Businesses plan action to tackle skills shortfall

Fears over long-term shortages mean IT skills are once again in the spotlight - but this time, business and government are putting their weight behind a plan to make the UK more productive.

Computing revealed last week that UK businesses will invest £2.4bn in employee training over the next three years as part of an IT skills action plan that aims to close the productivity gap between the UK and its international competitors.

The Sector Skills Agreement for IT (SSA for IT) was launched in London by skills body e-Skills UK. And chief executive Karen Price says the role of UK companies has been essential in the plan. 'The initiative is employer-driven, and the amount of commitment employers are making to this plan is unprecedented,' she says.

e-Skills UK developed the action plan after research demonstrated that a quarter of UK businesses lack employees with the everyday IT skills to do their jobs.

Price says employers involved in creating the SSA for IT have focused on creating hybrid technology professionals.

'Business wants a broad platform against which specific skills can be added during an employee's career,' she says.

Alongside the SSA for IT, Computing this week launches our Skills Roadmap, starting with a six-page special report that analyses public and private sector organisations' specific skills requirements over the next three years.

The roadmap traces the three stages of a technology worker's career: graduate, IT professional and IT director.

To help with the roadmap, we have put together a panel of industry experts, including Prudential chief information officer (CIO) John Worth, Thomas Cook's IT director Carl Dawson, and Aston University's director of ICT Fahri Zihni.

We also present the views and advice of e-Skills UK chief executive Karen Price, and Gartner research vice president David Flint.

The Skills Roadmap shows that UK organisations will require certain specialisms in each level of IT worker during the next three years.

Flexibility is the key word for graduates: entrants to the workplace should pay attention to becoming well-grounded, technically competent candidates.

Sandra Smith, IS director at Toshiba UK, says companies and technology leaders take it as an absolute given that graduates will come to the workplace equipped with basic IT skills. But most companies need that little bit extra.

'It's more important that graduates are aware of the possibilities of technology and know how to research and present their findings. Problem-solving, mental energy, planning and lateral thinking always seem to be in short supply. You can't put good systems in without them,' she says.

Worth says technical skills are useful, and an awareness of current and emerging technologies is important, but this is not where the emphasis should lie.

'Graduates need a good grounding in one or two technologies, but there is no guarantee they will actually work with them. WebLogic and Oracle are high on Prudential's technical priorities now, but who knows what the future will hold?' he says.

'The dynamic nature of an IT environment means the ability to change from one technology or platform to another is more important than possessing one or more technical skills.'

IT professionals should also look to broaden their horizons. Technology is all about business processes, and Smith says technology managers would be well advised to improve their holistic approach and design skills.

'There seems to be very few people who are capable of understanding the total environment in which a system has to operate,' she says.

'People who can write web sites don't understand firewalls and security; people who understand about encryption do not understand credit checking; people who understand system performance don't understand links to carrier web sites and identify theft. Because we have specialists for each relatively small area, that adds communications overheads, restricts creativity and adds cost.'

To prove their credentials over the next few years, more IT professionals should start to look at certification, says Fahri Zihni, ICT director at Aston University.

'With greater sophistication in the management of networking, communications and security, one would expect more professionals with accredited qualifications,' he says.

'However, applications and software development tends to vary a lot over time, so the best thing to do here is probably to leave it to the marketplace to respond to these demands.'

IT directors and CIOs should also be in for an interesting few years. Gartner forecasts that at least a third of IT director roles will transform or disappear by 2009.

Simon La Fosse, director of recruitment specialist Harvey Nash, says fundamental changes in the role of the IT director are already taking place. 'There is a clear opportunity for IT directors to step up to the mark. Whether they do or not will be determined on an individual basis.' he says.

Recruitment firm Harvey Nash's annual CIO survey suggests that about 60 per cent of IT directors already have a degree of responsibility outside of IT. Evidence from Computing's Skills Roadmap backs up this assertion. Thomas Cook's Dawson says his role is now far more business-driven than it used to be.

'My job is less IT director and more the person that works out how the business is going to do what it wants to do with technology,' he says.

Increased interaction with the business and further flexibility of roles mean IT graduates, professionals and directors will need all the help they can get in an ever-changing market.