12 jobs getting the biggest raises in 2014

The average salary for newly hired IT pros is expected to increase 5.6% in the coming year

Looking to make your next career move? Staffing firm Robert Half analyzed 70 tech positions and found certain titles will be getting particularly big salary hikes in 2014. Read on to learn more about the 12 positions with the biggest raise potential. (Only base salaries are calculated; totals don’t include bonuses, perks or other compensation elements.)

U.S. starting salaries for professional occupations are projected to increase an average of 3.7% next year, according to data from Robert Half. That number jumps to 5.6% in the tech industry, which is expected to see the largest gains among all the fields researched.

Pre-sales/technical engineer
At the top of the heap, based on percentage gains, are pre-sales/technical engineers, who can expect an 8.4% increase in starting salaries, Robert Half reports. Typical duties for this position include: participating in customer presentations as the technical expert; determining technical requirements to meet client goals and acting as the liaison between the firm’s sales/business development and engineering groups; responding to RFIs or RFPs from current or potential customers with technical details of proposed solutions; coordinating the transition between pre-sales specifications and implementation engineering upon the awarding of contracts.

Mobile applications developer
Demand for people who can develop mobile apps remains strong, and companies are willing to pay a premium. Typical duties, as defined by Robert Half, include: coding, testing, debugging, documenting and monitoring mobile applications; interacting with different departments within the organization regarding new deployments; contributing to the development of project schedules and workflow; and recommending changes and enhancements to applications.

Software developer
Wanted: detail-oriented professionals with strong problem-solving capabilities, analytical expertise and communication skills. Software developers typically perform these duties: coding, testing and debugging programs according to computer engineering specifications; modifying, expanding and updating applications; communicating with a team that includes analysts, engineers and quality assurance testers in order to coordinate and document application development and testing; and developing software prototypes.

Software engineer
Candidates for a software engineer position should have broad information systems experience, says Robert Half. The firm describes these typical duties: designing and creating engineering specifications for software programs and applications; working with quality assurance to develop software test plans; collaborating with hardware engineers to assess and test hardware and software interaction; implementing a specific development methodology; and documenting software specifications.

Business intelligence analyst
In the era of big data, analytic talent is coveted. A business intelligence analyst is expected to perform these typical duties: designing and developing enterprise-wide data analysis and reporting solutions; reviewing and analyzing data from multiple internal and external sources; communicating analysis results and making recommendations to senior management; and developing data cleansing rules.

Data architect
A data architect brings analytical and creative skills to the table, along with in-depth knowledge of data systems and database methodology, design and modeling, says Robert Half. Typical duties include: understanding and evaluating business requirements and translating them into specific database solutions; creating data design models, database architecture and data repository design; working with the systems and database administration staff to implement, coordinate and maintain enterprise-wide data architecture; providing leadership in establishing and documenting data standards; and creating and testing database prototypes.

Developer/programmer analyst
According to Robert Half, the ability to understand applications from both a technical perspective and a business point of view is essential for a developer/programmer analyst. Typical duties include: analyzing business application requirements for functional areas such as finance, manufacturing, marketing or human resources; writing code, testing and debugging software applications; recommending system changes and enhancements; and documenting software specifications and training users.

Wireless network engineer
Among the network specialties, the position expected to get the largest percentage raise (7%) is wireless network engineer. Typical duties include: researching, designing and implementing wireless networks, including all engineering specifications and resource requirements for network hardware and software; making recommendations for wireless network optimization, additions and upgrades to meet business requirements; conducting and documenting RF coverage and site surveys; and documenting network infrastructure and design.

Network engineer
Robert Half also expects network engineers to receive sizable raises in the 6.9% range. Typical duties include: engineering enterprise data, voice and video networks; establishing and operating network test facilities; maintaining a secure transfer of data to multiple locations via internal and external networks; working with vendors, clients, carriers and technical staff on network implementation, optimization and ongoing management; providing high-level support and technical expertise in networking technology, including LAN/WAN hardware, hubs, bridges and routers.

ERP technical developer
ERP technical developers need to quickly identify technical problems in ERP applications, assess their potential impacts, and help design solutions, says Robert Half. Typical duties include: performing analysis, design, coding, data migration and testing for ERP production and development environments; implementing ERP enhancements to support changes in business processes; providing ERP application support; and working with various business teams to gather requirements and support business processes.

