Welcome to B & M Bulletin, produced specifically for IT specialists. In this issue:
• Trends in EU workforce mobility
• Tech View: Application Servers - spoilt for choice?
• Specialist Profile: Arthur Ballou, Senior Systems Programmer
• B & M staff member profile - Penny Chalk
• B & M Assure
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Trends in EU workforce mobility
Matt Jones, HR Manager of B & M Europe, explains that although competition is increasing from IT contractors from new EU member states, it is becoming harder for non-EU nationals to work in Europe
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"...assignments throughout Europe..."
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With the May 2004 and January 2007 enlargements of the European Union, competition amongst IT contractors has steadily increased as more skilled people from new member states compete for jobs in the highest-paying zones.
Prior to enlargement, most of the original EU 15 countries imposed a transitional restriction against freedom of movement for nationals of the new members - the 'EU 8' of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. However, most of these restrictions have now been lifted, and with only Austria and Germany likely to retain restrictions beyond 2009, more contractors than ever can pursue assignments throughout Europe.
Hundreds of thousands of Eastern European nationals have migrated West since 2004 to secure employment and to enhance their technical and language skills. This has left many nations in the East suffering from skills shortages, leading to campaigns to bring expatriates back.
However, while competition in the market from skilled EU workers has increased, non-EU workers are finding it increasing difficult to gain employment in Europe due to a tightening of work permit restrictions. The UK government has introduced a points-based system for awarding work permits, while other Western EU nations have strengthened their policies on work permits by issuing them only for sectors or roles where there is a skills shortage.
Whatever the situation with work permits, some traditional cultural behaviours still affect how much of the workforce is likely to migrate to other countries. For example, it is still true to say that the British tend to seek alternative employment and a better climate overseas, while the French have a tendency to remain at home. However, with the Internet providing an increase in global communication and ever improving travel options throughout Europe, future generations may become far more flexible when choosing where to take up employment.
To find out about opportunities in premium EU countries, please contact people@bmeurope.com.
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Tech View: Application Servers - spoilt for choice?
As Open Source offers a wider choice of Application Servers, B & M's Technical Manager Paul Smith looks at the influences on organisations when making their decisions
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It is hardly surprising that Application Servers are growing in popularity when you consider that - in simple terms - they are able to deliver functionality similar to that of a mainframe directly on the Internet; particularly given that everyone seems to be looking to the Internet as a 'magic key' to support their business model nowadays.
There is certainly a wide choice of Application Servers out there: Apache, Microsoft's .Net, JBoss and WebSphere to name but a few. As any IT support professional will tell you, each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, but the suitability for a particular task often comes down to determining with which one an organisation's IT function feels the most comfortable.
For instance, .Net tends to be favoured by departmental developers as it is quick and accessible to work with. The heavier-weight WebSphere, on the other hand, uses Java, thus making it (in many people's eyes) better able to handle complex applications. In addition, one of WebSphere's strengths is that it can eliminate many of the limitations of an organisation's existing legacy applications running under CICS, IMS and DB2 systems.
IBM took the plunge to actively promote Open Source systems with the foundation of Eclipse in 2001 and its subsequent decision to put Linux on the zSeries - and it continues to put a lot of development into Open Source today. In 2007, IBM released a free migration tool to allow migration from JBoss to Apache Geronimo - an action that was not as altruistic as it may have initially appeared, as Geronimo is based on WebSphere Community Edition and, in my opinion, says a lot about IBM's concerns about JBoss as a competitive product. A parallel issue arising from this is the difference between the GNU public licence and the Apache 2.0 open source licence. It is a matter of opinion as to just how significant these moves actually are for businesses.
The plethora of connectors and application server development kits now available pretty much allows any to any connection. The problem now for many IT support professionals is not so much how to make connections, but which route to chose.
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Specialist Profile: Arthur Ballou, Senior CICS and z/OS Systems Programmer
Arthur Ballou proposes the benefits to the customer of taking contract staff
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Arthur Ballou has been working at a large UK banking group for the last six months where he has been consulting on their CICS systems. He enjoys the challenges arising from the size and complexity of the operation. This current assignment is Arthur's first with B & M. Arthur comments "I feel that there is a personal side to the relationship, which is always good."
Arthur was educated in Massachusetts, USA and worked there for a few years before coming to the UK 25 years ago. He moved into contracting to achieve a better work/life balance and to be more independent.
Arthur believes the customer benefits from taking contract staff; as he puts it "The end customer benefits from having to hand the broad skills of someone who sees far more facets of the industry than a dedicated employee, and this may provide material benefit to their operation". He also believes that one can work more effectively as a contractor, not having the work distractions that come with permanent employment.
As for his next assignment, Arthur would ideally like to return to a lab environment.
And the work/life balance? Arthur is a keen student of history, an unending subject!
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Real People, Real Skills - B & M's Penny Chalk
This month we profile Penny Chalk, HR Administrator
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Penny joined B & M in 2008 after spending three years in the property industry, specialising in the lettings market.
After studying in Somerset, Penny moved to the United States to gain experience in administration and working abroad at a company that specialised in educational tours. There, she was responsible for creating tour itineraries, updating the company website and office procedures.
On her return to England Penny continued to work in the travel industry and took the position of Foreign Exchange Assistant in a travel agency. Here she was responsible for the running of the Bureau de Change dealing with currencies, banking procedures, security and meeting sales targets. Within the office she also had the additional role of Ski and Snowboard specialist due to her knowledge of various resorts and conditions.
Penny later entered the property industry as a Lettings Negotiator in and surrounding the area of Portsmouth. Whilst working in this role she gained her certificate from ARLA who regulate and test negotiators in the residential lettings industry. She regularly appeared on the region's list of high flyers and her office also went on to win numerous awards for meeting and exceeding their sales targets.
Penny moved to the Basingstoke area in early 2008 to pursue a career in administration and took the position of HR administrator at B & M in March, where she provides support to the Account Managers.
For the past few years Penny has been spending every opportunity she gets exploring the world, trying to fit miniature gap years into her holidays and finding paths untravelled. In the last year she managed to visit Virginia twice, Spain, Bruges, Southern Africa and Bulgaria, completing her snowboarding intermediate class. When she is at home she spends time watching movies, particularly pre-1950's cinema and French and German modern films, or enjoying a good book.
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B & M Assure
Premium continuity services
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B & M Assure is a set of bespoke services designed to meet the ICT needs of today's businesses - even when things do not go according to plan. B & M Assure enables customers to plan for temporary skills shortages - at times of exceptionally high workload or when key IT staff are on leave for example - or to react swiftly to unplanned events, such as staff sickness.
For planned eventualities such as project work or absence cover, B & M's specialists will spend time assimilating the customers' systems and business. For unplanned cover, we offer a priority search and selection service to help source specialists at short notice. Both services use best practice and deliver carefully-screened specialists that meet the needs of the customers' business.
For information about how you could be involved in delivering B & M Assure, contact people@bmeurope.com.
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