Most wanted IT skills: DevOps, mobile, cloud infrastructure knowledge

To find out what your fellow companies are really interested in this year, it pays to consider who they want to hire. After all, new technology won't use itself, and that means it's time to go out and find the skills. This might be as close as it's possible to get to a real survey of projects under development, as firms may not want to telegraph their next moves in any more obvious way.

A closer look at the job postings reveals that a few new skills and concepts have risen to prominence recently. These are likely to be the big difference-makers in 2014 and beyond as entire industries evolve and double down on their business IT focus.

Who's in demand?
InfoWorld recently reported that cloud computing services are in, with organizations favoring workers who can deal with this technology. Mobile technologies could also be an area of focus. The employees hired to handle these priorities may be hired on a contracted basis instead of accepted into the ranks of full-time, salaried staff.

InfoWorld took its information from job placement firms Mondo and TrueAbility. TrueAbility CEO Luke Owen told InfoWorld that today's companies want workers within the general category of DevOps. That particular philosophy may be extremely applicable at today's businesses, as Owen stated that cloud computing has taken over companies' priorities, bringing new requirements and opportunities. With hosted architecture serving as the new normal, development and deployment could have excellent ability to work over a wide geographic region and on a number of platforms by default.

New challenges
Automating functions in the cloud is a great way to get ahead in the business world, but it is not assured by default. The new cloud-enabled world may be pulled in multiple directions and end up too complicated, according to TechTarget. Gartner analyst Ronni Colville noted at the recent Gartner Data Center Conference that business units can end up buying different automated management tools in an attempt to increase individual team productivity. This can complicate an IT style that is meant to bring simplicity and unite departments.

Worth the struggle
Becoming a cloud leader and adopting new methods of application development and deployment may seem like a drastic change and, in some ways, it absolutely is. However, it pays to be ahead of the curve in IT. Seeing the way the market is turning but failing to respond could mean serious problems in tech-based industries, and today, everything orbits around hardware and software. This is something to keep in mind when picking a team and outfitting them with the tools they'll need to be productive.

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