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4 Technical & Transformational skillsets in high demand

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Businesses digital transformation requirements have accelerated with the additional demand on technology due to current circumstances. Technical and Transformational skillsets are highly sought-after now more than ever. With any change you will need people who can play various critical roles and keep your business operational, relevant and accessible. Digital transformation is about more than the technology needed to create the transformation: In fact, the technology typically takes a back seat to the other capabilities needed to make your digital transformation a success.

So, with regard to building your team, you may need to think outside the box, moving beyond the typical IT talent pool and skillsets. Building out a team of people who can flex their technical muscles when needed but can also pivot to call upon their non-technical expertise will help your organization meet the growing digital demands of IT and the business.

As a business or hiring manager focus on the areas that enable people and processes to accelerate your company’s strategy. Lead in areas such as enterprise service management, IT branding and communications, technology business management, digital adoption, and change management – all of which require skills beyond the purely technical. Likewise, other areas of your team could expand into roles including, digital solutions consultants, delivery managers, and process improvement/automation specialists.

 

4 skillsets that are in high demand

So what should you be looking for, besides the requisite (and important) technical skill sets? Consider the kinds of people listed below – and don’t be afraid to bring people onto your team who don’t have a traditional IT career path. Folks who have not spent their whole career in IT can add some unique perspectives and take the team in directions not previously considered.

Consider how potential team members could play these roles in your organization:

1. Connectors

It goes without saying that the IT team of the 21st century must be able to work with its partners across the business. But looking for connectors means finding those people who not only are good with people but also can make connections across the organization.

Connectors know people as well as the work that is happening across the organization.

They are tuned in to what is happening, not only in IT but also in other areas of the business. They know people as well as the work that is happening across the organization. They know if an initiative in IT for the finance team is related to an initiative in another area of IT supporting the sales team – and they know the people to talk to in order to make the connections.

2. Challengers

Challengers are the people who help us ensure we are doing our best work. They think critically about the path forward and are not afraid to challenge the status quo. This is different from someone who always questions things and puts up roadblocks: Challengers think strategically about the path forward and ask the “what if” and “why not” questions that are critical to any transformation.

3. Agilists

While traditional agile methodologies are important in transformation activities, an Agilist in this context is someone who can adapt to changes and unexpected turns. By definition, transformation is “a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance” – so successful digital transformation efforts must include people who can recognize the need to change direction and quickly pivot to the new plan. They model how to effectively respond to change and will help others adapt as well.

4. Navigators

If we need to change course, navigators ensure we adjust our GPS settings to account for the re-routing across all aspects of the initiative.

Digital transformation by its very nature can be a bit chaotic and can veer into the tendency to chase the next “bright shiny object.” Navigators define the route and help keep the ship headed in the right direction; they remind us where we are trying to go and the path we agreed to take. And if we need to change course, they help us ensure we adjust our GPS settings to account for the re-routing across all aspects of the initiative.

As the IT landscape continues to evolve, how we support and partner with the business will continue to evolve as well. Focusing on both technical and transformational skillsets in your business will set the stage for success today and in the future. For more information on how to hire digital experts for your business or find a job that will challenge you, please get in touch.

Apple Delays Release of HomePod Smart Speaker!

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Apple delays release of HomePod smart speaker, giving Google and Amazon a head start in Christmas sales this holiday season!

Apple has given Amazon and Google an even bigger head start in the race to get smart speakers into your home.

The tech titan said it’s pushed back the launch of its first smart speaker, the HomePod, from sometime in December (no specific date was ever offered) to “early 2018” so it can finish work on the device.

Missing the critical holiday season is a blow to Apple. The company loses the opportunity to sell the HomePod to shoppers in a more buying mood and help it break into the young smart speaker market. The delay comes as both Amazon and Google roll out aggressive discounts during Black Friday and beyond for their respective family of smart speakers, potentially cutting down on prospective HomePod customers.

For consumers, it means one less choice, even if the £349 HomePod represents a much more expensive option than the Echo Dot or Google Home Mini, both about £50.

Apple is likely being careful since it can ill afford a slip-up in this market.

“The only thing worse than this delay is introducing it and selling under a million and making no dent in the market,” said Michael R. Levin, of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. “That would be really embarrassing.”

apple-wwdc-2017-homepod-speaker-3973
Say hello to Apple’s HomePod smart speaker

Apple declined to offer more information for this story beyond their latest statement.

So how much does this delay hurt Apple?

