 learn new ways of delivering agile infrastructure platforms via the cloud or third parties. And, as this transition happens, Yoshida said there may be a need for temporary contractors to take up some of the workload so that storage pros get the bandwidth they need to absorb and practice these new skills.
"We are also seeing a temporary increase in headcount for storage specialists as the promise of robotics and other automation matures," Yoshida added. The ability for a company to leverage robotics and IT automation and then shift skilled workers to higher-knowledge responsibilities is still in its infancy. And that means enterprises will require more infrastructure specialists, including in storage, during the transition.
According to a recent Gartner report, Adapting to the Cloud: Work move to the cloud, physical server storage and facilities infrastructure management tasks and headcount are going to dwindle, he stressed in the report. IT infrastructure professionals and their managers need to identify what tasks they will perform when most or all IT services are externally or cloud hosted. "Consider rethinking your career plans," Brisse wrote, "because the migration of IT services to a distributed set of cloud providers will have a major impact on most roles."
A need to reskill
Yoshida emphasized how storage pros should prepare to acquire a new set of skills, particularly around mobile, social and analytics. Social is about connecting with both customers and co-workers, Yoshida added. Although critical to the people and process part of digital transformation, it is often neglected.
"Social media tools like community websites, blogs and Twitter feeds help IT to connect with their customers and be more innovative and agile." It also helps business units understand the contributions made by IT and how to use tech staff in their transformation, he added.
Glass Half full
John Reed, senior executive director for Robert Half Technology, the large IT staffing firm, sees demand for storage pros continuing, not waning, but evolving in the future. He shared some observations and current trends with us.
What are the biggest trends in storage-related careers? For example, what specific types of jobs do you foresee, and where will there be growth or shrinkage in opportunities?
Storage systems engineers, storage architects and administrators are in-demand within organizations. Whether it's on-site storage networks or cloud-based, employers are seeking these professionals for their businesses. With the growth of data initiatives, IT leaders need to manage expanding storage environments. More companies are finding a need to focus on storage as they encounter growth, so there has been relatively consistent demand for these roles.
What credentials or skills are most valued? Which have fallen from favor?
Storage engineers generally have the ability to learn new tools and products quickly, but some of the specific skill sets in demand are: NetApp, [Dell EMC], Dell EqualLogic/Compellent, HPE [Hewlett Packard Enterprise] 3PAR and Nimble [products and services].
How is all of this translating into compensation? Is storage a good place to spend your career or are there greener pastures for people with storage-type skills?
Storage has certainly been proven to be quite profitable for professionals with specific skills and experience; they are seeing very competitive compensation packages from organizations looking to fill these roles.
What about vendor-specific skills? Does that spell opportunity or is it a potential dead-end?
While we often encounter specialized storage engineer positions that require some direct experience with a vendor-specific skill set, there are always exceptions to the rule; especially since most of these professionals can learn quickly and transfer their existing skill sets in order to meet the needs of the organization.
Another important focus should be orchestration and automation of the environment as well, according to Tony Daniello, director of infrastructure services at Computer Design & Integration, a value-added reseller with a storage focus based in Teterboro, N.J. "The ability demand for storage specialists, but predicated on being "cloud savvy" and cognizant of big trends in IT such as hyper-convergence.
"As long as storage pros stay up-to-date on those things, they can continue to make a good living for the foreseeable future," he said. However, Tittel warned there likely won't be much growth related to NAS and other pure hardware-related technologies, "Although, companies will need to keep those investments running for the next three to five years."
The wave of the future leans heavily toward the software side, but someone with a background in electrical engineering already knows they need to focus on growth areas such as solid-state. "There will be plenty of opportunities there, but within a narrow niche," he said.
As for certification in general, it's still a good way to strengthen a resume. However, "Most vendors are moving toward virtualized storage, and we don't see a lot of certification coming from the hyper-converged space, at least so far," Tittel said.
Picking from among the certifications currently available is "a matter of exigency" because they may not represent what people should be doing now or in the next few years, he noted. Furthermore, as Storage magazine's salary surveys over the years have shown, certifications have little bearing on data storage careers.
But traditional skills still center jobs are changing due to cloud computing and the expanding scope of tasks located in the cloud. "This means storage professionals need to build new skills," he said.
Storage technicians can, for example, boost their resumes with networking skills and certifications. "A solid, working understanding of networking is immediately relevant to most data center operations and can offer a competitive edge for job seekers," he added. And, since Ethernet has become the storage networking protocol of choice for most companies, traditional Ethernet skills are directly applicable to configuring and maintaining storage networks.
It's also a good idea for storage specialists to become familiar with virtualization technology, as many applications today are developed and executed virtually from within the cloud. "In order to effectively compete against other candidates in the field, storage technicians should understand not just the storage layer, but also strong foundation for moving onto other technical advancements," he said. For example, one can relate Cisco VLANs with VSANs and how they answer a common challenge.
As technological innovation relates to storage expertise in general, it has made storage provisioning easier than ever. A storage engineer should understand, however, that their knowledgebase today needs to encompass the environment as a whole, including the ability to understand the hypervisor and network component.
Stay connected and prepare for change
What's the key to surviving this IT sea change? Keep your eye on what's ahead and get like storage," Wallenberg said. "What you need to [ask] is: Can we be doing it differently? And, then, taking it a step further: Is doing it differently the same as doing it better?"
About the author:
Alan R. Earls is a Boston-based freelance writer focused on business and technology.
Next Steps
Salaries and benefits enhance data storage careers
Certifications boost cloud storage industry prospects
IT skills to advance your career
Related Resources
- Data Protection Strategies in the Era of Flash Storage –Rubrik
- Why You Need a Hybrid Cloud Storage Strategy –IBM
- Data Management Strategies for the CIO –SearchDataCenter.com
- Data integration strategy: A clearer path for data –TechTarget
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Dinwiddie is our 6th man, he's an extension of the starting lineup. He knows his role and performs well within it. We just need other guys to step up to the level we all know they're capable of. And we need to stop playing Graham if everyone is healthy.I know David to be a humble man and he seemed genuinely surprised when I asked him if he would consider participating as a guest blogger in *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful*. I am so glad that he agreed and hope you will enjoy his writing as much as I do. You can revel in his words here. And in his images, here.
When Jo-Anne asked me to contribute to her gratitude project, I thought of my father, David Morrison Blaikie, who was born July 28, 1909, and lived all his life in the small Nova Scotia village of Upper Stewiacke, a good man who still inspires me thirty-seven years after his death.
He was named after his father, although everyone called him Morris, and I was named in turn after him. Scarcely a day goes by that I do not think of him and feel gratitude for his wise and patient counsel.
On the last day I saw him, my mother took a photo of the two of us on standing at the corner of our house, just before I got into the car to head back to Ottawa. I can still see the two of them waving as I drove away. I keep that photo in a meditation corner and see it every morning as I look out through the branches of a towering silver maple toward the Rideau, a place he would have loved as much as I do.
My father went to school in that village, graduated from Grade 11 in 1924 (a relative rarity at.
He married my mother, Eva Gray, at 33 and raised four children in a house where twice that many often crowded round the dinner table, including mill hands and anyone else who happened to be there.
He put two spoons of sugar in every cup of