IT suffering 'dire shortage' of core skills

The lack of core IT skills is a major impediment to modernising key IT assets, according to a survey by application-management company Micro Focus.

According to the study, published on Monday, there is a shortage of IT skills across Europe and the US, even though such skills are core assets needed during a recession.

Part of the problem is that businesses are now focusing on newer areas such as web 2.0, without realising that the skills to support core infrastructure are lacking, Micro Focus chief executive Stephen Kelly told silicon.com sister site ZDNet UK. "In this survey, we are not devaluing web 2.0," he said. "The problem is that newer technologies cannot succeed unless they are supported by the core infrastructure."

While some 60 per cent of those surveyed said that core systems and databases are business-critical, 56 per cent confirmed that newer, web-based technologies are the skills currently being recruited for the most. The survey, conducted with the Insead business school, was carried out among 450 chief financial officers, chief information officers and human-resources directors in France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US, in companies with revenue from $100m to more than $1bn.

Some 60 per cent of chief financial officers surveyed said skills to modernise core IT assets are the most valuable in a recession, indicating that an economic downturn demands that companies focus on core systems. However, less than a third of CIOs (29 per cent) said they are recruiting enough core IT asset specialists, while 47 per cent said they are not, and 24 per cent said they did not know.

Less than a quarter of CIOs (16 per cent) said they have any confidence that they are using the right recruitment strategies for the vital skills and knowledge required.

This is the second year that Micro Focus, a Newbury-based supplier of data-management and modernisation tools and known as a backer of Cobol, has run the survey.

According to Kelly, this year's results show little change. "Last year, we highlighted that IT was the forgotten corporate asset but, this year, the survey really shows that the shortage of people with the right skills for work on key areas like IT infrastructure is even more pressing," he said. "Across Europe and even in the US, we are facing a dire shortage."

Original article: Micro Focus: IT faces 'dire shortage' of core skills from ZDNet UK