Neil McAllister at InfoWorld wrote an interesting article recently that proclaims that “Coders Days are Numbered.”   In the article Neil argues that programmers need to become much better communicators, especially in a bear economy.

From the InforWorld article:

“In 2009, software development managers shouldn’t be sifting through resumes choked with acronyms and lists of technologies. Software development doesn’t need more typists, secretaries, intermediaries, or middle managers. What it needs are more skilled, engaged, communicative, responsive, assertive developer-analysts — the kind who can understand, influence, and guide development efforts, rather than simply taking dictation. The shrinking economy makes this need ever more acute.”

At iRise we agree.  IT organizations at all levels need to communicate better with business people.  The old view of IT purely as a service organization simply won’t work in the 21st century.  IT leaders and business must now work in a collaborative partnership toward a common goal: modernizing business systems and driving efficiency – fast.   And to get these projects done successfully will require high degrees of communication.  The IT organizations (and by inference the companies) that do this the best will be well positioned for when the economy recovers and we can start talking about innovation again.