by Don Willmott
Last week I decided to upgrade my antiquated home WiFi system by installing the new Cisco Valet, a WiFi router that I picked specifically because it's designed for idiot-proof 1-2-3 installation. After 30 minutes on the phone with tech support, that's what it was. Now that I'm equipped for a 21st-century wireless lifestyle, it's time to think about all the career paths opening up in this exploding space.
After all, what isn't wireless these days? At recent product preview days, I've examined WiFi-enabled printers, cameras, home security systems... everything but the kitchen sink, and I'm sure we'll have one of those soon too. A recent test drive in a tricked-out Ford Taurus was equally inspiring (and intimidating). I felt like I was sitting inside a giant $30,000 iPhone. The only thing missing was a touch-enabled windshield.
When I chatted last week with Kanani Masterson, VP of Business Development and director of the technology division of San Diego-based recruiting firm TriStaff Group, she told me that many of her clients are in the medical devices arena, and many of them are working on an array of wireless devices including heart pumps. "Wireless will be the future in all sorts of markets," she says. Now all we have to do is figure out what "wireless" really means.
Because wireless/WiFi/mobile is an overarching technology that's becoming part of everything implemented everywhere, it's hard to become a "wireless expert" the same way you can become, say, a "Java expert." Still there are ways to dive in. For example, one five-day, $5,000 boot camp from Tonex, covers "RF, microwave, Bluetooth, RFID, ZigBee, Wireless LANs, 802.11n, 802.16/WiMAX, HF/VHF/UHF, SATCOM, GPS, GSM/EGPRS, CDMA, CDMA2000 1x, 1xEV-DO, UMTS/W-CDMA, HSPA/HSPA+, OFDM/MIMO, LTE, SAE/EPC, Wireless core network technologies, IP/MPLS, Mobile IP, Security, QoS, Ethernet Backhaul, Services, VoIP, SS7, SIGTRAN, and. SIP." Wow. I bet the final exam is pretty hard. There must be some great career paths hidden in there somewhere.
You can also seek out vendor-specific certifications like the popular CCNA Wireless Certification from Cisco which "validates associate-level knowledge and skills to configure, implement and support of wireless LANs, specifically those networks using Cisco equipment."
At Dice, a search on "wireless" brings up more than 1,700 job listings. A search on "mobile" brings up more than 2,400. In both cases, the positions lean more toward software than hardware, although many of them also have "networking" as part of the job description.
If you buy into the vision of the future in which everything you touch, from toasters to trucks, has its own IP address, then you can also envision the army of consultants and experts that will be needed to figure out how to make wireless protocol A talk to wireless protocol B so that you can turn on your toaster while you're driving your truck. It's happening quickly. ABI Research reported in June that WiFi integrated circuit shipments are forecast to surpass 770 million units worldwide in 2010, up almost 33 percent compared to 2009, and that number may more than double by 2015 as all sorts of new devices (toasters?) become WiFi-enabled and the new 802.11n standard takes hold.
Impressive, isn't it? With literally billions of intercommunicating wireless devices destined for our hand, homes and offices in the next few years, this is a market very much worthy of your attention as you plot the trajectory of your IT career. The recruiters have spoken: If you're the person who can add the necessary wireless twist to an app, to a network, to a device, to a business process, you're going to be in demand. You may think the world is already pretty much wired for wireless, but there's clearly much more to come.