Technology is now at the heart of business. Regardless of company size or sector, IT makes an increasingly vital contribution to competitive advantage, productivity and customer service.

So it is no surprise that the UK’s IT industry is growing at five to eight times the national average – or that about 150,000 entrants to the IT workforce are required each year.

However, the types of jobs and potential career paths open to the IT workforce are changing significantly.

The dramatic impact of trends such as globalisation, emerging technologies and changing business models are transforming forever the working lives of the UK’s one million IT professionals – with far-reaching implications for their education, training and development needs.

With organisations increasingly sourcing their IT professional expertise anywhere in the world, the UK’s IT workforce will continue to thrive in the global economy only if it can offer unique value-added expertise and services.

Traditional entry-level job roles are increasingly sourced offshore in countries such as India or China. The growing volume of IT professional roles in the UK is becoming focused on high-skill, customer-facing areas such as project management, business analysis and systems design.

As a result, business and communications skills are becoming as vital as technical competence.

Over the next five years or so, UK employers will need increasing numbers of business-oriented IT professionals who can function in customer-facing roles and are prepared for constant change.

Transformation requires a sophisticated set of skills and understanding – one that encompasses business, communication, team working and project management skills, and in-depth and up-to-date technical knowledge.

IT professionals will need to translate business objectives into technology solutions, manage budgets and supplier relationships, and work in virtual teams that transcend geographical, cultural and linguistic boundaries.

E-Skills UK is working with employers and partners, such as the BCS, to help IT professionals develop the expertise they need for successful and rewarding careers in a fast-changing world.

For example, with the disappearance of traditional entry-level roles, entrants into the IT workforce will need to progress more rapidly into higher-level roles.

Entrants must achieve, within a few years, the knowledge and competence that in the past might have taken many more years to acquire. Supporting developmental needs requires innovation in the education system and new types of programmes for recruits to the sector.

E-Skills UK is working with employers to establish a fast-track professional development programme to accelerate development across the early years in the profession.

The initiative will help create customer-focused, business-knowledgeable individuals that can confidently manage projects, relationships and teams from an earlier point in their career.

The speed of economic, social and technological change also means that the skills of experienced IT professionals will need constant updating. And IT professionals and their employers will each have a role to play.

We need to ensure that technology professionals have access to relevant, recognised qualifications that meet employer and individual needs, a desire that is at the heart of the drive to build a recognised and respected IT profession in the UK.

Underpinning professionalism is the need for a common language and framework for qualifications and learning. The IT Professional Competency Model – e-Skills PROCOM – will help employers to understand clearly what someone should be able to do, and will allow IT professional to better clarify their development needs and aspirations.

The UK has an enviable track record in technology, and a global reputation for innovation, problem-solving, creative thinking and the management of complex programmes.

It is home to world-leading financial institutions, where access to sophisticated, secure and reliable information systems is critical.

Software and computer services, meanwhile, is the biggest and fastest-growing area within the UK’s creative industries and makes up more than a third of the IT sector’s exports.

But we cannot afford to become complacent. We should not underestimate the extent to which the global landscape for IT professionals and the technology industry will continue to evolve – nor the impact this will have on the UK.

By understanding and addressing the implications of such changes, the UK will continue to have the IT professionals it needs to succeed in the global economy.