The bridge between your business and IT department

A skill shortage is when there are not enough people with a skill to meet demand. In an ever-changing technology world, a skill shortage is a huge cause for concern in IT.

Therefore, skill shortages are a pain for CIOs globally. This is especially as emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of Things will give organisations a competitive edge.

According to Serviceteam IT Beyond the Cloud: UK Technology Research 2018, 70% of respondents did not have or were unsure whether they had the resources to fully capitalise on these technologies.

In addition, for the fourth consecutive year, the Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey concluded that big data and analytics are the top of the skill shortage critical list. As two-thirds of IT leaders comment that this is preventing them from keeping up with the pace of change, intervention is necessary.

Part of the Problem

Emerging tech is very much a 21st century phenomenon. Therefore, it is unsurprising there are few skilled data scientists. It is rare to see a university offering a pure data science degree, although computer science has been growing as a discipline.

Yet, the percentage of schools offering computer science as a GCSE or A-Level is even more limited. With these figures, it looks like it will take a few years for skilled data scientists to emerge in the UK workforce.

How can we manage the skill shortage?

Given the turbulent nature of the UK currently, namely Brexit, GDPR and cyber-security, we need to be doing all we can to keep pace in the global technological race.

Many companies are not in the financial position to invest in emerging technologies or are unwilling to. Both are understandable given the UK climate. As we mentioned, companies also lack the skills to build these applications.

So, why not rent?

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft, IBM to name a few are building applications for facial recognition, voice recognition and image classification ready for you to rent in the cloud. The best part is…no commitment is required.

An example

AutoML – a Google system – automatically creates a machine learning model from content uploaded by the client. In short, in-house takes a lot of time perfecting algorithms in search of the best solution. Instead, AutoML (as an example) is time efficient and could free pressure on company resources.

What you can do today

It is advised that a CIO will need to employ people with a different skillset – someone who is able to bridge the gap between the business and the IT team. These individuals can engage with your business and point out the areas for concern to make the company run more smoothly. In addition, create solutions.

A highly qualified and skilled workforce is not always necessary.

How to get in contact with a ‘bridger’

Luckily for you, you are on the right website. Serviceteam IT pride itself in years of technical knowledge as a consulting business who provide the most applicable technology to an organisation. See us as your bridge between the business and IT and prevent the strong current in between.

The current can be anything from Brexit concerns to skill shortages to cyber-security and many more.

It is not just your business who is struggling with a skill shortage. It is unlikely the turbulent road will change soon. However, please contact us to help you understand how to mitigate the size of the problem.