Cloudtracting could be the next dotcom-style boom area for IT contractors with cloud computing skills. A look at what is happening in the US provides a clue to a near-future boom area for UK cloudtractors.
US demand for cloudtractors has rocketed by 221% in the last year, according to Matt Asay of mobile apps developer Strobe, writing for The Register. Given that what happens first Stateside usually makes it across the Atlantic, this mushrooming demand for cloudtractors could represent a curtain raiser for the UK’s next lucrative IT contracting market.
And the barriers to entry into cloudtracting could be much lower than for past technology booms. Research by cloud computing firm Cloud.com shows that 69% of its users apply an open source cloud solution ‘whenever possible’. “If true, this bodes well for cloud-starved companies, because open source lowers the barrier to cloud training,” says Asay. That potentially means also that many usually late adopters could dip their toes into the cloud computing sector earlier, fuelling demand for cloudtractors.
Earlier in 2011, technology research firm Gartner revealed in its 2011 CIO Agenda survey that cloud computing is a “top technology priority” for over 2,000 of the world’s leading private and public sector Chief Information Officers (CIOs). Gartner’s research shows that only 3% of those surveyed currently run most of their organisation’s IT in the cloud or using SaaS (software as a service) technologies.
But within four years, cloud and SaaS use as the primary IT enabler is expected to increase to 43% across those same global organisations. This huge global growth could present significant opportunities for cloudtractors – IT contractors who have existing cloud computing skills – or those who are nimble enough to rapidly re-train to become cloudtractors.
There is clearly a demand for IT contractors who retrain, as, according to Asay, IT developers without an open source background remain popular: “Some organisations find that mainframe developers, with their emphasis on virtualised environments, transition quite well into the cloud,” he explains.
For many IT contractors, keeping their skills current and at the leading edge of technology is business as usual. But for those contractors looking for a new angle to add to their marketability, the low cost of entry in the cloud and the wide adoption of open source technologies suggests that a move into cloudtracting could be both prudent and lucrative.