Skills Survey 2006: Business skills key to success in IT

Business skills are essential for today's IT workers, according to exclusive new research from silicon.com.

In our 2006 Skills Survey the overwhelming majority of respondents (83 per cent) said business skills are key to succeeding in IT.

However, when asked to pick which is more important - business or technical skills - just over 60 per cent of respondents said both types of expertise are equally important to performing well.

Only 20 per cent were willing to say business skills are more important than tech expertise, while 19 per cent said the opposite.

The business skills most in need are - for the fourth year in a row - project management and leadership. Knowledge of an individual's employment sector and foreign languages also came high on the list, while budget planning is in least demand.

The eighth annual silicon.com Skills Survey also revealed that - for the fourth year running - programming languages such as Java and C variants are the technical skills in shortest supply. Other skills in demand are web services such as .NET and J2EE; systems storage and network management; and enterprise resource planning applications including SAP and Oracle.

Linux expertise, however, has become much more common - only five per cent of respondents said it's now in short supply compared to 15 per cent in last year's Skills Survey.

The big question was whether there is a skills shortage and respondents were divided. Fifty-seven per cent agreed there is but 19 per cent said there isn't, with the rest saying they are 'neutral' on the topic.

When it comes to filling IT positions two-thirds said they are able to find candidates for their job openings, much the same response as in previous years.

The results are based on responses from 1,198 individuals.

We will be bringing you more results from the silicon.com 2006 Skills Survey over the coming days and weeks.