A shortage of skills and talent in IT and business is
threatening business growth, according to analystGartner
.
The analyst said that traditional technical IT skills were
unable to satisfy the burgeoning demand to
develop IT and business together.
Several forces were coming together to stimulate competition for
talent, and companies should adjust their plans for a new reality
of constrained resources, said Gartner.
Gartner analyst Diane Morello said, "What constitutes 'qualified
people' will change. The intersection of business models and IT
requires people with varied experience, professional versatility,
multidiscipline knowledge and technology understanding - a hybrid
professional, in other words."
But with a surge in the number of IT projects, there were simply
not enough such people available, said Gartner.
The analyst said the latest skills shortfall is very different
from the
shortage experienced during the dotcom squeeze of the late
1990s and early 2000s.
Back then there were shortages of specific technical skills and
domain-specific expertise. Today, there are shortages of people
with more general qualifications, experience and business
insight.
The focus now is on understanding and managing business
processes and technology, which takes time to mature, Gartner
said.
Many chief information officers see
outsourcing as a way of making up for lack of talent, but that
is not a solution, according to Gartner, because suppliers are
suffering from the same talent shortages.
It added that many young people in the West see IT as an
unattractive career option because it is hard work and
"uncool". As a result, there is no pipeline of local people
emerging with degrees in computer science or related disciplines
and companies will have to pay more for the same output or reduce
the level of output that can be achieved from flat spending.
Gartner advised businesses to explore alternative ways of
delivering IT service and to keep monitoring markets to spot
emerging threats.
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