From a financial perspective, it’s going to be a hiccup because Apple makes most of its money from its iPhone lineup. The HomePod fits as an ancillary business similar to the Apple Watch or AirPods, which aren’t nearly as important.

The bigger concern is the loss of a key opportunity to get into your home. Apple is already late to this field, ceding ground to Amazon, Google and speaker makers like Sonos, Sony and Lenovo (many of which use Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant).

Amazon, which popularized the smart speaker category with the launch of its Echo in late 2014, has already sold 20 million smart speakers in the US, taking 73 percent of that market. Google, which launched the Google Home last year, takes up the other 27 percent, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners said this month.

If you’re investing in one or a set of smart speakers from one company, you’re less likely to mix and match brands.

There’s still hope for Apple, which is known for coming into an already developed market and quickly taking over, such as with the iPhone for smartphones or the Apple Watch for wearables. The company famously has a rabid fan base willing to buy many — if not all — of its products. If the HomePod ends up being successful anyway, no one will remember this monthslong delay.

Yet Amazon and Google have already shown up with second- and third-generation products, and started developing app ecosystems and partnerships with smart home equipment makers. The HomePod was a first step toward matching these efforts, and now catching up to competitors could be harder.

Apple also hasn’t proven there’s a sizeable market for a high-priced smart speaker, with the most popular device in the field so far being the £50 Echo Dot. (The Google Home Max is even more expensive, at £399, and already available for sale.)

Check out some of our latest featured Jobs, they may not be working with Apple, but it could be the next best thing!

 

  • TECH ADVISOR

5 Advantages in using CSS

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Discover 5 Amazing Advantages of using CSS for your website!

When you create a website for your business, time and money are likely to be major concerns. Luckily, there is a web design method that can help you save time and money while also improving your visitor’s experience. Cascading Style Sheets, more commonly known as CSS, has fast become the preferred web design method for the benefits it offers web designers and website visitors alike.

 

What is CSS?

CSS is the key presentational technology that is used in website design.

Before it’s development, nearly all of the presentational attributes of HTML documents were contained within the HTML markup; all font colors, background styles, element alignments, borders and sizes had to be explicitly described, within the HTML.

As a result of, development of large web sites, where fonts and colour information were repeatedly added to every single page, became a long and expensive process.

CSS solve these problems, by allowing web designers to move much of that formatting information to a separate style sheet resulting in considerably simpler HTML markup.

 

Origin

HTML was originally designed as a simple way of presenting information intended for sharing scientific documents and research papers online.

Later on, as the Internet expanded from the academic and research world into the mainstream, and became more media oriented, the presentation of the web pages has become considerably important for a website’s success.

To improve web presentation capabilities CSS was introduced by World Wide Web consortium’s (W3C). It was intended to allow web designers to define the look and feel of their web pages, and to separate content from document’s layout.

 

Advantages

The biggest advantage of CSS is that it allows separating content of an html document from the style and layout of that document. It can thus make documents much easier to maintain and give much better control over the layout of your web pages, because content of an entire set of HTML pages can be easily controlled using one or more style sheets. Check out 5 additional advantages for CSS below:

 

Lots of time will be saved — Lots of flexibility is given to set the properties of an element. You can write it once; and then the same code can be applied to the groups of HTML elements, and can also be reused in multiple HTML pages.

Easy maintenance — It provides an easy means to update document formatting and maintain consistency across multiple documents. By making one change to the website’s CSS, elements in all the web pages will be updated automatically.

Pages load faster — CSS enable multiple pages to share formatting, and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content. It significantly reduces the file transfer size, which results in a faster page loading.

Superior styles to HTML — CSS has much wider presentation capabilities than HTML, so you can give far better look to your HTML pages in comparison to the HTML presentational elements and attributes.

Multiple Device Compatibility — CSS can also allow the HTML document to be optimised for more than one type of device or media. Using CSS the same HTML document can be presented in different viewing styles for different rendering devices such as computer screen, mobile phones, printer, etc.

 

If you found this article interesting, check out our latest Software Development job vacancy by clicking here! It may be just right for you!

– TutorialRepublic

– NetworkSolutions

IT Jobs Feature: What is PHP used for?

