The death of the IT department - and how you can survive it

Unless tech workers adapt to new ways of working the profession will cease to exist, according to a panel of senior IT chiefs.

IT execs in local government have to gain new skills and be prepared to get involved in the wider business agenda as basic IT systems become outsourced or commoditised, they warn.

Speaking at the Government UK IT Summit, Glyn Evans, director of business solutions and IT at Birmingham City Council warned: "Unless IT people grasp the transformation agenda they will cease to exist as profession."

He added: "As IT becomes more plug and play, the traditional technology roles are bound to diminish. We no longer do much system development - we buy it in - and as we get the standards developed we won't need to do systems integration to the same extent. The networks are pretty much plug and play, so what are we going to do as a profession?"

But as local authorities in particular try to transform their businesses, IT chiefs could still have an important role to play - but only if they raise their game.

Evans explained: "I think in terms of supporting transformational change there is a real opportunity - and the flip side if we aren't doing it is who is? Is there a new profession beginning to emerge here?"

Rob Neil, Head of ICT at Ashford Borough Council said that there has been a growing realisation that the role of the head of IT has developed that of a "change agent" who is able to advise on the role of technology in generating efficiency. "There's a role there for the CIO to drive through business change and organisational change," he said.

But Simon Norbury, director ICT, Westminster City Council, warned that not all CIOs will be up to the task.

He told the conference: "One of the first tests of a CIO is stick them in front of a broken PC and see if they can fix it. If they can they aren't a CIO, they're a technical manager. The old skills of the technical manager are not what is required any more. It's having that ability to meet people, influence them and kick things off."

He added: "We aren't about running tin anymore. What people should be doing is letting go of some of this basic stuff in terms of making that transformation. Our main focus has to change to where the council is going rather than worrying about particular [IT systems]."

But as many other execs - including those from HR and finance - will also be keen to lead the transformation of local government services, IT bosses will have to fight hard if they want to be at the forefront.

Norbury said: "There is competition for these new roles and it has to be the right person for the job. If you are seen as the guy that runs the boxes it's quite hard to compete in that environment."

And Ashford's Neil warned that not all the tech workers would want to make the jump: "It is probably far easier to take a customer services person and introduce them to what technology can do for the business, than it is to take a technologist and turn them into someone who thinks strategically or thinks in terms of how to improve services to the end customer."

He warned: "Until we start to think of IT as a profession - rather than something that people drift into - then the profession isn't going to move forward because it won't be seen as a profession in its own right."