
Tech Jobs That the Cloud Will Eliminate - hands-on technical work - CalmQuiet
http://www.nytimes.com/external/idg/2009/07/22/22idg-the-tech-jobs-that-the-cloud-will-eliminate-4509.html
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HoneyAndSilicon
A reminder to take nothing for granted. That being said, _local_ technical
work - where one's physical presence is required - continues to be in demand.
The non-techies will continue to need hand-holding.

This applies even in technological backwaters such as I'm in - maybe even more
so. Living out here does present some challenges for start-up work, but more
and more luddite businesses are finding they _have_ to be web-connected if not
web-based. So they need _me_ (and can have me - until my night job becomes my
day job).

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gaius
_local technical work_

That's only partly true. What matters is competitive advantage. No company is
more competitive because its (say) email server is more reliable than its
rivals. Therefore email is ripe for outsourcing. But in any area where
IT/software/computation _is_ a competitive advantage, that will stay in-house
(possibly using cloud-like technologies, but that's not relevant to this
analysis).

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JournalistHack
Yes, as they say:

""Some percentage of the jobs actually performing infrastructure services,
monitoring, and datacenter operations in-house will shift to cloud service
providers like Google, Amazon, and the telcos..."

But for start-up entrepreneurs, this can be the _good_ news: that the creative
work of assessing a consumer/business niche of need can move more quickly to
the creative work of filling that niche need in better ways.

The cloud can really be the _friend_ of our enterprising spirits.

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j2d2
Exactly. I see cloud computing as more enabling than disabling since people
don't have to focus on the mundane as much as they can focus on the things
that are unique to their idea. This is progress! Not something to be feared...

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jlees
The point is there are people out there highly trained and experienced at
focusing on the mundane, and if their jobs go away, what will they do?

Besides, poking about with hardware and sysadminning can be pretty fun, in
limited short bursts.

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j2d2
_The point is there are people out there highly trained and experienced at
focusing on the mundane, and if their jobs go away, what will they do?_

They should learn something new... Just because they're highly trained doesn't
mean they get a free ride for the rest of their lives.

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justin_vanw
"Horseless carriage to eliminate animal husbandrists"

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Shakescode
However, some of us entrepreneur-wannabees still rely on "hands-on technical
work" while working nights to plan a start-up. This may call for extra
resourcefulness for future start-uppers.

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hapless
My experince with "cloud computing" has been that needs always grow to fill
all available capacity.

As your capabilities expand within a given budget, new needs arise. All of the
marginal applications that were impossible to pitch under the old cost
structure are suddenly compelling choices.

Firms provision VMware environments in order decrease labor costs and
consolidate servers. Before you know it, the business "needs" ten times as
many servers as before.

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edw519
Alternate title:

"Tech Jobs That the Cloud Will Produce - hands-on application development"

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mdg
but who will administer the cloud ?

