Most in-demand IT Skills in the Internet of Things

It comes as no surprise that the Internet of Things is one of the emerging technologies that are poised to explode, and become a $300 billion industry by 2020, since more connected devices are proliferating with each passing day. But, there is one major problem: there is not adequate talent with the right skills available to organize, manage and execute IoT projects. In fact, lack of skills and insufficient staffing is the major barrier for many business enterprises that are looking forward to implementing and benefiting from IoT, according to a research report from Gartner.  

In last few years, we’ve seen many tech companies across the world solidifying their IoT strategies, but where they are actually struggling is they don’t have the right talent in-house to manage and execute IoT projects, says Ryan Johnson, categories director of Upwork, a global freelance marketplace. By monitoring and analyzing data from Upwork’s extensive database, Ryan Johnson and his team have discovered the most in-demand IT skills in the Internet of Things. 

1. Node.js

It is an open-source environment for server-side web development that is extensively used to manage connected devices such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino. With the easy availability of development boards like Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Node.js is becoming the platform of choice for programmers and developers to leverage their expertise in building real-time applications for the Internet of Things. 

2. Business Intelligence

Wondering why a developer should be familiar with Business Intelligence?  Just take a step back and quickly look into the Internet of Things problem space. It is all about gathering, storing, monitoring and analyzing huge data sets from smart devices. If you don't understand the value of data either structured or unstructured, how will you make sense of it?  Needed skill sets include predictive analytics, data center management, sensor data analysis, and programming in Hadoop and NoSQL. 

3. UI/UX Design

Smartphone, tablet, and desktop screens are rectangular in shape, however the objects in the Internet of Things will come in sundry shapes and sizes, some will have large screens, some will have small screens, while others will have no visual display at all. Talented user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) designers will be a hot commodity, since IoT provides the opportunity to develop intuitive interfaces despite the shift in paradigm. In-demand skills for UI/UX designers in the IoT space include responsive web designing (wherein visuals automatically adjust to screen-size, resolution, platform and orientation).

Wondering How to develop in-demand IT Skills? 

If you are wondering how to develop these in-demand IT skills, you may take an online course such as ‘Introduction to IoT’ or Career in IoT from a good institution. Also, find out the criteria for enrolling into a certification program in the Internet of Things.