News

IBM sees big portal opening for Java developers

• By Rich Seeley
• February 23, 2004

Java programmers looking for the next wave in software development would do well to investigate opportunities for building portal applications, suggests Brent Ruggles, curriculum architect for WebSphere portal education at IBM.

"The portal market is very hot and growing very quickly," Ruggles told This Week in Java. "We're seeing a lot of interest, a variety of companies going to it, and certainly a need for trained people to satisfy their requirements. Not all the companies have good Java skills, so if there are a pool of folks that can get their skills ready to go, they should be able to find a ready market."

Observers note that between now and 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects software development to be the fastest growing occupation. Ruggles said IBM believes its J2EE platform, and especially portals, is an area where developers might want to focus skill development.

After years when various departments within a company built their own Web sites, Ruggles said portals are being used to bring uniformity to employee Web usage by providing personalized access to corporate information from desktops, PDAs and cell phones.

"The portal is still young and in its growth phase, so I think there's great opportunity in the next few years," he said. "There's a growing need for programmers to be able to help on this."

To support requirements for skilled Java developers certified on IBM's WebSphere Portal v5, Big Blue has developed a series of training courses covering development, security and administration, Ruggles said. IBM will begin offering exams on March 1 so that developers and administrators can gain certification on the portal technology, he added.

More information is available at http://www.ibm.com/certify.

For more Portal news, go to ADT Portals Page