Making It in IT: Don’t panic! Analyze Your Situation

IT certification and training expert Ed Tittel advises a reader on how to further his career in these uncertain times. 

I read Tom’s IT Pro all the time and I really enjoy the site. My big question is where to take my career?

I work for a local government as a Technology Specialist, mainly in user support, but I pretty much help anywhere I can, with desktops, servers, etc. I have a pretty solid background in Server 2003, and Server 2008. I have my Desktop Admin MCITP cert and I’m also one test away from server admin MCITP cert. But now, with all this Cloud Computing coming into play and also with the idea of getting rid of in house IT and using a data center from Google or Dell or Microsoft to completely manage in-house IT, I’ve gotten all worried and scared on where to even go now with my career. As we speak people are talking about taking services away into the cloud and it’s only a matter of time before there is no point in keeping local IT people around at all.

I have only been in the industry for about 6 years and it’s changed so much I have a hard time keeping up, or figuring out what to focus on because everything is getting out-sourced into big data centers. It’s always been my goal to hyper focus on VMware/Hyper-V virtualization, plus SCCM [Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager] 2007 (and 2012 when it comes out), but I am not sure if that is the right path.

Anyway, any advice you might have would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Arvind

Dear Arvind:

Thanks for your email, and the kind words about the site (and possibly also, my contributions to same). You will definitely want to look into the new Private Cloud MCSE that Microsoft just released last month. With your background (and with you already just one exam away from Windows Server 2008 Administrator MCITP), you are probably no more than 2 or 3 exams away from the new MSCE. There’s even a 60Days2MCSE challenge group out there that you will want to check out as well, because it’s designed to get people who are already close to meeting its requirements over the hump as soon as possible.

If you jump on cloud stuff, you’ll be able to weather the transition that you see and fear coming at your workplace (they can’t get rid of everybody, no matter what you may think or they may say). You’ll also be better prepared to keep your career going, and to start climbing into sysadmin and higher IT positions. Your interest in VMware is also right on target (go ahead, get the VCP 5 too, as and when you can – as long as you can cover the costs of the $2,500 course plus the exam and study materials). Systems Center 2012 is the cornerstone for the Private Cloud MCSE (and it’s now been released for production use), so if you go after that certification, you’ll be covering that base as well.

Don’t panic! Analyze your situation, devise a growth path, and you’ll be able to get promoted (or find another job) to work yourself out of your current circumstances.

Best of luck,

Ed

Ed Tittel is a 30-year-plus veteran of the computing industry, who’s worked as a programmer, a technical manager, a classroom instructor, a network consultant and a technical evangelist for companies that include Burroughs, Schlumberger, Novell, IBM/Tivoli and NetQoS. He has written and blogged for numerous publications, including Tom's Hardware, and is the author of over 140 computing books with a special emphasis on information security, Web markup languages and development tools, and Windows operating systems.

E-mail Ed at etittel@tomsitpro.com with your request for IT certification or career info, or your ideas for future blogs. If your e-mail leads him to a blog topic, he’ll have the Tom’s staff send you your very own Tom’s IT Pro t-shirt! Be the envy of your friends and colleagues, and help him help you with your IT career! If you do have a request for Ed, please read his How to Help Me Help You blog posting, and answer as many of the questions this post contains as are applicable to your situation and inquiry. Thanks in advance for helping make his job easier that way!

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