Network architect
Another network-related position in line for a sizable raise is network architect. As defined by Robert Half, the role is responsible for: assessing business and applications requirements for corporate data and voice networks; planning, designing and upgrading network installation projects; establishing and maintaining backup, version-control and viral defense systems; troubleshooting network architecture and making recommendations for system fixes and enhancements; and making recommendations for leveraging network installations and reducing operational costs.

Information systems security manager
One security-focused title showed up among the 12 IT jobs getting the biggest raises: information systems security manager. Expected to command a 6.8% raise in 2014, the position call for: providing leadership, guidance and training to information systems security personnel; reviewing, implementing, updating and documenting companywide information security policies and procedures; managing security audits, vulnerability and threat assessments and directing responses to network or system intrusions; ensuring fulfillment of legal and contractual information security and privacy mandates, including providing executive management with compliance reports and audit findings; and preventing and detecting intrusion.

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Products of the week

Our roundup of intriguing new products from companies such as Radware and NetMotion

Our roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.

Product name: RAM 6021 industrial router
Key features: Facilitates seamless communication between local and wide area networks, but rugged enough for extreme environmental conditions. RAM 6021 prevents unwanted network intrusions in the connected factory and remote locations. More info.

Product name: Locality Cloud
Key features: Hosted version of application that lets IT groups monitor what’s happening with mobile workers on cellular networks: collecting and analyzing data on connectivity issues, identifying and solving mobile problems. More info.

Product name – Anonymous Incident Portal
Key features - a web service that lets users securely and anonymously report incidents, complaints and violations while allowing organizations to manage issues internally. More info.

Product name: Baidu Antivirus
Key features: a permanently free antivirus and cloud security application. New feature: complete built-in protection from Virut botnet. More info.

Product Name: Alteon LBaaS
Product Description: application delivery controller (ADC) solution that offers Load Balancing as a Service natively built into the Havana version of OpenStack’s Neutron LBaaS driver. Alteon LBaaS solution integrates advanced ADC functionality in the OpenStack infrastructure for enterprise organizations considering to deploy OpenStack. The new solution ensures consistent QoE, provides performance consistency of network services across multiple tenants, and allows quick roll-out of new application delivery services. More info.

Product Name: AFORE Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Encryption Suite
Key features: AFORE secures sensitive data for VDI, application servers and storage with enterprise-controlled key management and a single security management plane across private, hybrid and public clouds including AWS VPC and EC2. More info.

Product name: Vaultive Platform 3.4
Key features: extends support to Box, Yammer, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP SuccessFactors and other leading cloud applications. Integrations with DLP and eDiscovery in Office 365 also powers sensitive content detection. More info.

Product name: Aerospike 3 NoSQL database on Internap’s AgileSERVER bare-metal cloud
Key features: Combines Aerospike’s leading NoSQL database with the Internap’s AgileSERVER bare-metal cloud, resulting in a global “fast big data” platform that processes massive amounts of data in milliseconds. More info.

Product name: Commons Cloud
Key features: is the only collaboration solution that maintains a complete, permanent and easily accessible record of every edit, version, and comment about every file. More info.

Product name: AdRem NetCrunch 7.3
Key features: has rule-based monitoring and smart network rediscovery to maintain long-term control of ever changing network, systems and applications. More info.

Product name -- Virtual Office Mobile 4.0
Key features -- Turns iPhone, iPad and Android into a desk-phone over 3G, 4G and WiFi. Make/take calls, extension dial with video, transfer, conference, chat, visual voicemail, manage faxes for BYOD. More info.

Product name: OpenSpan Activity Intelligence
Key features: is a new, SaaS-based solution designed to provide actionable insight into interaction business intelligence, worker activity, process flows, and technology diagnostics. More info.

Product name: Unisys Mobile Environment Management 2.0
Key features: is a set of cloud-based or on-premise managed mobility services for supporting mobile users and managing and securing mobile resources–from devices to expenses. More info.

Product name: Velocity Zoom
Key features: IT leadership can examine transaction performance from the enterprise level down to a specific user’s experience, monitor application performance trends, and compare their statistics to the aggregate of Velocity’s customer community. More info.

