Cloud computing to have a big impact on IT careers: Gartner

Next 18 months are considered to be cloud computing, analytics, mobility and security, market research firm Gartner said on Wednesday.

Next 18 months are considered to be cloud computing, analytics, mobility and security, market research firm Gartner said on Wednesday. (AFP)

The technology areas that will influence IT professionals' jobs and careers in the next 18 months are considered to be cloud computing, analytics, mobility and security, market research firm Gartner said on Wednesday.

The surveyed IT professionals identified cloud as the technology that will have the single-biggest impact on their career in 2016.

"Emerging technologies in fields such as cloud computing, mobility, and data and analytics, in addition to security and risk management, are permeating nearly every aspect of the IT landscape," said John Hagerty, Vice President, Gartner, in a statement.

It's essential that IT professionals identify and fill the main technology and effectiveness-related skills gaps now, otherwise, they risk impeding their organisation's progress toward strategic goals, Hagerty added.

According to Gartner, 41 per cent of surveyed IT professionals believe their IT organisation to be ready for the digital business of the next two years.

Twenty nine per cent of those surveyed said that engagement with the demands of digital business would be their primary duty or a significant part of their duties.

"Ninety-one per cent of the surveyed IT professionals are in no doubt that they have a role to play in their organisation's digital transformation," the report added.

However, 59 per cent added that their IT organisation is unprepared for the digital business of the next two years.