Wonder what are the IT skills that will help IT professionals sail through the current tough job market? Skills that will help IT pros stay relevant as the business needs of their organisation change.

Computerworld had recently released a list of 10 IT skills that companies will seek in IT professionals this year. These are the most sought-after skills that companies are looking for in order to help them compete in the dynamic business environment.

1.) Programming and Application Development

According to the survey, 60% of the respondents wanted to hire employees with programming and application development skills by next year. Those who have experience in Java, J2EE and .Net are at an advantage as these skills will be heavily demanded by companies in the coming time.

2.) Project Management

Project management will be in huge demand next year as 40% of the companies questioned in the survey said that they will recruit project managers in the next 12 months. The rising demand for candidates with this profile is due to the jump in the number of as well as increase in the complexity of such projects as applications are now more connected.

3.)Help Desk/Technical Support

35% of IT recruiters surveyed by Computerworld said that they will hire IT help desk professionals within the next one year. Such companies' focus is to not only develop modern systems and solutions but also to help end users to access them easily, hence the emphasis on the technical support skills.

4.)Security

IT security also seems to be high on IT companies' agenda as 27% responded that they were on the lookout for professionals with skills for safeguarding systems and data. Therefore, it's time that candidates in IT security industry brush up their knowledge on deploying firewalls, threat detection tools, encryption technology and other security systems.

5.) Business Intelligence/Analytics

Big data is a major concern for IT firms, which is why many companies are looking for business analytics professionals. In the Computerworld survey, 26% of the respondents stated that they will hire business intelligence/analytics professionals in 2013.

Recruiters will keep in mind technical know-how, business knowledge and strong statistical and mathematical backgrounds while hiring personnel for this domain.

6.) Cloud/SaaS

25% of the IT companies interviewed by Computerworld said that they will hire employees who are proficient with cloud computing capabilities. cloud services/Software-as-a-Service are set to become the next big thing in the IT world according to research firms like Gartner, and professionals who have the requisite skills will be high in demand next year.

7.) Networking

19% of the IT recruiters will look for experienced professionals with networking capabilities. Though the demand for networking personnel has declined by 50% over the past three years, the prospects for such professionals are still good for coming times.

8.) Virtualisation

24% IT companies that Computerworld surveyed plan to hire professionals with virtualisation skills in 2013. However, their biggest issue was that they usually find inexperienced candidates with half-baked virtualisation skills.

9.) Mobile Applications and Device Management

This is a fairly new job profile, but will grow at a rapid pace with the increase in the penetration of mobile devices in the life of consumers. 19% IT companies are looking such professionals, who will be responsible for handling the increase growth in mobile apps on various consumer devices.

10.) Data centres

Data centre professionals are still in demand as their skills are essential to server management. 16% of the companies surveyed by Computerworld will hire personnel with data centre management and data back-up capabilities.