Like protoplanets in the early formation of a galaxy, large corporate bodies are sucking up smaller ones to grow. Oracle is gobbling up Sun, Xerox is buying ACS, and Dell is planning to purchase Perot Systems. 

Big PlanetsCIO Magazine reports that some of the mergers are aimed at penetrating or growing the IT outsourcing reach of the parent company. While that's great for IT outsourcing, it's a potentially troubling sign for jobs that get targeted. A recent article in Computerworld indicates that some of the outsourced jobs may not be a matter of musical chairs within the U.S. Instead, they'll actually end up overseas.

IT has been hit the hardest recently by cost-cutting moves to outsourcing. A recent example: Publisher Rodale recently cut its costs by 15 percent, converting fully three quarters of its IT staff into full time employees of the contacting company.

In light of all this, becoming a consultant may be a contingency plan worth looking into. But how do you know what areas to focus on? CIO Insight's Where the IT Jobs Are Now lists the following skills in that are in demand.

  • Data management, including business intelligence, data mining and data warehousing
  • Security
  •  IT sourcing and vendor relationship management
  •  Networking and wireless
  • Web development
  • Quality management
  • Education
  • Healthcare
  • Energy
  • Federal government

Stay employed, and stay vigilant. We're still in a topsy turvey period and the landscape continues to change.

-- Chad Broadus