A research by VCE shows that CIOs in general are thinking they can’t meet the tech needs of their companies. The lack of skills is just part of the problem.
VCE has created its Endangered IT report which looks at the concerns of IT departments in the business world. It also seeks to learn about their needs and what it can be done to improve their operations.
The report featured responses from more than 2,700 C-level executives, as well as a mix of IT and business decision-makers, working in companies with 50 to 1,000 employees, from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). It’s latest edition shows interesting trends.
For long has been thought that the lack of digital skills is the main problem for businesses. The EU forecasts about 800 000 to a million IT workplaces to remain unfilled by 2020 alone. While the lack of qualified employees is certainly a huge problem for companies, it is not the only IT-related issue. It turns out that CIOs are not sure what technologies to use and whether or not they will be suitable for the companies they are responsible for.
For example, 34% of the CIOs in the report are wondering how to use big data analytics and management for the roll-out of new services and products. Another 40% are saying working with these technologies in general is their biggest IT challenge.
A total of 68% of CIOs are concerned about the pressure on existing infrastructure and staff which will be put by the rising need of speeding up product release cycles. This is something CIOs expect to happen within five years and they will need new tech to make it happen. The problem is, they are not sure what technologies to use.
Overly critical
The VCE report also notes that CIOs tend to be more critical of their own work than their leaders. In general CEOs have more confidence in their IT departments, while CIOs are more worried they might not be able to deliver. But when the leaders also have such concerns, then problems begin.
“The way businesses go to market, the technologies and techniques they use to develop new products tend to focus more on the software nowadays, and they look internally and say, ‘do I have an infrastructure capability and people I need to do that?’,” Nigel Moulton, CTO for EMEA at VCE, told Computer Weekly.
“That’s where you start to see a disconnect between IT people saying ‘we might not be skilled up for this’ and business leaders saying ‘if you’re not, I’ll go and spend money outside the organization, because I need to get this done’.”
A way of solving this issue is with clear communication within the company. The managers and leadership should be able to talk these issues out whenever they start to arise and seek possible solutions. The sooner such decisions are made, the better the company will be able to react and adapt if changes are needed. Plus it gives more time to find and train employees for the new tech.
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