Ginni Rometty, the CEO of IBM recently attended a tech summit held by Donald Trump, alongside other Digital leaders. While what exactly occurred at that meeting is still in suspense, but we do know that the day before the meeting Ms. Rometty announced a new hiring spree for IBM. In fact, they are investing in 25,000 jobs in the Hi-Tech Sector, or the so-called New Collar jobs.
There are few companies who have been in the tech game for as long as IBM. While they don’t often make huge splashes like Google, Amazon, or Apple, they’re still one of the biggest players in the industry. From owning probably the most sophisticated Supercomputers in the world (Watson), to being one of the driving behind-the-scenes movers in Tech MFG, IBM is a company the rest of the Tech world watches very closely.
But not only is IBM investing in these New Collar jobs, they’re investing in crossover sectors, like HealthCare. Plus, IBM has also announced that they plan on investing over a billion bucks in the next few years in workforce training. But what does this mean for the Entrepreneur out there? It’s not going out and get a job at IBM.
To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be able to ferret out opportunities in News like this. This single piece of news alone tells our market analysts three key chances: Tech Education, Workforce Training, and the intersection between Health and Technology.
Education and Technology
Edtech is a massive growth industry. While not necessarily representative of the entire industry, the number of Edtech projects SDI has been hired on has increased quite noticeably in the last year.
Edtech covers everything from Apps to help kids learn how to read, to software systems for colleges. But this section is more about how important EdTech is and will be in the field of training developers and designers of the future. Just like reading and mathematics, coding and programming should be taught as early as primary education.
More to the point, Rometty is paving the way for a new type of skilled worker: in her letter, she clearly stated that many of the positions opening up may not even require a college education. In fact, some estimates already state that nearly a third of IBM’s workforce does not have a college degree. Instead, IBM is focusing on Skill Mastery.
This is in keeping with a new emphasis in California’s k-12 public education system on teaching coding skills. Plus, there is a push in Community Colleges towards offering certifications in programming and software development. All of this means that the need for the teaching tools to help educate kids is growing. So why wait? Contact SDI to build your own EdTech app to teach future coders. The need is there, all that’s wanting are the right tools!
WorkForce Training
I’m going to go ahead and say it: HR Managers don’t get the respect they deserve (and no, I don’t have my Annual review tomorrow…). HRM is a many armed beast that rears its head in pretty much every aspect of any business. It’s a fact of life. But SDI is here to tell you that there is a better way: HRM Software.
For years, we’ve been helping our clients leverage software tools to better manage their employees. We have the tools to help with:
• Job Posting and Recruiting;
• Onboarding and Training;
• Conflict Resolution;
• Reviews;
• Scheduling (including Time Off and Vacation Time);
• Bonuses/Pay Raises;
• Employee Reporting.
With IBM investing so heavily in Workforce Training, the popularity of HRMS systems will grow – and grow quickly. So if you own your own SMB, you may want to consider heavily in pursuing your own HRMS system. Or, a clever entrepreneur could always create their own system, to sell as a subscription to businesses of all stripes!
Health and Technology
As mentioned above, IBM possesses what is arguably the most advanced computer system in the entire world. Watson’s closest competitor? Deep Blue, the computer that recently beat Chess Grand Champion Garry Kasparov. Oh, and IBM owns Deep Blue, too. So when IBM decides to invest in something, the rest of the tech world pays attention.
A significant chunk of those 25k New Collar jobs Ginni Rometty announced are going to be in the intersection between Healthcare and Tech. Not only that, but Watson has taken off it’s Chef hat, moving from the world of Cognitive Cooking and into the world of medicine. IBM just announced that “Dr.” Watson was used to create new development tools for healthcare.
These tools will will turn any Wearable Device into an extremely advanced medical sensor. This has big implications for healthcare – and for tech. The more advanced apps and software for healthcare become, the more these products will be sought after.
The good news is that SDI is once again standing by, ready to help! We have extensive experience in this exact sector, and your app will not be the first we’ve built for healthcare!
No matter what, it’s clear that advanced technology, including apps, software, and even website systems, are only going up and up. Why not get involved in a growth industry that’s already worth trillions of dollars every year. No matter what you want to build or develop, SDI is your tech partner. Give us a call at 408.805.0495/408.621.8481 – or click to contact us!
