Lack of skills big challenge within IT

The customer experience is the top priority of IT leaders. That’s what respondents say in a Salesforce survey of more than a hundred IT managers. However, the company believes that some technologies or aspects of IT need to be put higher on the agenda. For example, there is a permanent shortage of skills in the workplace.

As many as 77 percent of respondents said they are increasing their investments in customer experiences. A great deal of attention is paid to the integration of systems and data. Customers expect integrated experiences in which their information is known and can be accessed quickly via touch points. However, the average company uses about 900 different applications, of which only 29 percent are integrated.

Security and technology for identity verification also prove to be important, which in turn is in line with the customer experience. 95 percent of IT leaders say they have invested more in security because of public concerns about privacy.

IT leaders also see their employees as a priority. This is the case for 54 percent of the respondents. 21 percent believe that their current IT solutions maximize employee engagement.

Skills shortages

As mentioned, Salesforce believes that some technologies or aspects of IT need to be put higher on the agenda. For example, companies suffer from a structural shortage of the right skills. These are not only skills such as mastering a programming language, but also soft skills. 93 percent of IT leaders now see business acumen as an important skill for technical staff.

However, these skills also revolve around new technologies, which transform the customer’s expectations. It turns out that there are also quite a few challenges involved. For example, 69 percent say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) transforms their business, whether they use it or not. 42 percent of IT companies actually use AI. But only 7 percent of IT leaders have a fully-fledged AI strategy. And the biggest obstacle to AI implementation is the lack of technical skills, followed by competitive priorities.

IT leaders are also interested in blockchain, but are also insufficiently equipped to embrace it. 4 percent of IT leaders have a fully-fledged blockchain strategy and only 6 percent have the right skills in house. However, 22 percent have already found a use case for blockchain.

Mobile First

Finally, there is mobile first that creates challenges. The development of mobile apps is slowed down by a lack of resources, especially working hours and skills. While 99 percent of IT leaders believe that companies need to operate on a mobile basis if they are to grow in the future. 74 percent think that a lack of mobile access to apps, data and information will lower business productivity.

But only 29 percent of respondents actually have staff with the right advanced skills to develop mobile apps. However, standardisation could help in this respect. As a result, 69 percent of IT leaders believe that virtually all mobile apps will be built on a common set of frameworks and standards by 2025.