– Research carried out globally by SoftwareOne, with more than 500 IT decision-makers, points out that the gap in qualified cloud professionals, among other points, burdens IT teams with an average negative impact of 31% on productivity
– Survey also indicates that 62% of respondents have only half of the necessary IT skills to effectively take advantage of Artificial Intelligence, while 41% say they are having difficulty finding employees with this specific knowledge
– The companies' 97% action plan envisages improving the skills of existing staff; of 84% retain current talent; from 98% to attracting new talent; and from 93% the investment in managed cloud services
SoftwareOne, a leading company in software and cloud technology solutions and services, has just released an unprecedented study. The survey, called “Cloud Skills Report: Bridging the talent gap to unlock the potential of cloud technology”, was carried out based on interviews with 500 IT decision makers in the United Kingdom, Benelux, North America and Australia and sought to understand how the cloud skills shortage is affecting IT teams and their priorities in 2024.
Commercial impact
The survey revealed that 98% of organizations around the world are facing a gap in professionals with skills in a cloud, especially when trying to find people with general skills, knowledge of cloud architecture, and adaptation, monitoring, and problem-solving skills. The same percentage of decision-makers interviewed also recognized that this lack of skills had a negative impact on operations in critical areas.
The main problems include delays of around five months in digital transformation projects and the consequent impact on financial objectives; compliance and security risks Dice; in addition to application outages and performance issues, which further impact business operations, productivity and customer experience.
According to the report, the gap in skilled cloud professionals still affects the development of innovations; restricts the expansion of cloud use; and burdens IT teams with an average negative impact of 31% on productivity – which consequently makes talent retention difficult.
Beyond the cloud, AI
As IT teams strive to develop cloud skills, they now face a new challenge as technology advances. Artificial intelligence. This is because 62% of survey respondents report having only half of the IT skills needed to effectively leverage the technology, while 41% say they are struggling to find employees with this specific knowledge, which is limiting their ability to harness the transformative potential of AI .
The research also reveals that to address market shortages, IT leaders are adopting a four-pronged approach: 97% are upskilling existing staff; 84% are retaining current talent; 98% are looking to attract new talent; and 93% are investing in managed cloud services to bridge the gap, which are expected to play a key role in overcoming this challenge. Additionally, the good news is that 87% of respondents believe that in the next five years the cloud skills shortage in their organizations will improve.
Human impact
While organizations suffer from the issue of shortages, IT professionals, in turn, are also impacted by increased pressure and work overload. The report revealed that almost one in four (23%) will leave their current job if the corporate climate does not improve.
The main problems highlighted by professionals are the lack of support to perform the role; tension with bosses and within teams; discomfort when requesting additional training; increased pressure to accelerate digital transformation; difficulties in retaining team members; and spending a third of the work week on monotonous or unmotivating tasks.
According to SoftwareOne Brasil Country Manager, Otavio Argenton, some organizations have a significant amount of scenario-oriented talent on-premises and, when migrating to the cloud, the mindset and work culture need to adjust to a new environment and way of working.
“It's important to understand that transforming years of IT systems administration to a cloud mindset doesn't happen overnight, as it requires a behavioral change coupled with a completely new skill set. It is possible to hire professionals with these capabilities, however, reorienting your existing talent for the new work environment, as well as providing them with additional support, is vital to long-term success”, he highlights.
The role of FinOps
The concept of FinOps (cloud financial management) plays an important role in addressing the current skills gap as it is able to maximize the value of the cloud. “To reap the rewards, the areas of purchasing, finance, DevOps and security must be involved in the development of this cloud management governance structure to ensure assertive decision-making on all fronts”, concludes the executive.
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