Product name: Alpine 3.0
Key features: the first visual, script-less and web-based advanced analytics solution for Hadoop and Big Data. The new software release enables business analysts to create and deploy predictive models on the web using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Product name: Workshare Protect Server
Key features: extends corporate data security policies to safeguard high-value content shared via email and webmail on mobile devices, eliminating employee risk of leaking sensitive data. More info.

Product name: OpenAM 11.0
Key features: OpenAM is the first access management solution that goes beyond the classic “castle defense” of legacy IAM, leveraging identity to extend business reach, drive new business models and grow revenue. More info.

Product name – EventTracker 7.5
Key features - brings new features and licensing models for MSP/MSSPs, integration with Threat Intelligence feeds and options for embedded vulnerability scans and intrusion detection. More info.

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Microsoft offers quick fix for Zero-Day vulnerability

Company issues stop-gap patch for vulnerability targeting TIFF image format

Confirming reports of limited attacks in South Asia and the Middle East, Microsoft released a security advisory on Tuesday warning of a new vulnerability targeting the TIFF image format.

Microsoft issued an advisory and a stop-gap fix on Tuesday, for a new vulnerability that's targeting users in the Middle East and South Asia. Experts are urging IT administrators to deploy the Fix-It or EMET solutions, as it is unlikely that Microsoft will have a proper patch available for this month's round of updates.

The Zero-Day flaw resides in the TIFF image format, and has been used in what the software giant is calling limited attacks. According to their advisory, the vulnerability can be exploited to enable remote access to the victim's system, including code execution.

Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 are affected, as well as 2010 on Windows XP and Server 2003. Moreover, Vista SP 2, Server 2008, and Microsoft Lync are vulnerable as well.

"Microsoft has provided a Fix-It that turns off TIFF rendering in the affected graphics library, which should have no impact if you are not working with TIFF format files on a regular basis. The listed software packages are not vulnerable under all conditions, so it is important that you take a look at your installed base and your possible exposure for the next couple of weeks into December," Qualys CTO, Wolfgang Kandek explained in an email to CSO.

According to Microsoft, the attacks against the flaw are being carried out against selectively, and requires user interaction. Thus, Phishing or other socually engineered attacks are likely to be the main phase of a given campaign. However, it is possible to exploit the flaw online, so malcious websites are a potential risk too.

If the Fix-It solution isn't an option, Microsoft reccomends that administrators install EMET and enable ROP mitigations, or others such as mandatory ASLR, EAF, or HeapSpray.

"Given the close date of the next Patch Tuesday for November, we don't believe that we can count on a patch arriving in time, but will probably have to wait until December, which makes your planning for a work-around even more important," Kandek added.

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Google Glass dominates wearable tech session at DEMO Fall 2013

Three of the four demonstrators in the wearable technology session employed Google Glass, even though none of them know when it will be commercially available.

Despite the uncertainty regarding when Google Glass will be made available to the public, entrepreneurs are betting their livelihood on the head-worn device.

Three of the four demonstrators that composed the wearable technology session at the DEMO Fall 2013 conference displayed technology based on Glass.

Pristine joined the growing market for Glass in the healthcare field, introducing a streaming video solution that allowed remote users to watch and interact via audio during healthcare procedures. Surgery was the example given on-stage, and the technology allowed for a remote user to call in, watch the surgery in real time, and consult the surgeon as he conducted it.

The company claimed the technology is HIPAA-compliant, and aims to replace expensive, unwieldy solutions that enable streaming video for medical procedures. The cost for current technology can run into the tens of thousands, whereas Google has suggested a $300 to $500 price range for Glass when it becomes available to consumers.

Aside from the uncertainty around Glass’ release date, Pristine CEO Kyle Samani told panelists that the company has had trouble finding real-life settings in which it can test the technology. Testing in a hospital setting would require collaboration from across the facility – from physicians to patients to IT.

Fortunately, Pristine may have plenty of opportunities to find testing environments as Google bides its time developing the technology.

Another demonstrator, GlassPay, may also benefit from some extra time to develop its technology – a Glass-based technology that allows shoppers to make purchases by scanning barcodes on products.

The only catch, so far, is that GlassPay only allows purchases to be made with the digital currency Bitcoin. Although the demonstration functioned as intended, one noticeable flaw was that the display only showed the price for retail items in Bitcoin value. So a set of towels were shown to retail for 0.1 BTC, leaving the user to calculate the equivalent in USD. Not only will users need to have a Bitcoin Wallet in order to use GlassPay, they’ll need to keep up with the exchange rate on their own if they want to know the dollar-value of their expenses.

