IT pro's 2017 revitalization guide Before 2017 comes at us hard, take a moment to restock your your intellectual reserves with our most insightful tech-management articles and videos.
No matter how long you've been in IT, it's always a good idea to pause periodically and take stock of your professional and personal progress.
Why not take a few moments to read through the best of Computerworld's management and career coverage? Scroll down to browse the complete list or click a link to skip directly to your chosen topic.
- Track in-demand IT skills and titles
- Find a new place to work in 2017
- Be a better manager
- Keep tabs on new technologies
- Think like a business strategist
- Look to the future
Track in-demand IT skills, titles and certifications
25 tech certifications earning the highest cash premiums right now: Is it any secret that employers value info/cybersecurity and architecture the most when it comes to paying their workers extra cash for certifications?
20 fastest growing tech skills -- no certification required: Market values of these noncertified skills have increased the most in recent months.
Free and cheap ways to study for IT certifications: Use these tips for finding inexpensive study resources and getting hands-on experience.
Video: Hot tech skills for 2017: Computerworld senior staffers discuss the state of skills for the upcoming year.
: The nine best technology jobs, including their median salaries and unemployment rates, as ranked by US News & World Report.
: Staffing firm Onward Search's assessment of the most in-demand digital and creative roles, including UX designer, full-stack developer and search-engine marketing manager.
The latest in IT services? CIO hired guns: When interim CIOs ride into town, they might call the shots on everything from cloud migrations to app development. They’ll even deliver bad news and take the bullets.
Find a new place to work in 2017
Make more money
IT Salary Watch: Find the latest IT salary news and information, including salary listings for more than 50 job titles as well as representative salaries in various industries and U.S. regions. You can also use our Smart salary finder, which aggregates salary data from more than 3,300 IT professionals, to compare your salary with that of IT workers in similar jobs across the U.S., or broken down by geographical region or years of experience.
Computerworld's IT Salary Survey: This downloadable PDF lists average salaries for more than 40 IT job titles, features an array of charts highlighting key findings from the survey and provides in-depth features on maximizing your salary.
10 tech specialties with rising salaries: Employers are paying top dollar to attract and retain talent in these 10 fields, according to results of Computerworld's most recent IT Salary Survey.
: Based on PayScale median salary data for workers in IT, adding one or more of these 20 skills to your toolset will likely boost your paycheck.
Switch companies or location
Computerworld's 100 Best Places to Work in IT: Browse the full special report , check out our map to zoom in and click on Best Places by location, or view, search and sort the list by criteria that are important to you, including company size, location, training budget, days of paid time off and more.
To widen your pool of prospects, also search through our Best Places archives, which lists honorees from 1994 on. For an on-the-go reference, download this pdf: Profiles of all 100 Best Places to Work in IT 2016
Hottest jobs, cities and industries for IT pay: Drawn from Computerworld's most recent IT Salary Survey of 3,300 technology professionals.
: Data gathered by online jobs site Glassdoor illustrates which tech companies pony up the top pay.
: Based on data from a survey conducted by BSA - The Software Alliance, an international organization that advocates on behalf of the software industry, these states are best for techies with software skills.
: A high salary can mean nothing if you're living in a city with a high cost of living, like San Francisco or Boston. But in these 10 cities that are experiencing job growth, you can find a decent salary with a low cost of living.
Manage your career prospects
Open source: Career-maker, or wipeout? Is a career focused solely on open source sustainable? Experts predict a wave of opportunities for IT pros with all-open-source résumés -- in five years or so.
How to put your career on the fast track: Many IT professionals say they would go all-out to land the best jobs, with the best benefits at the best companies. All it takes is up-to-the-minute skills and a whole lot of drive.
How to get a fair performance review: You’re killing it at work, but does anyone notice? A large percentage of IT professionals say the answer is no.
How long should you stay in your job? As paychecks grow, tenure shrinks among today’s top techies. And that trend is leaving many to wonder whether loyalty still pays.
Be a better manager
The secret to boosting women in IT? Men: Male allies can open doors, broaden networks and advocate for female tech pros. Guys, ready to step up?
IT staff retention, in stages: One-size-fits-all policies don’t recognize that people at different stages of their careers want different things.
Bridging IT’s growing generation gap: Deft management skills and a lot of empathy are required to balance the priorities and expectations of millennials, baby boomers and the Gen X-ers stuck between them.
How to build a thriving information security function despite the talent shortage: Much of the business world now recognizes the challenge in hiring enough qualified information security professionals. Here's how to cope.
High-tech moms: Tips for managing family life while steering booming businesses: These women created successful technology businesses from scratch, all while managing the demands of children and family.
Efficiency hacks for IT: 6 tips for getting things done: Use these tips from seasoned IT pros to re-architect your day for maximum impact with minimal stress.
Why your network admins are nervous: Network pros know that SDN promises to rock their world. But those who prepare for the change will find new opportunities. Here’s how to help your staffers keep their skills ahead of the curve.