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PHP is a popular server-side scripting language for the web and has common use in many IT Jobs

Generally, PHP is used to add a functionality to websites that HTML alone can’t achieve. There are many IT Jobs which require PHP knowledge as a key skill. But what is PHP capable of and what are the main functions in which someone seeking IT Jobs involving PHP be familiar with? Here are some examples:

Performs Calculations

PHP can perform all types of calculations, from figuring out what day it is or what day of the week a date in the very distant future will be, to performing all  types of mathematical equations. In PHP, math expressions are made up of operators and operands. Basic math addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are done using mathematical operators. The large number of math functions are part of the PHP core. No installation is required to use them.

Collects User Information

Using PHP, you can let your user directly interact with the script. This can be something really simple, like collecting the temperature from the user that they want to convert from degrees to another format, or it can be more extensive information, like adding their information to an address book, letting them post on a forum or participate in a survey.

Interacts With MySQL Databases

PHP is particularly good at interacting with MySQL databases, which opens endless possibilities. You can write user-submitted information to a database, and you can retrieve information from the database. This allows you to create pages on the fly using the contents of the database. You can even perform complex tasks like setting up login systems, creating website search features, or store product catalogues and inventories online.

You can also use PHP and MySQL to set up an automated picture gallery to showcase products.

Creates Graphics with GD Library

Use the GD Library that is bundled with PHP to create simple graphics on the fly or to edit existing graphics. You might want to resize images, rotate them, change them to grayscale, or make thumbnails of them. Practical applications allow users to edit their avatars or generate CAPTCHA verifications. You can also create dynamic graphics that are always changing such as dynamic Twitter signatures.

Works With Cookies

Cookies are used to identify a user and store the user’s preferences as given on the site so the information doesn’t have to be re-entered each time the user visits the site. The cookie is a small file embedded on the user’s computer. Using the programming language, you can create, modify and delete cookies and retrieve cookie values.

Are you seeking IT Jobs which involve working with PHP in a professional environment? Keep an eye on our vacancy page for the latest featured IT Jobs updates. Visit it by clicking here!

 

– Angela Bradley

Next Stage for Shropshire Superfast Expansion

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Moves to bring superfast broadband to even more people in the county have been announced by Shropshire Council.

The authority is inviting bids from telecoms suppliers in Shropshire for the third phase of a major project to boost connectivity for residents and businesses.

Known as Phase 2b of the Connecting Shropshire broadband programme, the initiative is designed to bring fast connections in areas where no commercial provision is currently in place or planned.

Shropshire Council has already invested £9m through two separate contracts (Phases 1 and 2a).

Phase 2b aims to extend superfast broadband coverage to a further 16,015 premises in the Shropshire Council area using £11.7m public funding secured through funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Broadband Delivery UK) and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership.

Whilst Phase 1 is completing this winter, Phase 2a has already commenced with planning work which will deliver to an additional 4,000 premises by winter 2017.

Bids are now being invited from specialist telecoms suppliers to plan, design, build, operate and maintain high-performance broadband networks, referred to as Next Generation Access (NGA). All solutions must be capable of supporting download speeds of over 30mbps and must offer competition and choice to broadband customers.

Steve Charmley, Deputy Leader of Shropshire Council and member responsible for broadband, said:

“As we near the end of Phase 1, we’ve already provided over 55,000 homes and businesses with access to better broadband. At the same time as gearing up to deliver our Phase 2, I’m thrilled to be starting the procurement for the next phase of work. We’re eager to close all of our gaps and particularly want solutions that prioritise coverage for premises on the slowest speeds.”

Graham Wynn, Chairman of the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, said:

“Fast data connections are crucial for residents and businesses now, whoever and wherever they are. It’s important to note that, as part of this procurement, bidders are asked to offer network solutions that prioritise premises registered for business rates. Superfast broadband enables businesses to function more efficiently, increases their profitability and provides access to new markets. Our businesses have identified lack of connectivity as a barrier to growth so we are very pleased to be able to contribute Local Growth Funding to this latest push for better broadband speeds. We look forward to work getting under way.”

Telecoms suppliers have until 30 January 2017 to prepare and submit their bids. Shropshire Council expects to award contract(s) in March 2017.

The procurement excludes additional funding that Shropshire Council is expecting to receive as part of its Phase 1 contract. Where customers choose to take-up fibre broadband once it is available, the Council receives ‘clawback’ that is estimated at £2.2m to date. This money will remain ring-fenced for further broadband investment.

 

For more information on Technology, Business and IT Jobs in Shropshire, check out our blog page by clicking on this link!

– Shropshirelive

Software Dev Feature: Should I learn .NET or PHP?