Later on in the Glass Pay demonstration, though, GlassPay CEO Guy Paddock explained that GlassPay is currently limited to Bitcoin only because it’s much easier to make quick online payments with Bitcoin than with cash. He expressed interest in integrated Google Wallet later on, which would open up a larger market.

In retrospect, the Bitcoin integration worked to Glass Pay’s advantage, for the purposes of DEMO at least. The company was only given a four-minute window in which to demonstrate its product, and Bitcoin involved much less risk of a verification issue on-stage. Similarly, Paddock also explained that a GlassPay app is already available for Android devices. Google Glass, however, attracts much more publicity than smartphone payment apps, landing GlassPay in the highly publicized wearable technology category.

Another Glass-based app, People+, relies more on the Glass technology. Calling the product a combination of LinkedIn and Wikipedia, the demonstrators showed how People+ could browse through information on a given person, drawing from multiple online source, while focusing the Glass camera on him.

It’s an early iteration of an app that seems perfect for facial recognition technology, depending on how well that might work on Glass in the future. When that might happen, and how such technology will be received by the general public, still remains to be seen.

Only one demonstrator in the wearable technology session didn’t employ Google Glass, but may have had the most impressive demonstration. Skully showed off its high-tech motorcycle helmet, which is equipped with a heads-up display that projects GPS navigation and playback from the rear-view camera and voice commands for phone calls or controlling music.

The rear-view camera may have been the most impressive, giving a panoramic view of everything located behind a motorcyclist and eliminating the need to check blind spots. The rear-view camera’s technology recognizes the horizon behind the driver, meaning that the road will always be in view, and flattens the video playback to provide depth in the video playback.

Unlike Google Glass, the Skully Helmet has a spring 2014 estimated release date, and the company is preparing an SDK on which developers could build their own apps for the device.

The only potential competition it may face could be when Glass becomes available and users could simply wear it underneath traditional motorcycle helmets. Fortunately for Skully, that likely won’t be an issue for a few years.

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12 best places to land a tech job

Tech skills are increasingly in demand across the U.S., and you may not need to uproot to find a new opportunity, as growth is not limited to the usual job markets. Here’s a look at where tech job growth is highest, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as interviews with Shravan Goli, President of Dice Holdings, Tim Johnson, vice president of sales at Mondo; and Matthew Ripaldi, senior vice president at Modis.

New Jersey
New Jersey tops the BLS list for job growth in computer systems design and related services, at 5.2%. That brings the Garden State into the top five in terms of tech workforce size, along with California, Texas, Virginia and New York, according to BLS data. The state is actively working to add tech jobs, Goli says, by offering tax breaks and grants to small and midsize tech businesses that create new positions. Also fueling growth is the ability of New Jersey tech companies to feed off neighbor New York’s talent base, Goli says.


Massachusetts
Massachusetts is second to New Jersey in tech job growth, at 4%, according to the BLS, and has created more jobs so far in 2013 than last year at this time. Like New Jersey, the state is actively working to attract tech business, Goli says. In addition to its many healthcare, financial services and education giants requiring tech talent, Massachusetts also competes with New York for the title of “Silicon Valley of the East,” Goli says. Along with startups, traditional tech firms maintain a Boston presence for proximity to the region’s universities, Mondo’s Johnson adds.

Missouri
BLS data shows 3.8% tech job growth in Missouri, which concurs with Dice’s observation earlier this year that St. Louis was top among U.S. cities in tech employment growth. This is due in part to an increased awareness of technology’s role in business and on employment, Goli says. “Incubation of tech companies through government support is happening more in some areas, whereas it’s done predominantly through venture funding in traditional states,” he says. For instance, the St. Louis IT Entrepreneur Network works to coach tech startups. Another driver is the number of large tech consultancies in St. Louis, Goli says.

Texas
Texas hosts a large tech workforce, and it’s about to get bigger, with 3.3% growth, according to the BLS. Dice attributes the growth to a diverse business landscape that includes cloud software companies in Austin; healthcare, financial and insurance powerhouses in Houston; the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas; and defense contractors in San Antonio. Additionally, Ripaldi says, the energy sector continues to spur growth in Houston, and businesses are attracted to the state’s comparatively low cost of living. Texas also offers a very business-friendly environment, adds Johnson, whose firm plans to open an office in Dallas early next year.

