What direction is the IT industry heading? According to MuleSoft Researchβs IT Leaders Pulse Report 2022 β where 1,000 senior IT leaders from around the globe were interviewed over an online survey, there are common trends within the industry as it progresses into a more technologically-engaged world. Here are 5 trends in the IT industry based on the studyβs findings:
- Employee wellbeing is a major investment priority
Recognizing the value of creating positive employee experiences to attract and retain talent, organizations and business leaders are now placing greater emphasis on the wellbeing of employees. According to MuleSoft Research, 86% of IT leaders agree that the experience an organization provides to its employees is just as crucial as its products and services. As a result, investing in employees has become a vital factor in achieving company success. The study reveals that 78% of the IT leaders surveyed have concrete plans to upskill their existing IT employees over the next twelve months. In line with the prevailing post-pandemic trends, IT leaders are also prioritizing the enhancement of remote and flexible working capabilities.
- Growing skills gap poses challengesΒ
The IT industry has long grappled with the challenge of skills gaps in managing and implementing new technologies. This issue, however, has been further exacerbated by the pandemic and the significant wave of job departures in 2021. Survey findings indicate that the situation has escalated, with 60% of senior IT leaders reporting skills gaps within their IT and solutions architecture function and 45% identifying gaps specifically in cloud and infrastructure management.
- Different ways of addressing skills gap
IT leaders are actively finding solutions to tackle the skills gap issue. They are increasingly adopting automation and self-serve initiatives β 58% of organizations across the industry have embraced task and process automation as a means to address this issue. Also, 60% of these organizations are investing in new technologies to address the skills gap. Other common strategies include outsourcing IT functions, empowering non-technical employees to meet IT needs, and reskilling existing employees.
- New push to enhance collaboration between IT and business teams
The role of IT has grown: it now solves business-critical problems as well as being a technology enabler.Β This shift necessitates closer collaboration between IT and business teams. However, an overwhelming 98% of IT leaders expressed the belief that there is room for improvement in the working processes between IT and business teams.
- Balance between security compliance and customer experience seen as a challenge
More than 77% of senior IT leaders agree that internal security and governance risks are as high as external ones β with 83% saying they monitor how employees access and use customer data. Balancing the need for robust security measures with the delivery customer experiences, however, poses a significant challenge: 63% of IT leaders admit that their security and governance controls have a negative effect on the customer experience.
