Advice for Staying Current
Q5: The Industry is changing. What advice would you give to IT professionals to stay on top of what is happening in the industry in order to position them (from a career standpoint) and their organization to benefit from these trends?
A: From an individual perspective, I think that it's crucial to accept that there will be continuous change and to try to stay current. One of the ways that you can demonstrate this to your current employer (and of course to prospective employers if necessary) is by getting a certification. Sure, if you're not certified it doesn't mean that you can't do your job, but it's a good way to demonstrate your level of knowledge. And when you do get your certification, whatever it is, take note of any expiration dates! For example, Cisco career certifications (such as CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, etc.) are valid for 3 years - if you don't recertify in time, you lose it, and you're back to the beginning again. I've met a couple of people who had their CCNP and lost it… so they were painfully starting all over again.
From an organization's perspective, encourage continuous learning. Allowing employees to take courses is an obvious way to do this, but there are others: for example, start up a library of relevant books, get access to some e-learning courses, set up a lab that your employees can "play" with, etc. And, most importantly I think, give them time to read, take the courses, use the equipment...