have the skills and are looking for a role please visit our jobs or training pages.

Press release:

Cloud Computing Plateau on the Horizon

(London, UK) Leading cloud recruitment firm, Resource on Demand, is warning of a plateau in the adoption of cloud computing, as the supply of trained Consultants and Developers drops by a staggering 139%.

Recent studies carried out by Resource on Demand show that although there is an increase in the number of companies adopting cloud technology, the UK is now suffering from a shortage of certified and experienced candidates.

This huge drop is mismatched by an increase in vacancies from Cloud partners and Independent Software Vendors, which has risen by 39% over the last twelve months, despite the economic downturn.

Resource on Demand MD, Lee Durrant, said:

“There is a concern that the cloud computing market could plateau, despite the Cloud entering the mainstream, and we are now experiencing a shortage of trained workers who are able to implement this technology.

This shortage has the potential to halt the momentum that Cloud Computing has amassed, which could be critical to the growth of this sector.”

Durrant believes that more needs to be done to bring people into the Cloud eco-system, with the key being affordable training and certification. One possible solution he suggests is training graduates in services such as salesforce.com, so that they are able to put their skills to use in a market where demand for them is high.

He adds:

“It is predicted that Cloud spending will approach US$100 Billion By 2014 in SME’s alone. So there are huge opportunities for those willing to be trained and certified in Cloud Computing.

I would urge gradates, untrained developers and I.T. consultants to get certified and enter into the Cloud.”

ROD launched in Feb 2009, and is now recognised as a leading light in the Cloud eco-system. They were one of the first UK recruitment companies to focus purely on Salesforce.com and Cloud recruitment.


Cloud Computing Proponent Quits Microsoft After Causing Revolution

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On October 18th BBC News reported that “Ray Ozzie, chief software architect of Microsoft and proponent of cloud computing, [had] resigned unexpectedly. Mr Ozzie was a top member of the company’s management, having taken over the software role from Bill Gates.”

By challenging the company to make more use of the web and to move away from the old school hardware systems that were in place, Ozzie revolutionised the way in which Microsoft functioned. According to CEO Steve Ballmer, the cloud is now “… full speed ahead in all aspects of [their] business.”

However this success has come through no lack of hard graft. When joining the company five years ago, The Daily Telegraph writes that “Mr Ozzie, 54, told executives that unless it adapted its software and the way it was sold “our business as we know it is at risk.””

His persistence and belief in the idea of Cloud Computing has revived Microsoft and hurled it favorably into the now and with emerging technical leaders in the business, Ozzie know his work as a catalyst is done.

And so by taking a step back and examining the facts maybe we can ask the question: if a business as established as Microsoft has had to embrace Cloud Computing and adapted itself in order to fulfill its potential, shouldn’t that be a lesson to us all?


More people will hand in their notice this week than during any other week

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Today we released figures to the National press showing that more employees will hand in their notice this week than during any other week in the year.

The full press release is below.  We’d love to hear your thoughts on this, or if you’re going through a similar situation yourself.

Press Release

Figures from Cloud Recruitment Company ‘Resource on Demand’ were released today and show that more employees will hand in their notice this week than during any other week of the year, with a staggering 37% of the years total transpiring this week alone.

Year on Year statistics gathered by Resource on Demand show that 37% of resignations occur in the third week of September and 24% happen during the first week of February. Both of these bouts occur 4-weeks after the end of traditional holiday seasons.

This research also shows that whilst many career changes are triggered following these key holiday periods, it takes candidates on average 4 weeks to job hunt and attend interviews, then a further 4 weeks to work their notice – meaning that the majority of post-summer resignations only start their new roles at the beginning of November.

Lee Durrant, MD of Resource on Demand, said:

“This week will see hundreds of thousands of people handing in their notice across the UK & Ireland. The catalyst is often the Summer break, people return from their time away looking to progress or alter their career path. After mulling it over on a beach, job hunting, applying, interviewing and working their notice, many candidates will naturally opt to this week hand in their notice and so a ‘merry-go-round’ of the jobs market will begin”.

A recent (July 2010) study by the Institute of Leadership and Management has revealed that 40% of workers do not in actua fact return from their holidays feeling more relaxed.

Lee Durrant added:

“It is incredible that over half of all new jobs are triggered by the two key holiday seasons, but in many ways it is also unsurprising. The time away from our desks helps us to consider our options and evaluate our careers. Our advice is that if you are not enjoying your job, maybe it is time to look for a role that you will enjoy. This may include training to reach that goal, but it is worth the time that you invest into it.”

Resource On Demand (ROD) is a market leader in providing recruitment services on a subscription basis to the salesforce.com and Cloud Computing industry. Assisting companies looking to recruit talented people with salesforce.com experience and certification on permanent, contract or temporary assignments.