5. Application delivery

Often as networks become more complex and sophisticated, they also get distributed over various remote locations and branch offices -- which Gartner says is driving the need for expertise in the area of application delivery.

Application delivery networks, according to Gartner, are required if companies want to deploy modern browser-based applications and emerging Web services applications. This network overlay responsible for application delivery will demand skills that cross storage, security, network and application development disciplines. Knowledge of application optimization techniques such as protocol offload, caching, application firewalls and others would be required of application delivery experts on staff.

"IT departments that add these positions will see smoother application development and deployment, increased user satisfaction and lower costs," says Joe Skorupa, research vice president at Gartner.

6. Web 2.0

Companies looking to implement Web 2.0 technologies want to see IT professionals with skills in areas such as AJAX, .Net and XML. These technologies require updated application development skills because they provide a more interactive experience, which could cause bandwidth or performance issues if not executed properly.

"For application development tools, AJAX, .Net, WebSphere and others have replaced and are replacing all the early-generation stuff like CGI, Visual Interdev and HTML/DHTML," says David Foote, CEO and chief research officer at Foote Partners.

7. IT business analysis

Being able to gauge the business relevance of technology decisions is critical for all high-tech hires, industry watchers and IT managers agree.

Arun DeSouza, a director of strategic planning and security at Inergy Automotive Systems, says skills around managing IT with finance in mind are in demand at his company.

"Ultimately, all technology investments and operational expenditures are about enabling the business and adding to the bottom line," he says. "IT managers need to be able to help align with the business, manage the financial portfolio and articulate the benefits in a language that the business can understand."

IT managers expect their employees not only to have a comprehensive understanding of the business they support but also to keep that knowledge current.

"The more senior a technical staffer gets, the more business aware they need to be," says John Turner, director of networks and systems at Brandeis University.