The COVID-19 pandemic has caused organizations of all sizes to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. Organizations are digitizing business processes, consolidating systems and data, and adopting cloud services to facilitate work-from-home models.

One major obstacle is the limited supply of IT labor. Many organizations already face challenges managing and maintaining their existing IT infrastructure, particularly with IT teams also working remotely. Without the right people with the right IT skills, new initiatives are likely to stall.

According to the Global Knowledge 2020 Skills and Salary Report, 78 percent of global IT decision-makers face skills gaps that prevent them from filling current and future needs. Additionally, 77 percent rated the risk to their organization as medium or high. There is a real cost to the bottom line — 67 percent of those surveyed said their employees lose up to nine hours of productivity weekly or more than $26,000 per employee annually due to IT skills gaps.

Why the IT Skills Gap Persists

The skills gap has been a persistent problem in the IT industry for years. In fact, 2020 represents the first time in four years that the percentage of IT decision-makers reporting skills shortages did not increase.

That’s not to suggest that the problem is going to go away. Forty-five percent of survey respondents said it’s difficult to attract candidates with needed skills, and 35 percent said they’d hire more people if qualified candidates were available. More than a third (37 percent) said they are unable to pay what candidates demand. These problems are particularly acute in key areas such as cybersecurity and the cloud.

With a limited talent pool to draw from, organizations must develop the skills of their existing IT staff. However, the Global Knowledge report notes several challenges with training and development programs:

• 45 percent of respondents said their programs don’t keep pace with technology change
• 42 percent said their organization hasn’t invested enough in training and development
• 34 percent said their programs aren’t effective in developing needed skills

Deficient training and development programs don’t just make it difficult to fill skills gaps. Organizations also face greater IT staff turnover. Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of IT professionals changed jobs because previous organizations did not invest in their development.

How Rahi Can Help

If your organization struggles with the IT skills gap, Rahi’s ELEVATE framework can help. Based on industry standards and our years of experience helping customers in a wide range of industries, the ELEVATE framework provides the model for the successful delivery of IT services. It encompasses a comprehensive suite of consulting and professional services that help optimize your IT environment and lay the foundation for digital transformation. 

The Managed component of the ELEVATE framework includes monitoring, remote management and service delivery that helps free your team from many day-to-day tasks. This allows you to dedicate in-house resources to business-enabling initiatives and enables your team to focus on career-building projects. We can help you develop a management plan for your environment, and deliver dashboards and reports that provide actionable insight into service metrics. 

The demand for new technologies exceeds the supply of workers who are trained, credentialed and experienced in those areas. Organizations have a difficult time attracting and retaining the talent they need. When they do find the right talent, those resources are often overburdened with day-to-day maintenance and support. Partnering with Rahi is an ideal way to close the skills gap and avoid falling behind the technology curve.