There’s a lot of wisdom behind Max’s words. And even a company that keeps all software development and other IT work in-house should have strong project managers to keep them from wasting money in a time when businesses are being divided into two groups: the efficient and the bankrupt.

Syracuse University Associate Dean for Research Jeffrey Stanton believes that demand for data scientists will grow over the next 10 years.

He says data scientists use expertise in the management, transformation, and analysis of large complex datasets, and that:

• Their expertise will be needed to help infrastructure experts with hardware and software architecture to manage big data challenges.
• They’ll be called on to help experts and policy makers make sense out of large amounts of data, and reduce that data into usable knowledge through visualizations and presentations.
• Institutions and organizations will call on data scientists to help control and curate data throughout the information lifecycle.

Akamai‘s Intelligent Platform Group PR rep tells us that Akamai is “…currently on the hunt for dozens of engineers to help shape the future of the Internet – a need that they say will continue to skyrocket as our online world grows. Innovation in the cloud is moving fast with big announcements around connected devices (iPhone 5, Kindle Fire, Windows Eight) cropping up daily. It’s these bright minds that will be required to keep the cloud, and the devices that leverage it, running smoothly.”

(Ah, yes. “Cloud.” Today’s favorite IT buzzword. Will it keep growing for the next decade or is it a short-term fad? Or is it possible that “Cloud” is just a new word for “Client/Server Network” with the server connected to the clients by an Internet or Intranet connection? That’s a separate article….)

Dr. Bruce Gooch, a professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia says “people with experience in electronic Game development and support will be in high demand.”

Prof. Gooch adds, “I have had eight groups of students who have started game companies in my lab. Three of these companies are at the multi-million dollar profit level. All of these former students have come back to our lab to try and hire experienced game programmers.”

Eric Peters, Marketing Communications Manager for Mendix, says he expects that “…demand for IT human capital will switch from defined roles such as ‘business analyst’ ‘project manager’ and ‘developer’ to cross-functional roles such as the business engineer — a sort of half business analyst-half developer. Of course the technology will adapt to push this evolution… Seems like developers are getting more involved in analysis/modeling and BA’s are getting more involved in prototyping etc.

Besides these specific pieces of advice, I heard over and over that demand for both IT security and Health IT people seems to be not only growing but endless, and that IT professionals who want to leave the U.S. and try their luck elsewhere should consider Brazil, according to Stephen Reid, president of CTX Resources, who says Brazil is now, and will continue to be, “one of the hottest IT markets.”

• Meet them on their home ground. This is a great time and place to meet the HR people who have been passing over your resume and show them, in person, just how bright and wonderful you are. Take lots of copies of your resume with you. Perhaps even have some business cards printed with links to your resume online. But wait! That’s not all!
• This is an HR Technology conference. It’s about technology in HR. In my last post, I quoted Foote Partners CEO David Foote, who told us IT has become so decentralized that you’re more likely to find an “IT job” in another department than in a department with “IT” on the door. HR people obviously have technology needs, same as everyone else — as witnessed by the fact that they have a whole conference devoted to HR technology. And wouldn’t you make a great (GREAT, I say) in-house techie for some lucky HR department?

The expo portion of the “conference and expo” costs $150 — but with a bit of adroit online form-filling, and any real or perceived HR job connection, even if it’s with your own one-person consulting operation, you can get that waived.

The full conference costs $1345. You probably shouldn’t spend that; if you go to this shebang, you’re there to meet people, not attend sessions other than the “hallway sessions” that always spring up at conferences — and are often a source of more knowledge than the formal ones, anyway.

So you’ll spend between $0 and $150 on the conference itself, plus transportation to and from and lodging in Las Vegas.

But those costs may not be as brutal as in most other places. A big reason a lot of conferences are held in Vegas is that it’s just about the cheapest big American city for airfares and hotels, plus there are cheap belly-filling buffets at almost all the hotels.

The catch is that this cheapness is to entice you into the casinos, which can be decidedly un-cheap if you’re not careful. So stay out of those casinos!

But hey! A good excuse for a trip to Vegas? And a chance to find a job at the same time?

Not shabby, neighbor.