IT Professionals Witnessing a Remarkable Transformation in Responsibilities

In the “Worldwide xOps Census and Forecast,” IDC paints a picture of a future where IT professionals will witness a remarkable transformation in their responsibilities over the next five years. The days of purely operational roles are over, according to IDC. It envisions a transition to more technical and focused functions that often involve software development. This fundamental shift will lead to a minus 8.2 percent CAGR decline for IT operations roles from 2022 to 2027, while sysadmin jobs will experience a minus 7.8 percent CAGR over the same period.

DataOps and MLOps Jobs Expected to Flourish

It’s not all bad news, however. DataOps jobs are expected to flourish with growth of 17.9 percent. Meanwhile, MLOps job openings will increase by 20.1 percent. In the world of DataOps, professionals use a mix of technologies and methodologies to ensure a consistent and continuous delivery of data value. It integrates data-oriented perspectives with automation and agile software engineering principles to ensure quality results.
On the other hand, MLOps practitioners are responsible for streamlining and automating the entire machine learning (ML) lifecycle, from data ingestion to model deployment, monitoring and beyond. By applying DevOps principles to ML processes, these people navigate the complex landscape of managing and automating ML data, pipelines, code, and models.

Mixed Roles Attributed to the Rise of the Cloud

Al Gillen, IDC’s Group Vice President for Software Development and Open Source, attributes these transformative shifts to the rise of the cloud. Gillen underlines that the current census data shows a one-off transformation within the IT workforce. He compares the changing dynamics to the period between 1997 and 2002, when the rise of the commercial Internet and the dot-com era revolutionized the IT of companies. This created a wave of web developers and network experts.
Gillen emphasizes that the increased adoption of cloud computing is triggering a similar transition in modern IT teams. As a result, many IT workers find themselves in hybrid roles that require them to grow with a changing landscape.
The future of IT is changing rapidly, and IT professionals must be prepared to adapt and embrace the new roles that will be available in the coming years. With the right skills and knowledge, IT professionals can take advantage of the opportunities that will come with the transition to more technical and focused functions.