Computerworld published this list of 10 computer skills . If you’re and IT professional who’s still focusing on anyone of these areas, you might want to reconsider upgrading your skill sets now. Many business have upgraded and many schools are phasing them out in the curricula. You just might be unemployed tomorrow.

Cobol - I’ve got a lot of software engineer friends who never even touched this language. In today’s world of object-oriented programming, it is a fading language. However, this might depend on the locale. There are still some places where there are still business or enterprises using COBOL.

Non-relational DBMS - Relational DBMS is the way to go. Hierarchical and network DBMSes are going/have gone retro.

Non-IP Networks - TCP/IP is the king of the networking world. However, there are still a lot who use non-IP networks like banks but firms aren’t too keen on having this in a professional’s skill set.

cc:Mail - Applications are now integrated with e-mail.

ColdFusion - Aaah. I remember this one from Macromedia (actually originally Allaire, then Macromedia). This web-development program is now superseded by the likes of PHP, ASP, .Net, Python and Java.

C programming - Hmm… I think there’s still a lot of use for C, IMHO. But what the article points out is also true, most C programmers have now expanded their skill sets to cover newer programming languages or at least, those that came after C like C++ and C sharp.

PowerBuilder - A client/server development tool isn’t that widely-used anymore.

Certified NetWare Engineers - Novell isn’t that widely-used too. So CNEs are now beginning to lose value.

PC network administrators - The main evidence that it’s a dying trade is the “demise” of program offerings for such works.

OS/2 - It has been two years since IBM stopped selling these. But there’s still an active OS/2 community. But as a discontinued product, it would really offer nothing new.

While these trends may or may not hold true for everyone, it’s still a sound advice for professionals whether IT or not, to keep their skills sets fresh and profitable. There’s no real harm in learning.