Will the next generation of tech professionals need to be marketing technologists?

There is growing consensus that the CMO and CIO will need to "get along" better in the future. Ironically, Business Intelligence systems have to driven this need to get along better and will continue to do so.

I have often told my technicians that they will be "the garage mechanics of the future" if they don't obtain business knowledge that they can use in conjunction with their technical skills sets. Indeed, this is the very essence of difference between an IT technician and an IT consultant (think cook versus chef).

Everything in today's world is about mashups: Rock & Roll with Hip Hop, Fusion Cuisine, etc. This will be no different. I'm pretty sure that even Thomas Friedman made mention of this in his book "The World id Flat".

From our client experience it appears the the boundaries between the technologists and the Product Marketing people have blurred significantly. I believe this is a trend we will continue to see. It's no longer enough to be a techie with a limited view or understanding of the market for the technology.

Perhaps more importantly, all employees must become more like "business people" with not only a better understanding of marketing but a much deeper understanding of cost structures and P & L. " Is this technology that we're about to utilize in a product viable as an investment for the company? What is the "Return On Investment" for the organization vs. other things we may have in the plate?"

I think this all leads to a much wider challenge in that all business functions need to learn to collaborate & communicate more effectively. This is always a hell of a lot easier to say than achieve.

The event of Enterprise 2.0 & the technology it delivers it has never been easier, however we must always remember it is our people who communicate with each other, the tools simply facilitate the communication.

I believe that there is a requirement for much greater focus on not only implementing technology but also encouraging implementation and buy in from staff at all levels.

Marketing - is the process of Market Research .. (wikipedia) - and it has indeed a Technical component. And as always, a new 'sophomore' in our field, might get into the Marketing area and contribute his knowledge. But there are so many convoluted and possible branches of the Technical side, that a guy doing the coding for a new iPhone application is not necessarily a devoted Marketing Expert.
Collaboration between experts yields better results. A Marketing guy will define what the 'market' needs, the tech guy will tell him what of that is achievable and what is not. Between both a solution or compromise will prevail.
So the answer is: No .. Marketing Technology should be acquired after the Tech knowledge is in place.

This conversation is motivating me to take a programing class. Great topic.

My company is going to roll out a new website, phone app, and social marketing tools for our staff. My concern is that no one spoke with our sales staff about what needs to be on the program. I'm crossing my fingers it is a success.

No. However, the ability to communicate ones value and the value of the services one provides increases the chance of success. Having a story to tell (my simple definition of marketing) makes it possible to communicate this idea to people at all levels. I think the next generation of technology professional needs to be whatever their organization requires of them. Communication skills make this possible.

Simple- yes! If they want to be cutting edge, better than their competition, paid higher and get better results. If they don't that would be like going into a new job with a typewriter- you can get the job done eventually, however it will take longer and won't be as effective.

Considering that Market is basically creating value by attending customer needs (even if he doesn´t know them), I think that in an ideal future the whole company must be market enabled. With the high-speed that changes are happening, each and every employee will have to be market driven, creating an empowered ecosystem.
Although there are many specific tasks that are marketing department responsibilities, there is a lot of basic market knowledge that must be spread around the company.

Good luck Dale...

Yes definitely.

Work experience has turned me into a Web Devigner, and 60% of my work today is marketing.

Hint: I consider (most) Facebook Pages to be marketing taska, not web development, obviously,

As a software developer (some years ago!) I built programs to solve lots of problems I didn't even know existed until I was consulted. My first task was always helping the customer describe the problem, the scope, the bounds, etc (and continuing to understand and evolve as subtle distinctions arose throughout the process). I didn't have to become a doctor to write software for doctors to use, or be a commercial property manager to write a program for them. If you have specialised knowledge of an area then it certainly helps, but a tech working for marketing doesn't need to be a marketer any more than the guys writing software for CT machines need to be neurosurgeons.

If I look at it the other way around, one thing is for sure: marketing professionals will definitely need to be more and more of technologists !

Good responses, everyone, thank you. As a result of seeing more and more overlap between marketing and IT functions, I recently posted a blog about this topic. I invite your feedback. http://bit.ly/ey3j5K