Cloud computing have introduced new ways of managing and delivering IT services. As cloud computing grows in popularity and organizations move their application to the cloud, the need to freshen up their IT skills emerges.

According to an IT executive panel discussions, IT personnel will spend lesser time in managing the servers, but will focus on how multiple cloud offerings will work and how it will benefit the organization. “There will be some skillset shifts within our organizations that will be needed,” said Angelo Valletta, CIO of Sun National Bank.

Greg Bouncontri, chief information officer for Pitney Bowes, said that “The role of the IT person is changing.” He added that IT personnel must find ways to use cloud IT services as a “catalyst for growth: for the company.

Saad Ayub, CIO for the media company Scholastic, agrees that the role of IT will be more about innovation.

Cloud computing will also require more IT architecture skills that those currently found in-house.

Implementing programs will be carried out by only a few people. More people will focus on architecture work needed to tie together different cloud services with the in-house systems. This is the information shared by Bob Kelly, a Microsoft vice president for server and cloud platform marketing, during his presentation.

The dramatic change in cloud computing calls for changes in skillsets, Kelly added.

“The maturation of these technologies might lead us to a place where we [will] have less technical people in-house than we currently have,” Bouncontri said. “Increasingly, our role will be on solution design. It’s a different kind of skillset.”

IT professionals are now being challenged to keep up with the emerging requirements for the cloud.