New York
At 2.6% job growth, New York is fifth on the BLS list. Part of this growth is its succesful work to establish itself as the go-to tech startup community over its rival, Boston. “Boston was the Silicon Valley of the East Coast for a long period of time, but it’s faded as New York became a hotbed for startups on the East Coast these days,” Goli says. Even beyond the startup world, the tech workforce in New York is “large and growing at astronomical rates,” Johnson says.

Washington State
Washington has become a technology innovation center and is seeing 2.5% growth in tech jobs, according to the BLS. Spurred by ongoing tech developments from Amazon and Microsoft, the state is best known for focusing on the cloud and Web services. “Because of the big cloud push, an ecosystem has developed around these companies that feeds off one another,” Goli says. “We’re seeing a lot of growth that will keep a company like ours busy.”

Illinois
While Chicago is not renowned for its technology innovation, it hosts one of the larger tech workforces and is seeing 1.8% tech job growth, according to the BLS. A big factor in this growth is the number of large, mature companies in several industries that call it home. “You never hear it mentioned in regards to cutting-edge technology, as with New York or Silicon Valley,” Johnson says. “But there’s no doubt that technology is growing significantly in Chicago.” On Dice’s jobs site, Illinois tends to have roughly 4,000 open positions posted on any given day, Goli says.

Pennsylvania
According to Johnson, Mondo’s third fastest-growing office is in Philadelphia, after New York and California. “You would never assume that, but that’s the reality,” he says. Pennsylvania also made it to the last slot on the BLS list top 10 list, with 1.7% growth. In-demand skills, Johnson says, are more traditional in the region -- possibly due to the manufacturing and industrial businesses concentrated in both Philly and Pittsburgh -- including programmers, developers, project managers and help desk workers.

Florida
Florida does not make the BLS list for fast growth, but recruiters are seeing a surge in job opportunities. According to Ripaldi, the trend is attributable, in part, to large organizations elsewhere in the U.S. looking to affordable and desirable cities like Jacksonville when planning an expansion of their data centers or extension of their application development function. “We’ve had clients with large data centers in the Northeast realize that from a cost standpoint, they could get more in this market,” he says. “Then they discover some of the talent that’s already here or that they can attract to the area.”

Georgia
Atlanta, known as the business capital of the South, is “extremely hot” right now, according to Johnson, based on the combination of a healthy business environment, a low cost of living and a growing community of tech startups. “Technology is so engrained in business that if you’re in a market that’s good-sized and growing, technology jobs will be a big piece of that,” he says. Further, “forward-thinking technology entreprenuers are choosing Atlanta to set up shop,” Johnson says. “The cost of living is significantly lower, yet it offers everything you want in a big city, so it can attract talent.”

North and South Carolina
From Research Triangle Park and spreading out to Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, companies in a range of industries (financial services, healthcare, technology, manufacturing and insurance) make up a strong market in which tech skills are in high demand, Ripaldi says. Like Atlanta and Florida, the cost of living in the Carolinas is attractive to both businesses and employees, and “talented resources are moving there and calling it home because there’s so much innovation happening in the area,” Johnson says.

California
With Silicon Valley, California is the renowned startup and technology capital of the U.S. The size of its tech workforce is hard to beat in terms of raw volume, but because it’s starting from such a large base, its tech job growth rate is slower than other states; in fact, it didn’t make it to the BLS’s Top 10 list. However, observers are seeing a quickening in the job creation pace. “The pace of tech hiring in California is something to note,” Ripaldi says. “Even though the technology companies there have been hiring for some time, it continues to spread.”

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IT Hiring Manager Seeks a Perfect Fit

Cynthia Nustad has served since February 2011 as SVP and CIO at HMS Holdings, which offers cost-containment services to commercial and government health-insurance payers. HMS specializes in coordinating benefits (verifying the right payers pay claims) and program integrity (making sure claims are paid appropriately).

Last year, HMS recovered $3.2 billion for clients and saved them billions more by preventing erroneous payments. As a company with significant investments in data, HMS relies on an IT team that is growing by double digits. Nustad describes how she hires IT staff members who fit the company's culture.

What's the culture at HMS like?