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Discover the different aspects of .NET & PHP and which may be most suited to you before you start your journey as a software developer!

If you’re a software developer, there simply isn’t enough time in the world to learn every single technology, language and platform you might need for work, or to land a better job; at some point, you’re going to have to decide in what direction you want to expand your knowledge base.

The choices you make in that regard will have a huge impact on your life. If you devote too much time to learning a technology that’s on the verge of obsolescence, it could make future employment a problematic affair. Fortunately, there are lots of technologies that will continue to grow and prove useful to the world for the next several years—but how do you choose between those?

With all that in mind, let’s look at .NET and PHP, two software programming platforms that enjoy broad bases of support. PHP is a general-purpose scripting language that many people rely upon for Web development (hundreds of millions of websites leverage it today) while .NET is a framework built by Microsoft for Windows-related Web work. While it’s certainly possible to learn the intricacies of both platforms, is there one worth tackling more than the other?

 

What’s the Difference?

As mentioned above, PHP is an open-source software programming language primarily used for developing Web-based applications. There are a few tools out there that allow you to use it to write desktop applications, but the majority of apps written in PHP run on a Web server such as Apache server or Microsoft IIS.

PHP is a language, but .NET is a whole platform comprising a few different technologies. There are two main languages you can use with .NET to create either desktop or Web applications: VB.NET and C# (others exist, of course, but those are the main two). As with PHP, .NET requires a Web server (specifically Microsoft IIS) to create Web applications (it also requires ASP.NET, a technology that’s part of .NET’s broader platform).

While .NET is built into Microsoft Windows, you can run .NET desktop applications on Linux using a free and open source product called Mono. PHP sometimes comes pre-installed on Linux, and if not, it’s quick and easy to install. But to develop with either platform, you need some free tools: for .NET, you’ll want one of the free Visual Studio Express products from Microsoft; For PHP, there are several options—one popular choice is Eclipse.

There are benefits to learning either PHP or .NET. Should you learn both? If you’re new to software programming then you best just focus on one to start off with. At an early stage in your career, you need to focus your energy on getting very good at one thing, which will translate into higher-paying jobs down the road. If you try to go to broad, you will stretch yourself thin and not master anything. Pick one thing and be great at it!

 

Which Should I Pick?

So which do you pick? You could take a look at the entry-level jobs for PHP and .NET in the area, and use that data to influence your decision. But that research will only tell you about today: What about five years from now?

Here are some questions to help you work through a possible decision:

  • First, do you want to create desktop applications on Windows? Then .NET is a great way to go.
  • What about Web applications on Windows?Again, .NET is an excellent choice. However, you can do PHP on Windows (although it’s probably more commonly used on Linux).
  • Do you love Linux and want to focus on it?Then go for PHP if you’re doing Web development. While .NET can run on Linux with the help of Mono, it’s more suited to desktop and not Web.
  • So what about desktop apps on Linux, then?In that case, you probably want to move away from both PHP and .NET and study other languages and technologies, such as C++ and Gtk+, or perhaps wxWidgets combined with a language such as C++ or Python. While Mono works on Linux, it’s a bit too narrow in terms of entry-level job opportunities.
  • What if you want to do both Windows and Linux?That’s moving away from what was mentioned earlier about focusing; focus on one or the other early in your career. Later on, you can start to think about things like cross-platform development. But for learning a new technology and landing an entry-level job, please stay focused—with one caveat: If you’re going to go for Web development, don’t forget the client side. Also learn some JavaScript
  • If you’re going to go for Windows, do you choose C# or VB.NET?This is a potentially contentious question, with strong opinions on either side. One thing to bear in mind is that they’re actually very similar languages underneath, just with different syntax; you can accomplish the same thing with either. For a beginner, the best route to go down is the C# route. Reason being, things become contentious: VB.NET has a bit of stigma attached to it as an “amateur” language (even though it’s not). As a result, advanced programmers are more likely to choose C# when starting a new project.

Conclusion

As your programming knowledge becomes more advanced, you’ll find it’s easier to pick up new languages. Many of the popular languages today share similar syntax that has its roots in the original C programming language. (Such as C++, Java, C#, PHP and JavaScript.) That makes it easy to learn them later, and multiple languages may indeed lie in your future—but for now, stay focused. And most importantly: Have fun!

 

Are you already knowledgeable in the field of .NET and C#? If the answer is yes, check out our latest Software Developer vacancy by clicking on this link!

 

– Jeff Cogswell

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