This Area of Research Describes the Process Used to Obtain Relevant Data, Explain the Validity

Methodology

This area of research describes the process used to obtain relevant data, explain the validity of the data and research methods used in this study. This study includes IT/

IS job requirements in different business settings. As such, this research will lead to long- term assessments on how this taxonomy methodology can be applied; included are broad- scope quantitative measurements of IT skills requirements. This research will evaluate the amount of new IT job skill requirements, such as computer languages, in the past, present and long-term projections for the future. In addition, this research will consider conditions and influences of advanced technologies that will result in the refinement of taxonomy methodologies.

This research methodology has reviewed the following categories of IT jobs identifies by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

 Computer Programmers,

 Database Administrators,

 Computer Networkers,

 Computer Software Engineers,

 Computer Support Specialists,

 Systems Administrators,

 Computer Systems Analysts,

 Computer and Information Systems Managers,  Telecommunications,

 Data Entry Workers,

 Technical Support Systems IT Security,

 Database Management,

 IT project management and

 Other relevant business skills such as

 Business Intelligence (BI) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),

 Web applications, protocols, wireless communications, mobile technologies and

 IT installation, integration, troubleshooting, and maintenance are found to be the

most important skills at the present [31].

An examination of the job skills requested for IT professionals requires a variety of methods, including analysis of on-line job search engines, e.g., BLS, Monster.com, and Career Builder.com, Listserv.ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), classified ads in newspapers (nationwide and statewide), and companies' web sites [22].

The resultant data will organize the direction and importance of technical skills in the future.

Generally, advertised IT/ IS job positions are based upon specialized skills. This study shows that the requirements in the job market have changed dramatically in the past few years and will likely continue in the future. This research investigates a taxonomy methodology classification to validate this claim, which plays a vital role in defining and organizing future IT skill sets.

The methodology used in this research begins with data collection of computer language requirements from Listserv.ACM; this site tracked long-term employment data via job archives for over a decade. As the research indicates, IT taxonomy methodologies used will show the new IT/IS educational curriculum that must take place to keep pace with a changing job market. This updated taxonomy methodology is based on job responsibility levels, job domains, tasks, abilities, and skills.

Information Technology Professional Skills Requirements

The framework gives different dimensions for assessing skills such as: hard/soft, technology/business, and so forth. These perspectives link to a firm’s strategy. How does a firm’s IT skill(s) planning tie into its strategy? [39].

Another consistent finding is that across distinct IT job types, such as programmers, systems analysts and IT managers, employers are demanding technical skills as well as more business knowledge and stronger interpersonal skills for working with customers and users. Thus, there is expansion in the total number of skills expected of IT workers. In addition to a body of scholarly literature, trade magazines and job search engines typically report on the changing nature of IT job skills, and publish up to date lists. Changes in job skills from IT job advertisements are taken into consideration

The taxonomy broadly covers abilities and information relating to organizations as well as those of modeling, systems, and computers. Job-content analysis lists the tasks and associates those tasks to specific skills taking into consideration new skills [39]. This study shows that companies seek IT/IS professionals who have technical expertise such as IT project management and computer programming language proficiency as desired skills. However, they also recognize that general technical knowledge is desirable to understand both business and technology changes taking place.

These were listed in different ways as soft skills including willingness/ability to learn, attitude and aptitude, desire and passion for the field, intellectual curiosity, logical thinking, or problem solving. Other areas listed were experience, analysis skills, integrity, and the ability to multitask [10].

A reliable and accurate taxonomy methodology would give IT practitioners, hiring managers, employees, and educational institutions the benefit of an early warning system for skills modifications, additions, and deletions. Information technology, predominantly in the form of the Internet and its evolving technologies, is a part of our daily lives in both domestic and global arenas. As such, it is important, socially, economically, as well as educationally, to stay in touch with this rapidly changing technological landscape.

Identifying Skills for the IT Job Market

This methodology will examine differing methods to sample the knowledge and skills of IS/IT professionals. To determine what language skills and attributes will be most in demand for the IT professional job market, research was conducted about the market from the past until today to determine any discernable trends or patterns. The goal of this research is to determine as well as compare the strength and direction of the current job IT market compared to that of the past few years, and to gage the direction the future market will go. Research areas to be assessed: the current IT job market skills compared to that of previous years, skills that are currently in highest demand, and skills will be in the highest demand for the future [34].

Data Collection of IT Job Skills

The data collection was based on numerous Internet ads. The major sites were analyzed going back a few years for historical data regarding IT skills, and the most recent fifteen months for current data from [December 2008-February 2010], and five jobs per month were randomly selected. While a very difficult process to analyze each job manually, the development of job skills and tasks classification taxonomy was made easier using WebCrawler, Excel, etc. to look at the frequency of each job requirements.

The BLS was used as another primary data comparison tool. Other research has tested differences in this site and in using multiple sites with the conclusion of relatively few differences in job skills ranking [34]. This taxonomy was revised several times during this study as popular job skills changed.

After some time was spent studying the relative accuracy and effectiveness of competing job sites, Listserv.ACM was chosen as the reliable primary research site source. To find the jobs over the previous fifteen month interval mentioned earlier on,

Listserv.ACM job archives was used and selected relevant job listings for the research.

The number and type of skills needed in organizations varies in the literature, which indicates what IT skills are important for the success of IS projects and operations.

The organization of IT skills is complicated for a number of reasons. The rapid progression of IT has resulted in more positions and skills. This fast-changing technological field results in adding far more numerous new skills in ever less timeframes. IT professionals are expected to have more diversified skill sets at the emergence of new technologies and changing ways of business. Skills are based on information systems knowledge, technology management knowledge, business knowledge, interpersonal and management skills [39]. For further information about the mathematical model for forecasting, and sample data analysis, please refer to the appendix.

Forecasting Model Used for Data Analysis

The forecasting model used for long-term projection will be the Time-Series

Analysis method, which =a+bx. Where =forecast value, a=y-axis intercept, b=slope of the regression line, and x=the independent variable [time]. In this data collection x is a

15 month time period, and y is equal to the language frequencies in each job. Then the values for a as well as b were found on base of formula. The formula can be used for the future demand of popular languages [26].

Below is an example model for HTML using the advanced Excel forecast model.

This model is applicable to any computer programming language and other requirements for future analysis. All data in this model was collected from Listserv.ACM. The full data collections can be found in Chapter 4 Data Collection Chart 2. Y=HTML Language X=Month Frequency XY 1 4 4 1 16

2 0 0 4 0

3 1 3 9 1

4 2 8 16 4

5 3 15 25 9

6 2 12 36 4

7 1 7 49 1

8 2 16 64 4

9 1 9 81 1

10 4 40 100 16

11 2 22 121 4

12 0 0 144 0

13 1 13 169 1

14 2 28 196 4

15 4 60 225 16

x=120 y=29 xy=237  =1240  =81

The graph above shows how HTML requirements vary month to month, and shows that it is a language in high demand. The following calculations result from plugging in data for HTML into our advanced Excel model. These results are shown below for a & b: x x =8 yy =1.93 b=0.02 a=yy -b*xxx =1.79

The result can be applicable in the Time-Series model: =a+bx

Forecast Formula: =1.79+.02x

The forecast for the 16th month (next period), =1.79+.02(16) =2.11

The forecast for the 17th month (next period), =1.79+.02(17) =2.13

The forecast for the 18th month, =1.79+.02(18) =2.15

The forecast for the 19th month =1.79+.02(19) =2.17

HTML forecast shows a slight growth pattern for the future.

These results were calculated using the advanced Excel model. The same methodology can be used to find results for any other computer programming languages.