We bring solutions to the healthcare marketplace that reduce waste and inefficiency. It's an important mission; a nonpartisan group estimates that the U.S. healthcare system wastes about $750 billion a year. Through constant improvement and ongoing technological investments, we're addressing that significant problem and helping to improve the system for everyone.

What's the best way to ensure that new recruits will fit in?

We highly value our current employees and their personal and professional networks. We offer reward incentives for referrals from employees as a way to drive a shared culture. We also find that new hires are more successful when they were referred by another employee because there is an added level of accountability to the employee that made the referral.

How do you tell whether someone will rally around the company cause?

We share our company story and what drives our business and then see what the candidate offers in conversation about their experiences with the healthcare system. We might ask, "Was there a time when you were able to help drive technological development for the betterment of others?" We also ask whether they've applied cost-effective technology to solve business problems rather than installing technology for technological advancement. As a fast and dynamic company, we also ask about their ability to take action rather than wait for approval.

Do you hire from certain industries?

For the IT department, we hire from all industries, but because of our great need for deep data and analytics skills, we're especially interested in experienced hires from consumer companies. That industry has been investing in big data and listening to their customers for years. HMS can offer this highly sought-after talent a mission that focuses on making a difference in people's lives by creating value in the healthcare system.

Do you put each hire through an online assessment for interpersonal and cultural fit?

We use these tools more at the senior leadership level than middle management or college hiring. They offer some value, but I find the input of my peers and my team to be of greatest value. They know the culture and the team dynamics best and can provide me with the feedback I need to make a hiring decision. I'm not necessarily looking for unanimity, but the feedback also helps reinforce our culture. An online assessment tool can't do this. Generally, we like our talent-acquisition process to include panel interviews and peer feedback so that we listen to all inputs to find the best employee fit for our team.

Phil Schneidermeyer is a partner with Heidrick & Struggles, where he specializes in recruiting CIOs and CTOs for all industries.

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Demand for Cloud Skills Still Outpaces Supply of Workers

Cloud technology is a 'must-have' for organizations building out or replacing their data center architecture, but there's still a major cloud skills gap that's impeding faster adoption and growth

If you're an IT pro looking to either polish your existing cloud skills or add new expertise to your resume, the time is now as demand for cloud skills continues to outpace the supply of available workers.
Cloud Careers

A joint study released last November from Microsoft and IDC revealed that there were 1.7 million cloud-related jobs that went unfilled in 2012, and that over the next few years, millions more will remain open.

The study, Climate Change: Cloud's Impact on IT Organizations and Staffing, echoes findings from CompTIA's 4th Annual Cloud Computing Trends Report, which found that hiring managers experience the most difficulty in finding employees with higher-level cloud skills such as building migration plans or assessing the risk of a cloud transition.
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These findings are indicative of cloud computing's maturation as a technology, says CompTIA's Director of Industry Analysis Carolyn April. "We're seeing cloud technology move beyond the realm of curiosity, beyond early experimentation, and into a second- or third-stage technology evolution," she says.

"Up until this year, we'd seen a gradual increase in adoption and acceptance, but this year we saw a huge spike in adoption, and that's a game-changer for business," April says. As cloud computing becomes even more mainstream, the demand for the proper skills will continue to rise with it as companies seek to gain the benefits of this business model, she says.

What Cloud Skills Businesses Need

"At this point in the cloud technology evolution, firms have a diverse set of options to build out their architecture that includes both cloud tech and on-site solutions," says Seth Robinson, CompTIA's Director of Technology Analysis.

"The move to the cloud has gone well, and it is becoming a common part of building out or revamping architecture. We're seeing not just companies move to the cloud for the first time, but more and more secondary moves -- migrating more applications, moving from one public cloud provider to another, from a public cloud to a private and vice versa," Robinson says.

Businesses, therefore, are focusing less on how to use cloud technology than on migration and deeper integration with existing enterprise systems, Robinson says, and are looking for talent with the skills to do so.

"Companies are looking for folks with the knowledge of how to integrate cloud solutions with existing, on-site systems," Robinson says. "Migration, integration, developer knowledge of different cloud providers' application programming interfaces (APIs), are all skills that are in high demand."

Howard Lee, architect of the talent sourcing solution Open Web, says that analyzing recruiter searches shows some clear trends, among them a demand for Amazon Web Services skills, open source, and DevOps engineers.

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