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03 March 2008

Do you know many individuals in their mid-to-late-20s earning upwards of R40 000 a month in the information technology field? Probably not, but as unlikely as it sounds, this level of remuneration is quite possible in an industry which has, since the 1990s lost its sparkle as a top earner. The answer to earning this kind of money lies in IT Service Management (ITSM), a concept which marries the previously separate disciplines of business and technology.

Ingo Tuschardt, CEO of service management specialist Quintica, says he would advise those aspiring to a career in technology to consider the ITSM route. “Many youngsters today demonstrate a high level of technical capability with PCs. There are modern whiz-kids aplenty, especially in India and the Middle East. For this reason, going into IT with a purely technical focus can be quite limiting given the availability of these types of skills,” he says.

With that level of competition – particularly around qualifications such as the A+ technical certificate- Tuschardt says competition for available jobs is fierce. “That means you will have to fight very hard for a good salary.”

While the technical ability and understanding are a necessity for a successful IT career,

Tuschardt says he advises ambitious youngsters to consider leaning towards the business side of IT. This is where the concept of ITSM comes in to play. “In contrast to the purely technical people, the demand for individuals with these skills is enormous, not just in South Africa but internationally,” he says.

Explaining ITSM, Tuschardt says this approach to a business’ use of technology is deliberately (and almost paradoxically) non-technical. “Early ways of delivering on technology needs were obsessed with ‘speeds and feeds’. It was all about the ins and outs of the hardware, or the code which constituted the software. This is no longer where the real value for companies lies. Rather, it is in how these elements are applied to meet business needs.”

An essential skills set in ITSM is the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This is a set of best practices which guide how services are delivered to the business. Best practices are, quite simply, the optimal way of doing a task.

Getting into ITSM
If ITSM sounds like a career for you, Tuschardt says a good grounding and aptitude for technology is the starting point. “Those with either a degree or technikon diploma in computing-related fields have the essential base skills,” he says. “This technical knowledge serves as the base upon which a knowledge of business can be built.”

Noting that gaining the necessary business acumen is typically a challenge for the IT person, he explains that companies like Quintica offer ITIL training which guides the aspirant service management expert in the right direction. “We have a technical division and a service management division. Many of our people start as technicians and go towards service management by learning the appropriate skills both on the job and in formal training environments,” he says.

Certainly, companies like Quintica – which provides ITSM expertise to companies in South Africa and the Middle East – have a marked need for people with these abilities. “If we had 100 extra service management consultants, we could place them. The demand is there and it is worldwide,” he says.

And Tuschardt confirms that top practitioners in this profession can write their own paychecks.