Why IT?
The Master Plan
I never dreamed about being a software developer as a child (odd I know). I actually
aspired to be a RAF pilot! I had it all mapped out, join the RAF after leaving school
at 16, become one of the country's top fighter pilots, side step into commercial
piloting at the ripe old age of 35 and finally retiring at 55 on the combined big
fat RAF and private pensions. But alas, I failed a RAF eye sight test and my plan
had fallen at the first hurdle.
To cut a long story short, I rather stumbled into doing a degree in IT. This move
was based more upon that fact that I found computers easy to understand rather than
any deep rooted fascination.
To be honest, I didn't learn a great deal about IT during university. I learnt a
great deal about other aspects of life but that's another tale. I left university
in 1992, goodbye to the partying years, hello to harsh reality of building a career.
It was at this point that I began to develop a deep interest and understanding of
the magical world of computers.
Variety is the Spice of Life
To me one of the most fascinating aspects of my work is the variety. By that I'm
referring to the different types of businesses that I've worked for. To be able
develop any IT system, you have to attain and understanding of how the current system
works. This step gives a fascinating insight into the business processes involved
in the operation of the company.
I've developed systems for clients across a multitude of different business areas.
These include:
- Customer correspondence system for a call centre.
- Printing module for a
pension funding company.
- BACS processing system for the banking industry.
-
Data management system for a grant processing council.
- And even a quoting application
for a roller shutter manufacturer.
Another variety is in the constant and rapid change in technologies and methodologies
utilised within software development. The internet has resulted in an arms race
in development tools, each desperate to gain a share in the increasing (and lucrative)
software development industry.
The toolset I was employing 3-4 years ago has pretty much been fully replaced or
updated. All stages of software development have changed. Sure the basic principles
remain, you need still need to gather requirements, design, build, test, deploy
and support any IT system but how you go about this has changed dramatically
The Future?
IT in the 90's was all about developing systems to run back office systems. The
00's has seen an explosion in customer facing applications, delivered via the web.
I think this trend will only grow as customers demand richer, more powerful applications.
I've worked on many business to business applications and this is where I see the
biggest growth occurring. Web services and readily available telecoms allow business's
to remotely exchange data in a secure and rapid manner. This opens the way for new
generation of highly interconnected IT systems.
IT systems are becoming more and more complicated as projects become more ambitious.
When it comes to contractors, clients are placing less emphasis on IT technical
skills and more on business experience and communication skills. Long gone are the
days of the IT nerd spending his entire day sat at a keyboard churning out code.
As a result, youth and enthusiasm have given way to age and experience.
This shift in the industry works out very nicely for yours truly. I started contracting
in 1995 aged 25 at a time when 'youth' was all the rage. Twelve years later and
at the ripe old age of thirty seven, it's experience that wets a client's appetite.
My youth may have gone by but experience is something I have in abundance.