The IT skills gap is a real issue in the United States and throughout the world. According to a recent study conducted by CompTIA about 46% of companies struggle to attract talented IT professionals.
An IT skills gap is defined as when the demand for an IT skill or job role exceeds the supply of qualified professionals. Despite the growing addiction to technology, actual IT skills are scarce. And most of companies do not even have a formal strategy in place to overcome this.
With IT playing an essential part in business survival, the need for well-qualified and skilled IT professionals has risen exponentially over the past few years, but the churn has yet to match the demand.
IT skills typically have a two-year life span, which means what professionals know today will be outdated after two years. This constant evolution makes bridging the gap between employee skills and company needs critical for any firm.
The cybersecurity skills shortage
In 2016, hackers extorted businesses and institutions for more than $209 million, in 2017 the number rose to $5 billion and by 2019 it is expected to exceed $11.5 billion. These numbers indicate one thing — the need for cybersecurity professionals. Yet, a report from (ISC)2 reveals a worldwide workforce skills gap for a staggering 3 million cybersecurity professionals.
With the rise of the various strains of malware and cybercriminals becoming increasingly organized and aggressive, enterprises require talented professionals which is in short supply.
This lack of talent not only puts companies at the risk of security breaches but also delays innovation and slows down the continued growth toward digital transformation and cloud adoption.
The enterprise application integration (EAI) skills concerns
Enterprises these days use multiple point solutions for varied processes across the IT landscape. These applications often require integration to make the processes efficient. Using multiple integration technologies makes it harder and more expensive to hire the necessary skills. It also increases a company’s dependence on the handful of employees who know how to use each tool.
Legacy skills gap reaching crisis point for many businesses
Legacy technology has always been IT’s biggest challenge. Legacy systems run on outdated platforms and need experts who in many cases are on the brink of retirement. Reliance on legacy technology has the potential to exacerbate an IT landscape already short on skills. With the constant change in technology, it’s becoming increasingly hard to replace professionals who are adept at working with these technologies, as many are now reaching the end of their careers.
Also, employees entering the IT profession currently want to work with cutting edge technology and don’t want to learn about systems that are outdated. Without having an in-depth knowledge of these legacy systems or having access to those who implemented the systems, organizations can never be sure that every functionality and process is covered with the new system which can cause risk to the business.
Lack of specialization in current technology
One of the critical reason for the shortage of required skills in the IT sector is the lack of specialization in particular fields. Employees who specialize in a skill are able to focus better and make work easier. But, specialization can be a double-edged sword. For someone who is specialized only in one field might not be flexible enough to work on something else when needed.
Join our webinar to discover key ways to address the skill gap
The skills gap is a vicious circle – people can’t obtain quality jobs, and companies are struggling to find qualified talent. To close this gap, organizations need to form a solid action plan and execute it.
Join our webinar 5 Ways to Close the Skills Gap which is being co-presented by Tim Herbert, vice president, Research & Market Intelligence at CompTIA, and Rachael Walker, director of product marketing at Kaseya, to learn how you can effectively bridge the skills gap in your enterprise.
