While staffing firms report that IT salaries are growing, Foote Partners, a boutique IT benchmarking and research firm in Vero Beach, Fla., has been observing a different trend.

As CIO and managing director of Morrison and Foerster-ranked among the 50 largest law firms in the world by revenue-Neeraj Rajpal is responsible for implementing strategic and tactical global IT and for managing records initiatives for the firm's 1,200 lawyers in 16 global offices.

If there were ever an IT Olympics, in which software developers could compete to solve programming problems, the event would likely take place on Gild, an online career development community where IT professionals from around the world do just that.

Is an IT career a good idea right now?

Graduate interest in project management is on the rise, with a 150-fold increase in postgraduate courses in the discipline according to the Project Management Institute (PMI).

The value of project management certifications is hotly debated among IT professionals. CIO.com investigates whether certifications make better project managers and whether projects staffed by certified project managers are more successful than projects without PMPs.