The move to cloud, emphasis on big-data analytics and rapid pace of change in the tech industry is all good news for women, as it shifts the focus away from technical skills to intangible people skills.

That was the general consensus at a panel Wednesday at Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)'s Women in Tech event, a part of its Ignite conference in Chicago attracting more than 300 of its employees and partners. It's a sentiment that has been echoed at Light Reading's past Women in Tech events as well: As a general rule, women excel at communications, collaboration and so-called people skills, all of which are becoming increasing important in today's cloud-based, dynamic world. (See Women in Tech Coming Into Focus and Women in Telecom: Collaboration Critical to New IP.)

"The majority -- 40 to 50% -- of my conversations with CIOs now are not about exchange architecture and networking; now it's about working with my employees on how to be more productive, collaborate, work virtually in an effective way," said Julia White, a general manager in the office division at Microsoft. "Those are people skills."

In the IT industry, in particular, companies aren't hiring for technical skills, but for the ability to use those skills for collaboration, Stephanie Ferguson, general manager in cloud and enterprise for Microsoft said, adding, "anyone can learn a specific skill, but women have this EQ [emotional intelligence] capability we're known for."

Chicago CIO Brenna Berman, who will also be a speaker at Light Reading's upcoming Women in Tech event at the Big Telecom Event joined the Microsoft executives on the panel. She is spearheading Chicago's ambitious analytics program to become a "data-driven government," and noted that her department -- made up of 60% women -- cannot hire data engineers fast enough.

Its most recent hire was a woman who will be responsible for helping embed algorithms into the department's business processes to affect how people do business with the government and how it engages with residents. (See IoT Council, CityWorks Coalesce in Chicago.)

"That cultural, organizational change is much harder than building the technology," she said. "It's hard to hire a data engineer. But it's much harder to hire someone who understands how the technology is being used."

Light Reading is hosting its fourth -- and biggest -- Women in Tech breakfast at the Big Telecom Event on June 10 in Chicago. If you are a woman in the industry, you're invited to attend free of charge! Find out more and register here.

The speakers had a lot of great advice for women -- from young girls to top-level executives -- in the technology field to get ahead, make a difference and build a career. Here are some of the most notable sound bytes and bits of wisdom that apply to women (and really anyone) making their way in the tech industry:

— Sarah Thomas, , Editorial Operations Director, Light Reading