​For those of you who rely on IT/telecom to keep everything connected and working, you probably don't give these fearless warriors the credit they deserve. To those of you IT guys (or gals) out there, no one knows better than you the challenges of your changing role. And there are still plenty of mine fields out there!

Just in case you've lost count, here are just a few of the things that have rocked the IT world over the last few years and that, like it or not, need to (somehow) get woven into the company infrastructure:

• ​Marketing is hungry for "big data"; guess who the go-to-person is? The new era of big data and marketing automation has created an unlikely alliance between marketing and IT. But the benefits have been impressive as marketing enters a new era in personalized, contextual advertising and customer support.​
• Cloud culture: Balancing issues such as security with the convenience and feature-rich benefits of cloud computing have been giving IT/Telecom headaches for over a decade. The road is getting smoother, but it's been a rough ride.​
  
• Mobile, mobile and….more mobile: This is the seismic shift in the way we communicate and the ensuing tidal wave has hit us personally and within our businesses. And, it's a lot more complicated than just using a cell phone.​
  
• BYOD and WYOD and whatever is next: Along with the massive switch to mobile has come the need to accommodate (and, for many, mandate) the use of personal devices in the workplace. Lots of levels of security here, along with usage challenges.​
  
• In with the old, and in with the new: Systems integration like never before: IT is chartered with making all the old stuff integrate with the new stuff. And if you think that's easy…​
  
• Everything else that's getting ready to disrupt our world: So what's next? IT has to be on top of that as well. That means user groups, on-line forums, training and teaching everyone else what they need to know.​
  

​With all the demands being placed on IT, it's amazing how many of the old clichés continue to persist. You know, those images of geeky IT guys waxing nostalgic about the good old "client-server" days; the days when SIP was something you did with your coffee; when computer rooms took up half the office space, and so on.

So, why not pause and tip our hats to the IT Guys. Let's give them the respect they deserve. At the rate we're going, we will all be needing them more and more.