What can we learn from software development job posts? (SQL, Java, and XML will get you a job!)

About a year ago, I posted some analysis of what we can learn from job posts. Since then, the job outlook for at least the American economy has substantially declined, but there are still opportunities available if you have - or can develop - the skills in demand. A year ago, according to job posts on Dice.com, the hot job skills were Java, SAP, and Oracle. How about today?

Well, with a slight change to methodology, things look pretty much the same, but the changes are interesting. Last year, I only looked at terms that appeared in job post titles; this time around, I searched on terms that occurred anywhere in the job post. I can't say I used a totally comprehensive set of terms, or that the queries don't produce some false positives and negatives, but without further disclaimers, here are my findings.

The top 20 IT skills in demand on Dice.com:

1. SQL
2. Oracle
3. Java
4. Windows
5. Unix
6. Linux
7. XML
8. SQL Server
9. HTML
10. C#
11. Dynamics
12. C++
13. SAP
14. Perl
15. IBM
16. AJAX
17. PL/SQL
18. BASIS
19. PHP
20. MySQL

(For the rest of the list in the analysis, see the end of this post.)

A little surprising that Dynamics came in above SAP on this list, and perhaps there were some "false positives" putting BASIS above PHP, but probably nothing really shocking there. There was strong demand for many skills, but very little demand (relatively) for iPad (just 13 jobs!), HTML5 (34 jobs), Fortran, Azure, and eBay -- all under 100 job posts mentioning these skills.

Overall, your best bet is to learn Oracle, SQL Server, Java, and XML on your choice of platforms, and you've got job security 'til the end of time (or at least for the next few quarters).

Some additional findings:

• SQL is a great skill to have. Oracle and SQL Server are the best databases to learn in terms of job openings [NOTE: no analysis was done on salaries, so your mileage may vary if you care about earning potential. There was one job on Dice for a TPF programmer, and I bet that pays pretty well!]. DB2 and Sybase also had strong demand.
  
• Java, C#, and C++ are all continuing in strong demand. Perl, PHP, Ruby, and Python also have strong demand. There is some, but significantly less, demand for Flash, COBOL, and ABAP development skill.
  
• XML skills are greatly in demand. There is significant demand for AJAX skills as well.
• Dynamics came in very strong on the Applications front, with SAP also very strong. There is some continued demand for Peoplesoft and Siebel skills. Salesforce.com is significantly less, but there is still substantial demand for Salesforce.com skills.
• There is not a lot of demand for Mac, iPhone, or iPad developers, with none of those platforms cracking the 500 job posts mark. Blackberry was the only mobile phone platform above that mark, with some significant demand. Android is in slightly less demand than iPhone, but growing much faster.
• Amazon and Azure, two leading cloud platforms, had very little demand for candidates.
  

Overall results:

Skill Sought SQL	# of Posts Mentioning 17525
Oracle	12533
Java	12104
Windows	9877
Unix	8872
Linux	7703
XML	7600
SQL Server	7196
HTML	6198
C#	5773
Dynamics	5066
C++	4937
SAP	4713
Perl	3943
IBM	3306
AJAX	3244
PL/SQL	2656
BASIS	2306
PHP	2085
MySQL	2061
DB2	1996
VMWare	1776
Python	1629
Peoplesoft	1603
Embedded	1466
Sybase	1379
Mainframe	1342
Siebel	1153
Google	837
Ruby	786
Flash	604
Blackberry	580
COBOL	537
Salesforce.com	521
ABAP	479
iPhone	387
Mac	372
Android	316
Twitter	283
Facebook	248
Amazon	236
Assembler	191
Widget	174
Yahoo	165
Informix	153
Palm	133
PowerBuilder	111
eBay	62
Azure	53
FORTRAN	52
HTML5	34
iPad	13

Palm must build great accessories to survive

Palm is in a tough situation. As reported widely, Palm's operating results are beginning to cast doubt about the viability of the company. There is no easy solution for the company, but a series of tough measures and creative development efforts can turn things around.

Palm makes a number of smart phones, notably the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixie Plus [Disclaimer: I am a very happy owner of a Motorola Droid, but have owned Palm devices since the original Palm Pilot]. The Palm phones incorporated a large number of innovations, from wireless charging to sleek styling, but the market for smart phones is very competitive these days. Palm made a number of missteps in entering the market, from bad timing to baffling advertisements. Now, Palm finds itself in a crisis that may leave it unable to survive: the channel is full of aging stock, losses are mounting, and the economy shows no signs of rescuing the company.

