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Cloud Skills

Taking a proactive approach to the cloud skills gap

Evidence suggests IT leaders will struggle to find the cloud skills that are crucial to digital transformation and organisations that want to gain access to the best talent must take a proactive approach.

As many as 83 percent of IT leaders believe cloud skills are important or critical to their organisation, according to research from Microsoft. Almost a third of executives have sought to recruit team members with these skills in the past year, but more than a third (38 per cent) found it difficult or very difficult to do so.

Microsoft's research suggests many companies (60 per cent) are training existing staff to fill organisational skills gaps. However, evidence also points to a degree of complacency, with many IT leaders simply hoping cloud skills will be easier to source in the future.

Businesses cannot afford to take such a hands-off attitude. Just as the demand for digital transformation increases, so does the requirement for IT professionals who are highly skilled in new technological areas, such as the cloud.

This mismatch between demand and supply is producing an ever-widening skills gap. Government evidence, for example, suggests the UK needs another 745,000 workers with digital skills by the end of this year.

The good news for IT professionals with cloud skills is their expertise is likely to be in high demand. The bad news for businesses searching for experts is that high quality candidates are likely to be both tough to find and expensive to source.

Such concerns help explain why CIOs are focusing on upskilling existing staff. Public and private sector organisations must continue to focus on training and development. They should assess their current skills gap and identify high priority areas.

Businesses can then use this understanding to hone trusted talent with formal qualifications and certifications. Another important route to talent is via relationships with dependable partners who already possess cloud skills, including providers, consultancies and start-ups.

Above all else, CIOs and their business peers must be proactive. Digital transformation will continue to pick up pace and a service-based approach to IT will support many of the changes your business is keen to implement. To be successful, your organisation must find a way to source cloud skills quickly and effectively.

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[references]

Microsoft cloud research:

https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/2017/03/28/uk-companies-suffer-from-cloud-skills-gender-gap-microsoft-research-shows/#sm.0001f1e9jr4b1e0jx032ivk2j1ln7#bzDwB1Z6UIcDd7mu.97

UK digital skills gap:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36510266

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