She studied what competitors were doing, sized up the potential market and concluded, "'Wow, this is going to be a mountain to scale."

But Tackabery hadn't a clue how big the job would become.

"I had no idea that in three years we would have three Web sites and a five-person staff just for the Web," said Tackabery, now head of interactive marketing for James Scott Farrin, which has about two dozen lawyers. The firm's Web hiring has come in addition to contracting an outside company to handle the most technical aspects of its marketing program.

Throughout the Triangle, small businesses are beefing up their online presence, and they're having to expand their information technology staffs and hire outside consultants to do so.

Even companies well outside the tech field are hiring software developers, multimedia experts and the like to help them store and sort data, maintain secure networks, develop business software and create Web marketing strategies.

As a result, demand for information technology workers is at a five-year high, according to Robert Half Technology, a global IT consulting and staffing service. The need is exacerbated by a shrinking supply of workers in some fields as baby boomers retire and U.S. universities produce fewer computer science majors as a percentage of total graduates.

The resulting crunch is sending employers further afield to find the right people.

"I have to go thousands of miles," said Steven Keith, head of Web development for PR firm Capstrat. The Raleigh company, which helps clients develop Web marketing strategies, has several IT-related openings. It just hired an experienced Web designer from Countrywide Financial in Phoenix, "but he's already under water," Keith said.

Other IT employers are paying as much as $30,000 to relocate the right people, said Joseph Lexa, a managing partner with Surety Systems, an IT staffing and consulting firm in Cary that provides temporary and contract workers to small businesses throughout North Carolina.

In the Triangle, IT salaries are 10 percent above the national average, according to Robert Half. That compares to 24 percent above national average in Boston and 6 percent above the average in Charlotte and Houston. Most Southern cities rank below the average. But they're also expected to see salary increases. The average salary for a lead software developer will rise 7.6 percent in 2008, according to Robert Half. That's an expected range of $88,275 to $118,800 in the Raleigh area. Local data modelers, senior Web developers and network managers could also see gains above 6 percent.

"The fact they're willing to pay us to find people is a sign in itself," said Lexa. He said revenue is up 300 percent since 2004. "They can't find these people themselves." Surety generally charges $8,000 to $20,000 per hire.

Smaller businesses such as law firms, architectural firms and medical practices are driving a rising share of the demand. Rapidly evolving Web-based technologies are pushing them to invest in technically skilled staff and consultants just to keep pace with competitors.

In the past, many made do with only a basic site that had perhaps a directory of staff, hours of operation and a map.

Now they need blogs, interactive and online purchasing capabilities and constantly updated data streaming.

"In today's environment, everybody is connected to the Web," said Tackabery of James Scott Farrin. "That means your Web site has to be fresh every day and show up on the search engines."

Tackabery's latest hire is a 22-year-old business student whose Web programming skills -- a hobby until recently -- were enough to land him a spot.

"I saw the job on Craigslist, sent my resume and sample Web sites, and I guess it was impressive enough," said Christopher Pendergraft, who works full time at the firm while finishing studies at East Carolina University.

Small businesses in other fields are also investing in Web development to get their message to a greater audience.

"The Internet has made marketing and dentistry a new thing," said Bobbi Stanley of Stanley Dentistry in Cary. About 90 percent of her advertising budget now goes online, up from nothing four years ago, she said.

That rise in IT spending is a boon to consultants who help small companies upgrade their Web presence and develop better systems to manage data. But they, too, are finding it difficult to find and retain qualified workers.

"It's getting to be much more of a candidates' market," said Greg Schmid, a manager for the Ettain Group, a Charlotte IT consulting and staffing firm with offices in Raleigh. Contract workers now routinely fail to provide notice when leaving for a better offer, Schmid said. "They're playing two sides of the court."

To hang on to talent without giving away the bank, some firms are trying to create enjoyable, nurturing environments where creative types can blow off steam.

Employees at Coalmarch Productions wear jeans and T-shirts, fire Nerf guns and rock out on the musical video game "Guitar Hero" between work projects or following a tough 50-hour week. The fun and games are part of the company's recruitment and retention efforts, said Jake St. Peter, president of the Cary IT staffing and consulting company. Coalmarch does work for small firms that can't or choose not to do it on their own.

"We go to lengths to create group enthusiasm because the availability of these people is down from three years ago," St. Peter said. "The extremely talented are very creative, so an environment where they have no control suffocates them. They'll go find a job that pays $6,000 more."