As virtualization continues to seep into every crack of the data center, the search for virtualization talent continues to grow and becomes much more difficult to find and maintain.  IT personnel with the needed skills are in short supply, and training isn't keeping pace with demand.  On the flip side, if you've already got a star virtualization person on your team, or if you're spending a lot of time, effort and money to get someone trained to that level, you better keep both eyes on those individuals.  Because that prized talent is being searched for by everyone else in the IT industry as well.  

To find out more, I spoke with Gavin Barnard, a director at the virtualization and cloud job site, VM People.

VMblog:  What are potential employers looking for in a virtualization candidate?  Are certifications important?  Or are they more interested in a candidate with a lot of experience?

Barnard:  The emphasis is still very much on VMware’s VCP certification with a hint of VCDX creeping in. Whilst experience is definitely a driving factor for agencies and employers, it appears that a very small number are actually quoting years of experience in job specs but the vast majority will ask for VCP certified consultants and practically all job specs placed with VM People ask for ‘VMware experience’.

Citrix qualifications are becoming a little more prevalent in job advertisements now, but it’s still uncommon to see such requests.  At this moment in time, it would appear that if you are looking to break into the Virtualization and Cloud Computing space or even secure some top gigs, then VMware qualifications and experience are still hot to have.

VMblog:  Are people paying more for virtualization experts over IT generalists or other specifications?

Barnard:  The answer to this question is quite simply, yes.  Virtualization experts and especially candidates who have Cloud knowledge now can virtually demand what they want.  Agencies and employers seem to be well aware of this and we are regularly seeing inflated day rates.  Inflated actually is probably the wrong word as the top consultants we see registering with us are well worth what is being paid.  Our registered candidates are clearly excited, dedicated and interested in this technology and immerse themselves in it in order to fully understand it, thus benefiting with good earning potential.  One of your questions last time we spoke was around whether we were seeing an increase in demand for Cloud skilled consultants.  At the time we weren’t, but in the last few months we have seen an increase.  We have also had a couple of jobs being posted for Hyper-V skilled consultants lately which we haven’t seen before.  This is a good sign, it's proof that Microsoft is slowly oozing into the industry.

VMblog:  Is it more difficult to find virtualization experts right now?  Or is it getting easier since the market has matured a bit more, the technology has been around a lot longer, and since VMware has introduced the VCP training course a few years back?

Barnard:  From our feedback and research, it appears that whilst the market is maturing and jobs are increasing, so is the amount of consultants.  BUT at the entry level.  However, cream of the crop consultants are becoming more difficult to find... well not to find, but difficult to obtain the services of, simply because the company who is employing them is usually well aware of their worth and is therefore not letting them go.  Contract length is now beginning to increase as well – ‘6 months plus’, as opposed to the ‘week long’ or ‘1 month’ contracts we have recently seen.

VMblog:  Has there been an increase or decrease in the number of job offers or companies looking to fill virtualization roles that you have witnessed?

Barnard:  Absolutely an increase!  We have seen our vacancies increase at a substantial rate in the last few months.  It would appear that broken economy jitters may be wearing off as companies begin to open up their IT budgets again and grab some of the excellent talent on the market right now.  If you’re an expert in this field, you are definitely well positioned to be employed very quickly.

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Virtualization is an enabling technology, as well as a rejuvenating technology for the IT industry as a whole.  Thanks again to Gavin Barnard from VM People for speaking with me. 

And it sounds like as far as virtualization stars go, if you got 'em, watch 'em and keep 'em.  Because these guys are in short supply and high demand.  And as the virtual data center or cloud continues to roll in, that need is just going to continue to grow and out pace supply.