How Can Palm Survive?

How can Palm survive, with all these issues in front of it? And why do I think I have any answers for them? I've been following Palm since the US Robotics days of the Palm Pilot, and owned many Palm devices, from the awful Treo 300 to the wonderful Tungsten TX. I was also CEO of OQO, the mobile gadget company that made sleek, stylish, powerful handheld computers. We faced, and failed to overcome, some of the same issues Palm now faces and must overcome if it is to survive. Other companies, such as Apple Computer, have faced similar problems, and gone on to greatness, and so can Palm.

Cash

First off, Palm has to survive, and that means it has to have enough cash to continue operations. The company must cut expenses ruthlessly. The company must also ensure that it has access to capital if necessary, even if it dilutes the current owners. Also, the company should aggressively focus on identifying and eliminating every source of warranty repair claims - this will help it improve current operating margins, as well as help it build a reputation for quality, and create some IP around design for quality that will help it with future products.

Second, Palm has to find a way through its problems - chief among them is getting through the inventory on hand, finding a growth segment (or a collection of growth segments) it can better serve than other smartphone options, and creating a product pipeline that will not suffer the same problems as the current lineup.

Accessories

There is very little difference from one leading edge smartphone to the next - touch screens, video, camera, applications. iPhone phanboyz will tell you that there are more apps for the iPhone, but realistically any good app is available for all platforms (except the Google apps, which are pretty much only available on the Droid now). Smartphones are not really distinguished by functionality or cost any longer. Now, they are pretty much distinguished by the markets they target. iPhones are for those who view themselves as hip, urban, and elite. Blackberry's are for wonks and businessmen (and heavy text messagers). Droids are for supergeeks. Who are Palms for?

All this is to say that phones are now accessories, like handbags or shoes. They say something about you. Palm needs to find a target market segment that is underserved with the current competitors, and do a great job of meeting their needs. Looking at its assets, we see a stylish phone with a few interesting accessories, with a built-in keyboard, and with a relatively powerful operating system. To whom could this phone appeal? We can speculate:

• Corporate executives
• Bloggers and other social media aficionados
  
• IT workers
• Customer-facing mobile workers
• Students and mobile gamers who don't want to live with the restrictions
  Apple forces on them

Regardless of what we can speculate, Palm needs to do hard research, and then follow through with the programs that appeal to these users.

Also, as this is a relatively short-range problem Palm must solve, it must do so without large new product R&D investments and without a new line-up of smartphones. Palm's options are pretty much limited to adding new channels (e.g., new countries and carriers) and introducing new accessories.

Accessories are an option Palm should explore. First off, accessories can be sold directly or through the channel, at very high margins compared to phones. Second, accessories can be brought to market more quickly than new phones, at very low R&D effort. Third, accessories can be exactly the customization Palm needs to appeal to chosen market segments - rugged cases, attached printers and scanners, executive cases, waterproof cases, customized cases showing the owner's twitter name, etc. Finally, if designed properly, accessories can be made to create a "system effect," if they are upwardly compatible with new Palm phones. This can encourage buyers to upgrade to new phones when available.

Summary

Palm needs to get serious about its future - reduce burn, reduce channel glut, create a defensible "core" market segment it can own and grow, and develop products that serve that core segment better than others in the future (accessories and new phones as well). Palm has always had a special kind of magic - Apple's cool with Google's geek chic. If Palm can make it through its current tough times, we can hope for a return to the kind of creativity and innovation that made it special in the good old days.

Oracle Promoting Microsoft Bing? Microsoft Paying Oracle and Subsidizing Java? Cats and Dogs Living Together???

Today, I got an alert from Java that an update was available, so I clicked "OK" to install. Imagine my surprise when I got the following prompt during the installation procedure:


Is Larry Ellison aware that Oracle (which now owns Sun and its Java products) is promoting Microsoft Bing? By the way, a colleague told me that he received a similar promotion for a Yahoo! toolbar rather than the Bing toolbar, so perhaps Oracle is not solely promoting Microsoft, and perhaps this deal was done before the acquisition. Still, it's odd that Oracle would promote a Microsoft product.

It's even odder that Microsoft is so anxious to promote Bing that it will even do so while subsidizing Java and paying Oracle, two that must be high on Microsoft's "Most Wanted" hit list - does Steve Ballmer know that Microsoft is paying money to Oracle, and (horror of horrors!) subsidizing Java???

Cats and dogs living together indeed ...