I'm currently administering applications and unix OS.
Have no IT degree, learned on the job over last 6-7 years.
Have good shell scripting skills, basic perl, know some apache, mysql, sql etc.
I enjoy scripting, setting up scripts to use in conjunction with databases and apache etc. I think this is the type of area I want to move to next.
Long term, I want to move to software development and I am looking on how I should approach this in the next 6-12 months.
I dont have massive amount of cash stored away to go to night college for an IT degree, I certainly dont want to waste money on a degree that wont be beneficial to me long term. Have some questions if anyone can give advice...
Is obtaining IT degree worth the large investment versus individual courses and experience?
I would have done many 5 day courses over the year in shell scripting, oracle, solaris, unix administration, linux along with many application specific courses and I have worked in a support team for over 6 years
Would working towards degree be better than looking for some more 5-10 day courses that focus on software development and accreditation from these courses ?
Any particular areas of software development that you would recommend?
ie. Perl, C++, web, html, php etc (maybe many others that I dont even know of)
Your mileage varies depending on experience. Training, courses and academic credentials matter little if the candidate's portfolio consists of large clients with a string of successful implementations. Most clients require some sort of credentials, but when we hire people we are always cautious of a resume full of training, because it is usually a sign of poor motivation on the candidate's behalf.
We look for problem solving skills (on top of experience) and a candidate is even more marketable when backed up with C++, PHP, Perl and database experience.
No any 5-10 day courses make you a good software developer. 5-10 years of practice and learning maybe do. If you want to work in a software company you need a degree. If you want to work as a freelancer then not (but may help). For web programming learn PHP and Javascript (and HTML5+CSS, and SQL+noSQL). To become a really good programmer learn C (C++ ?), Python, and some marginal languages - Lisp/Scheme or Erlang or Scala are good choices. Don't waste time for .NET and C#, but knowing of Java and Java infrastructure may help to have a piece of bread (though I don't know as long). Participating in open source projects is a great thing for getting real programming skills.
Everything is IMO, of course. (I have a degree but I didn't work long enough as a programmer. Now I'm trying to work as a freelancer, get a little but not quite satisfied - too little practice, and as you can see my English is not good enough too).
I have frustrated myself out a few times sometimes wish I was doing something else somewhere have walked away several times but always find myself coming back to the familiar.
My 2 cents if you want it. switch career if you can or have the passion for something else or else stick it out and get better with your craft it pays pretty well later and allows you to remain employable for a long time, the oldest Unix sysadmin I've seen so far is a 55 year old gentleman.