A global survey of 400 IT leaders provides some significant insights into the types of IT expertise that organizations might be willing to consider relying on a provider of IT services to provide.
Conducted by the Linux Foundation, the survey identifies artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning engineering (47 percent), cybersecurity and compliance (40 percent), FinOps and cost optimization (36 percent), platform engineering (34 percent), and cloud computing (29 percent) as the areas where organizations are most understaffed.
Where expertise matters most
The top three areas organizations are looking for additional expertise include AI security and risk management (57 percent), IT operations and monitoring (57 percent) and cost optimization for AI workloads (54 percent).
In terms of where AI will add the most value, the survey identifies software development (55 percent), IT infrastructure optimization and monitoring (42 percent), customer service/help desks (38 percent) and data analysis and reporting (36 percent) as the areas where it will have the most impact.
The challenge for IT leaders is a natural bias toward hiring or retraining staff to build new skills and expertise. Nearly half of respondents (49%) plan to fill IT talent gaps by hiring additional staff. Another 34% say they will hire and train entry-level IT personnel. In contrast, only 22% plan to engage a consultant.
At the same time, however, more than half of the respondents (56 percent) said it can take longer than four months to hire the right candidate. Additionally, just under half (46 percent) said finding the right skills delays projects (46 percent). Recruitment is costly/time-consuming (40 percent), and verifying the technical skills of job applicants takes time (35 percent), the survey finds.
Biases for internal vs outsource
Given those issues, it’s not surprising that more IT leaders are looking to rely on external expertise to fill in the gaps. After all, most business leaders would rather avoid adding full-time employees when possible. However, some leaders resist external expertise. They often want to build internal teams and expand their own organizations.
Regardless of the reason, IT service providers need to assume that whatever respect they are given by an internal IT team is being given begrudgingly. That doesn’t mean IT teams are not willing to work with external IT service providers but there is this nagging sense, for one reason or another, deemed to be not up to the task. Ultimately, it’s a point of pride.
The challenge, therefore, is finding ways to gently remind internal IT teams that some skills can only be gained via hands-on experience. There is no need to be obnoxious about it but there are times when internal IT teams are going to need to give an external expert their due. Similarly, there are times when a provider of an IT service will need to similarly give an internal IT team their due. The challenge is finding a way to make that happen in a way that creates a truly better outcome for the organization both teams ultimately serve.
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