Cloud faces skills shortage

Here’s yet another report on the state of play in the cloud services world, though this one shows that some businesses might find their growth and development stymied just a bit. The reason is that there is evidence that the UK has a shortage of people with the right skills.

The report comes from Databarracks,and shows that UK organisations are distinctly lacking in cloud-specific competencies and training. According to the company’s  annual Data Health Check Report, 43 percent of UK IT professionals rate their current competence in cloud implementation and management as either poor or very poor, with only seven percent rating it as excellent, despite the fact that 64 percent of organisations questioned are currently using at least one cloud based service.

As part of this year’s report, which surveys over 400 IT professionals from UK-based organisations on the changing ways in which technology is used by businesses today, greater focus was put on assessing the impact of cloud computing on the IT job market, as well as the competency and training of employees.

Despite the obvious lack of confidence in their cloud competency, 54 percent of respondents have received no cloud training in the past 12 months. Databarracks suggests it is even more worrying that 53 percent have made no plans for training in 2014.

Peter Groucutt, managing director at Databarracks, says this is an issue we need to address: “These results paint a worrying picture. The survey doesn’t suggest an immediate threat to jobs as a direct result of cloud computing but as businesses continue to use more cloud services there is clearly a new skillset required to manage them.

“The myth that cloud services will eventually replace in-house IT teams is largely unfounded. What we can expect to see instead is a change in the shape of the job market. Our data shows a significant reduction in tape-based backup and continued growth in general cloud adoption, with minimal job losses. IT departments are evolving. In the past, the majority of their time was spent managing internal systems and a smaller portion was spent on using those systems to support the business.

“Cloud services allow IT teams to focus the majority of their time on using technology to best serve the business. To do this successfully, they still need to be firmly backed up by a strong workforce, with an appropriate set of skills and qualifications. Training in the more commonly used cloud platforms such as VMware’s vCloud and Amazon Web Services will serve particularly useful in the current market.”

Groucutt concludes that these results should act as a warning sign, and need to be addressed in order for organisations to use cloud services successfully in the long term.

“Cloud services have evolved rapidly over the past decade, and their adoption is likely to continue to grow. Our report suggests that the number of organisations who have adopted at least one cloud-based service has risen to 64 percent in the last 12 months. There is no reason cloud computing should be something for the IT department to fear, but employees must ensure that they remain relevant in today’s changing market by gaining the appropriate skills and qualifications.” 

The figures do, however, raise another important issue, which is how much significance actually needs to be attached to the level of cloud services knowledge IT professionals need to have. It can be argued, for example, that it is really business professionals that now need to have the deeper knowledge of cloud computing and what it can achieve for the benefit of the business.

Yes, there still will be staff needed to manage and maintain systems, but many IT staff will now get the opportunity to shift their skills to applications development. But they are likely to meet tech-savvy business management staff with a better idea of what services are needed for the business, and why. So if training is required – and it most certainly will be – then it is in the business applications and implications of cloud services rather than the technology.

Without that there is a danger that many cloud services developments and projects will end up like Big Data – incredibly powerful tools used by people that only have a cursory understanding of what questions to actually ask, or what the answers mean.