8 HOTTEST IT SKILLS FOR 2014 BY Saravanan

Wonder what are the most-sought after IT skills for 2014? Computer World's annual IT skills survey provides a glimpse into the skill-sets that IT managers will be looking for in From ‘networking’ to ‘application development ‘, ‘project management’ to ‘mobile applications and device management’, here the list of the hottest IT skills that will work in your favour in 2014.

Programming application development Topping the Computer World’s hottest skills for 2014 list is ‘programming /application development’. The skill ranked at top position in last year’s Hot skills survey too. According to the survey,49% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months. As per the survey, developer and programmer job within this category are mobile development expertise and experience building secure applications.

Help desk/technical support Ranked at no.2, help desk/tech support has moved up one position from its last year’s ranking. According to the survey, 37% of responders said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months. The fact that many companies are bringing help desk functions back in-house is contributing to the rise in demand for this skill, says the report.

Networking Another sought-after IT skill in 2014 will be ‘networking’,ranked at no.3 in the survey. As per the study,31% of respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the coming 12 months ‘Networking’ ranked at no.8 in last years ranking. The spurt in demand for wireless connectivity is probably behind the interest in networking professionals,clims the survey quoting Scot Melland, CEO of Dice Holding

Mobile applications The fourth hottest skill for 2014 is ‘mobile applications and device management’ some 27% of survey respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months. The increasing proliferation 0f mobile devices seems to have catapulted the skill to no.4 from its last years position of no. 9

Project management ‘project management’ is next on the list of hottest skills for some 25% of respondents surveyed said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months. While project management fell from its no.2 position of last year, it still continues to be among the highly sought- after skills.

Database administration At no.6 on the list is ‘Database Administration’. Some 24% of respondents said that they plant o hire for this skill in coming 12 months. The growing enterprise interest in Big data appears to be fuelling the interest in the demand for ‘Database Administration’ professionals.

SECURITY COMPLIANCE Security Compliance/Governance ranks next on the list. Some 21% of respondents surveyed said that they plan to hire for this skill. The growth of ecommerce and increasing cased of malware and cyber attacks globally has led to a sharp rise in the demand for security professionals. The demand for ‘Security Compliance/Governance’ professionals is up 23% according to the survey.

Business intelligence Business intelligence/analytics tanks at no.8 on the list. Some 18% of the respondents said that they plan to hire for this skill in the next12 months, as per the survey. One of the fastest-growing skills,the demand for business intelligence/ analytics professionals has seen a 100% jump, says the report quoting Dice’s Melland. BI professional are also often reported to command high salaried.