How IT teams navigate unlimited vacation policies: IT leaders from Akamai, CA Technologies and VMware have mastered the balance between granting time off and keeping essential tech functions staffed..
5 ways to attract and retain female technologists: Companies are stepping up to increase gender diversity in their tech workforce because it’s smart business. Top firms share advice on how they’re making headway.
Computerworld's Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2016: Read their stories, learn from their experience, get inspired by their careers.
Get data-driven insights into the IT jobs market: Computerworld's six regional IT jobs reports provide exclusive, actionable data about IT salaries, hiring and more to help you find the right talent, make the best hires and retain your brightest workers.
5 ways to better survey IT employees: Collaboration and survey tools abound, but actions speak louder than data.
IT moves to open workspaces, but not everyone is happy: In an effort to boost collaboration and attract millennials, even old-school organizations are tearing down their cubicle walls. But is shared space the best environment for serious IT work?
Tapping into IT’s in-house entrepreneurs: Visionary CIOs say the fastest way to meet the demands of digital transformation is to empower IT employees to make decisions on their own.
Download U.S. Census data on IT workers: Itching to analyze Census data about IT workers yourself? Download this zipped file of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 2010-2014 PUMS (Public Use Microdata Samples) data.
Keep tabs on new technologies
Video pays off in the enterprise: As costs come down and the technology improves, video is finally spurring easy and effective collaboration. (Plus -- 5 tips for building video culture in your organization.)
Is your IT staff ready for IoT? Organizations are itching to start internet of things initiatives, but efforts are hampered by shortages of already-scarce security pros and workers with newer analytics skills.
Platforms in the cloud take heavy lifting out of architecture tasks: As tech giants battle for cloud dominance, businesses looking to offload heavy-duty infrastructure tasks are reaping hefty rewards from platform-as-a-service offerings. Here’s how three IT leaders mixed and matched their powerful yet flexible PaaS packages.
Special report: IT Security's Looming Tipping Point: The editors of CIO, Computerworld and CSO join forces to survey IT and business leaders about the state of information security. In this C-Suite 360 special report you'll find key results from the survey as well as guidance on a range of issues faced by organizations looking to ramp up their security game.
Use our Digital Downloads library to get smart fast: Computerworld editors bring you the latest Crash Courses, Digital Spotlights and other in-depth guides.
Think like a business strategist
Digital Edge 25 honorees pioneer the digital-centric enterprise: IDG's Digital Edge 25 awards recognize digital transformation initiatives with significant, measurable business impact.
2016 Data+ Editors' Choice Awards: Computerworld's Data+ Editors' Choice Awards honorees offer advice and lessons learned on mining data to make fast business decisions, measure risk, create efficiencies and more.
Ready for action: 6 big ideas in digital transformation: This 49-page report features advice from IT executives at the U.S. Postal Service, Hunter Douglas, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Nationwide Insurance and more for using digital technologies to become more agile, more flexible and more profitable.
How to drive digital transformation in IT and throughout the organization (with podcast): Listen and learn as VP of business technology Paul Friedman explains how Humana transformed itself into a digital-first, customer-centric organization. This free knowledge bundle includes an article, audio transcript and slide deck.
3 ways to fast-track your journey to the cloud (with podcast and video): Listen, watch and learn as FCC CIO David Bray explains how to leverage change agents when pivoting to an all-cloud environment. This free knowledge bundle features an article, video and audio.
6 ways to better align IT with the business: MIT's CISR center says ‘demand shaping’ is a better way for business and IT to collaborate. Does it work?
IDC’s guide to avoiding vendor lock-in: Looking to avoid the dreaded sinkhole known as vendor lock-in? This exclusive report lays out a roadmap to vendor independence.
Look to the future
Gartner’s predictions -- a look at the top 10 tech trends: Three of Gartner's top 10 technology trends envision significant changes to -- and problems with -- data centers.
Tech Forecast 2017: IT sharpens its focus: With spending and hiring flat, CIOs seek efficiency in automation and outsourcing. Should IT workers be worried?
Tech Forecast 2017: Facts and figures for the year ahead in IT: All the facts worth knowing about IT leaders' tech budgets, spending plans, hiring priorities and strategic initiatives for 2017.
Tech Forecast 2017: 5 key technologies to double down on now: IT leaders plan to use these core tools to deliver business results in 2017.
10 hottest tech skills for 2017: Are your assets bankable in 2017? Hiring managers say they'll seek out these skills most in the New Year.
5 disruptive technologies to track in 2017: Savvy tech execs are keeping these cutting-edge developments on their radar screens.
Video: Getting a bead on tech trends for 2017: Computerworld senior staffers hash over the results of our exclusive Tech Forecast 2017 to ferret out what's likely to disrupt business in the new year.
Get ready for your new co-worker – the robot: Instead of stealing humans' jobs , artificial intelligent systems and robotics will help many people do their jobs better -- we hope.
Tech execs' boldest predictions for 2017 and beyond: Self-healing software? Ubiquitous wearables? We asked senior-level IT pros to predict what’s in store for information technology. Here's what they had to say.