UNIX DOWNUNDER
The Current Market and Demand Trends
in Melbourne, Australia
The demand for Unix in Melbourne, Australia is on the move upwards. Over the last 12 months the market has started to witness a distinct growth in the need for Unix across the board, with Linux and FreeBSD featuring heavily. According to Gottleibsen Research, the researchers behind the Icon IT Trend Index 2000 - an index that analyses performance of skills, current salaries advertised, growth trends of all IT skills, contract timeframes and graduate information - the demand for Linux based skills over the last 12 months has experienced an incredible 225% growth on the previous year (1999).
In other flavours of Unix the demand for Sun Solaris has increased. Comparatively speaking, Solaris experienced a 25.4% increase in 1999, with an increase of 90.2% on 1998. While HP-UX experienced a large decline in demand, dropping by 56.3%, its demand was increased due to the release of version 11. It is evident that the release of new versions has contributed to the demand, demonstrating that organisations are keen to upgrade to latest technologies. Also meaning Unix consultants need to keep their skills updated.
In terms of Systems Administrators, the Trend Index saw an increase of 0.6% in the number of advertisements for Administrators over 1999 (2165 advertisements). Of the roles advertised, Linux made a huge entrance with a 91.5% growth in advertisements in 1999. The majority of the advertisements were for permanent employment, as opposed to contract. Across all Systems Administrator roles advertised, 63.5% were for permanent employment. The remaining 36.5% positions were taken up by contractors, with 19.5% of the positions being between 0 and 6 months in duration. Over 1999 the market generally saw a shift away from long term contracts; 7-12 months and above; moving to either permanent employment or 0-6 month term contracts.
The Trend Index has also captured salary information over the 1999 period, based on what companies advertised they would like to pay. Researchers did find that many roles were advertised, without salary levels attached. "It would be fair to assume when reading these figures", says Tim Mathews, General Manager of Icon Recruitment, "that higher dollars were actually paid when the hiring began".
The salary ranges recorded across Systems Administration staff tended to sit heavily at the $50,000 to $65,000 p.a. range, with the highest salary sitting at $100,000. There was one position listed paying $120,000 p.a.
The majority of contracting rates sat at $50ph, with highest rate of $100ph - 2 positions showing at this rate.
Breaking down into Unix flavours:
AIX $55,000 to $60,000 average
$100,000 highest
HP-UX $70,000 to $80,000 average
$90,000 highest
SCO $40,000 average
$60,000 highest
Solaris $55,000 to $70,000 average
$85,000 highest
Interestingly, NT administrators averaged out at $55,000 with highest paid sitting at $100,000 (one role).
Contract rates showed:
AIX $55ph average
$70ph highest
HP-UX $50ph average
$65ph highest
RISC 6000 $50ph average and highest
NT Administrator roles averaged out at $45ph, with top rate at $60ph (one position).
The Index was not able to capture rate information against Solaris.
Similarly, Linux is yet to make a debut into the salaries area for both permanent and contract opportunities. This was based on advertisers not putting dollar amounts against positions advertised.
In terms of growth and demand, it is strong players and new releases that are keeping the market in growth mode, with Linux and other freeware products paving the way. Increased demand for freeware, especially Linux, has been linked back to small stand-alone applications. Interestingly so, it is also proving very attractive to start-ups, especially Internet Service Providers.
Many Melbourne-based ISPs are enjoying the flexible and rich functionality of Linux, a trend we anticipate to continue. The growth in the Internet, WWW and E-Commerce arenas is extremely strong in Melbourne: the last 12 months has seen in excess of 289% growth in these key areas. Based on the trend of Unix - particularly Linux - being adopted more and more within these environments, the future demand certainly looks very rosy.
According to Tim Mathews, General Manager of Icon Recruitment "many of our customers tell us they use Linux for small stand alone applications where its small size, high performance, and high availability suit the 24*7 environment". Not surprisingly, an increasing number of customers who use NT networks have added small Linux servers for dedicated tasks.
Users, programmers and operators see the coming into the market of Linux and the other FreeBSD flavours as a good thing, as they help demystify UNIX meaning more people will look into using UNIX.
Companies love rewriting the operating system to get rid of unnecessary functions - the flexibility of being able to work slowly through the system with a knife and throw out all the generic content that gets in the way, is invaluable to many.
Another highly valued feature is the way freeware shrinks and makes scaling for increased traffic less expensive. This rich feature begs the question: is it any wonder that Internet sites, especially ISPs are rushing to it? Of course they are, especially when you imagine the huge cost savings with the reduction in the hardware costs as the transaction loading scales up. In short, Internet sites are attracted to freeware because it saves them the hassle of upgrading the hardware quite so often.
The future for Freeware is just looking positive. A lot of major vendors are now supporting Linux, such as IBM and Dell - the latter being a strong point because originally it only sold Microsoft operating systems.
Such growth does lead to a skills shortage in the marketplace. In order to adopt new technologies, there needs to be a base of skilled professionals to work with the product. The newer the product, the fewer qualified skills available. Where organisations only want to hire skilled individuals, a skills shortage arises.
In an extremely positive move within the Unix and Internet markets, organisations have demonstrated they are keen to hire graduate and entry level skills, or participate in upskilling programs. This approach can only but ensure the growth of new technologies, rather than a decline based on lack of ready-skilled candidates.
According to one of Australia?s top magazines, Linux is expected to grow by 35% to 2004, with only a 15% growth rate predicted with Windows NT and AS400. It was stated that Linux surpasses any Windows-based options as it is a potent network server and workhorse that is highly reliable and manageable. Not having to constantly reboot is welcome and it serves as a superb router/firewall.
In comparison to other Unix flavours, key strengths quoted were completeness and low cost, appealing particularly to IT Managers and Financials Controllers. It?s print and file sharing support with Microsoft, MAC, Unix and like operating systems, just add to it?s appeal. The standard tools that come with Linux are useful and effective, with Perl and MYSQL also freely available to enhance those tools. Growing corporate unease over Microsoft?s future, see Linux being promoted more and more.
In closing, the Trend Index indicated that in 1999 Windows NT continued to dominate the IT market. However, after reviewing the figures, it would appear Linux is here to set a new trend.
Sources:
Icon Trend Index 2000
Computerworld, Volume 24, No. 13
Compiled by:
Georgina Beames, Recruitment Consultant, Icon Recruitment, specialising in recruiting for Internet companies in Melbourne over the past 12 months.
Esther Ward, Account Manager and Corporate Analyst, Icon Recruitment. 10 years IT experience and 3 years specific IT recruitment experience in Melbourne market
Further information:
Please contact Georgina Beames at gbeames@iconrec.com.au, Tel: +61 3 9641 6642
Icon Recruitment Pty Ltd was formed in 1989 to provide specialist IT contract and permanent placement consultancy services. Acquired by the Adecco Group 1996, Icon employs in excess of 120 Account Consultants, with its head office located in Melbourne, and offices in every major city of Australia including Sydney, Parramatta, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra. Icon also has offices located in the South Pacific region including; Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Manilla Philippines. Icon currently manages approx. 1800 IT contractors on assignment through out Australasia and is considered the largest IT Contract professional provider in this region. Current Icon turnover is in excess of $180M AUD.
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