If you have a sense that your clients’ struggles with the IT talent gap have intensified lately, you’re on to something. Among North American IT decision-makers, 75% say they face a skills shortage, and few expect it to ease over the next two years.
How the IT talent gap hurts
Not all IT talent gaps are created equal. Cybersecurity and cloud computing skills are most in-demand and there’s little relief in sight. By 2022, the cybersecurity workforce gap will stand at 1.8 million. Lack of IT talent also plagues cloud computing, big data, analytics, and information management.
Whatever the reasons – less corporate training, poor understanding of the skills needed, a breakneck pace of technological change and increasing complexity, not enough money or perks – the IT talent gap is dinging a lot of bottom lines:
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% of IT decision-makers citing the IT talent gap as contributing to… |
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| Increased stress on existing employees | 62% |
| Difficulty meeting quality objectives | 44% |
| Delays in developing new products/services | 41% |
| Delayed deployments of new hardware/software | 36% |
| Declining customer satisfaction | 32% |
| Increased operating costs | 29% |
| Loss of business to competition | 25% |
| Difficulty reaching revenue growth objectives | 23% |
| Loss of revenue | 22% |
Source: Global Knowledge 2018 IT Skills and Salary Report
The IT talent two-step your clients need
Unless your clients’ number among those running extensive IT operations – where it makes economic sense to sustain highly specialized expertise on staff with expanded recruiting, learning sabbaticals, apprenticeship programs, etc. – they probably have difficulty retaining sufficiently qualified IT staff.
Fortunately, there’s a straightforward two-step solution:
1 Teach your clients the value of certifications
Continuous learning and training are now part of a tech expert’s life – and one of the key ways to continuously learn is via earning certifications. These days, 89% of IT workers worldwide hold at least one certification; the average among IT workers is three. And no wonder:
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% of North American IT decision-makers indicating certification benefits in… |
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| Closing organizational skill gaps | 46% |
| Meeting client requirements | 45% |
| Taking less time to troubleshoot issues | 35% |
| Getting an edge over competitors | 35% |
| Boosting productivity | 33% |
| Completing projects faster | 31% |
| Reducing employee turnover | 28% |
| Deploying products/services quicker | 22% |
| Making hiring easier | 21% |
| Reducing direct or indirect expenses | 11% |
Source: Global Knowledge 2018 IT Skills and Salary Report
2 For staffing, turn to the right kind of technology consultant
In our era of lightning-quick technological evolution, your clients are better off with a deeply experienced, award-winning technology consultant that offers expert professional IT services , an extensive suite of cloud and managed services anchored by a global network of highly secure and resilient state-of-the-art data/network operations centers , tailorable support plans that ease the burdens of day-to-day IT management – and a sophisticated IT-focused staffing service .
What makes this approach different – and valuable to anyone seeking well-screened IT expertise — is its emphasis on highly qualified IT talent.
Whether your clients need better security, cloud integration, an IT infrastructure assessment, server migration, mobile apps, improved network performance, a business continuity do-over, or something else, this sort of multi-faceted technology consultant will get them the certified experts they need , whether it’s as staff (direct-hire, staff augmentation, or temporary/temp-to-hire), or via project-based professional services projects, or via cloud/managed services.
Make sure the technology consultant your clients choose offers technical and IT-focused staffing services that access a relationship-centered, carefully screened pool of top talent. And make sure these services are augmented with certified training courses on topics ranging from application development to cybersecurity to project management as well as end-user training and cloud computing training.
