Industry Outlook
The computer systems design and related services industry grew dramatically throughout the 1990s, as employment more than doubled. And despite recent job losses in certain sectors, this remains one of the 25 fastest growing industries in the Nation. Wage-and-salary employment is expected to grow 40 percent by the year 2014, compared with only 14 percent growth projected for the entire economy. Given the rate at which the computer systems design and related services industry is expected to grow and the increasing complexity of technology, job opportunities will be favorable for most workers. The best opportunities will be in professional and related occupations, reflecting their growth and the continuing demand for higher level skills to keep up with changes in technology. However, employment growth will not be as robust as it was during the last decade due to increasing productivity and offshore outsourcing of some job functions to lower wage foreign countries.
An increasing reliance on information technology, combined with falling prices of computers and related hardware, means that individuals and organizations will continue to turn to computer systems design and related services firms to maximize the return on their investments in equipment and to fulfill their growing computing needs. Such needs include the expansion of e-commerce, a growing reliance on the Internet, faster and more efficient internal and external communication, and the implementation of new technologies and applications. With increasing global competition and rising costs, organizations must be able to obtain and manage the latest information in order to make business decisions. At the same time, the computer systems design and related services industry has experienced an increase in the contracting out of some of the more routine services abroad, where labor costs are lower, as companies strive to remain competitive. For example, firms have been able to cut costs by shifting more support services operations abroad to countries with highly educated workers who have strong technical skills. However, the trend toward contracting out work will adversely affect employment of only certain types of workers, such as programmers and computer support specialists, because integrating and designing systems needs to be done onsite.
Within the computer systems design and related services industry, projected growth varies by sector. The demand for networking and the need to integrate new hardware, software, and communications technologies will drive the demand for consulting and integration. A need for more customized applications development and for support and services to assist users will drive demand for applications development and facilities support services. And, as more individuals and organizations conduct business electronically, the importance of maintaining system and network security will increase. Recent events have made society more conscious of the vulnerability of technology and the Internet. The increasing need for security related to information technology will expand employment opportunities for individuals involved in cyberspace security services such as disaster recovery services, custom security programming, and security software installation services.
This increased need for security will help to create more jobs in the computer systems design and related services industry. Security specialists will be employed more often to make judgments on a system's vulnerability. Custom programmers and designers will be asked to help develop new antivirus software, programs, and procedures as preemptive measures to keep “hackers” out and systems virus free. Therefore, employment of security analysts and of consultants with security experience and expertise should rise rapidly.
New growth areas will continue to arise as the result of rapidly evolving technologies and business forces. The expansion of the Internet, the proliferation of Web sites, and “mobile” technology such as wireless Internet have created a demand for a wide variety of new products and services, including online services, network design services, and a range of specialized consulting services. For example, the expansion of the wireless Internet, known as WiFi, brings a new aspect of mobility to information technology. This new technology will allow people to stay connected to the Internet anywhere, anytime—in restaurants, shops, hotels, and even on airplanes. As individuals and businesses rely more on more compact, hand-held computers and wireless Internet connections, it will be necessary to integrate the current computer systems with this more mobile, new technology. The expansion of this technology in the next 10 years will lead to an increased need for “mobility consultants” or service firms that can help companies to design and integrate computer systems so that they will be compatible with one another.
The ways in which the Internet is used are constantly changing, along with the products, services, and personnel required to support new applications. Expanding e-commerce changed the way in which companies transact business, enabling markets to expand and an increasing array of services to be provided to customers. And, as the amount of computer-stored information grows, organizations will continue to look for ways to tap the full potential of their vast stores of data. Demand for an even wider array of services should increase as companies continue to expand their capabilities, integrate new technologies, and develop new applications.
Given the increasingly widespread use of information technologies and the overall rate of growth expected for the entire industry, most occupations should continue to grow rapidly, although some will do so faster than others. As firms continue to install sophisticated computer networks, set up Internet and intranet sites, and engage in e-commerce, the most rapid growth will occur among computer specialists such as systems analysts, network and computer systems administrators, computer support specialists, and computer and information systems managers. Employment of programmers should continue to expand, but more slowly than that of other occupations; the proportion of programmers will decrease in relation to those of other computer specialists as more routine programming functions are increasingly automated and as more programming is contracted out to businesses in foreign countries at a lower cost.