Perspectives & Strategy

CIO Canada (March 2009)  reported project that 150,000 IT/ICT jobs will go unfilled by 2015.

Earlier this year I wrote an on-line post called “IT Skills Shortage A Chance for Unemployed Workers?” where I stated “We see it every day, ‘Fantastic opportunities for those who are willing to re-train into IT’. This has been a standard advertising slogan for training companies for as long as I can remember”. There is certainly some differences of opinion on the future of IT. CIO Canada’s editorial comment was talking about long-term outlook and my article was examining short term demands. I still think it is important to understand the changing nature of IT work, and in particular the impact of the current economic situation on IT. There are two distinct areas impacted:

• Corporate IT – the departments that supply solutions to and support the end-user community
• Software solution providers (including professional services)

Corporate IT has been restructuring much over the past and the question of what value IT provides is constantly being asked. In a recent article I  questioned whether IT is providing extraordinary performance. I also stated that “the role of the Head of IT (normally either the CIO or CTO) is changing. The role is becoming one of Chief Change Officer, in other words they are being seen as the best agent for change in the corporation”. IT has a background in identifying corporate requirements, and implementing change where needed. I also questioned whether IT leaders are spending enough time focusing on the areas that deliver the best value to the overall corporation?

This goes to the heart of my many corporate IT Departments have changed over the last 18 months: The head of IT (irrespective of title) now reports to the COO or the CFO in many corporations rather than reporting to the board. This is because the value proposition has changed and IT has not. IT must contribute to improving business results otherwise its role will be one of operational systems management.

The other part of this equation is provided by the software application provided. Out-of-the-box applications are plugging the gap in corporate IT and as a consequence departments that once were 300 or 400 have now more than halved in size. This is consistent with my own experience over the past 5 to 10 years. Have these jobs gone to the solution providers? Whilst it is true that there is often a knowledge gap, particularly in relation to the latest technologies, that does not in itself create a new job.

As we know solution provider’s are headquartered in all corners of the globe and a job lost at a corporate IT department does not equal one added at a solution provider. Unemployment amongst IT professionals is an acute problem, not just in Canada, but all around the world as a change occurs to the corporate IT structures. Retraining IT talent is frequently a challenge as many corporations will not invest the training dollars they should to ensure their staff remain up-to-date.

Ultimately this is one issue that I would prefer to be wrong about. Personally I prefer BCE’s Stephane Boisvert view that “This IT talent gap represents Canada’s greatest human capital challenge” and “The IT talent gap is about hundreds of thousands of career choices. It is about Canadian companies and their ability to hire top IT talent to grow and innovate”. However I fear the alternative view that ITs involvement in the corporate world will be severely diminished. If we look at the new corporate model there are many new businesses without a traditional IT department. These have their services managed by an external company where a single technician services multiple corporations in an area. Adding into the mix Software as a Service there are clearly alternatives available to corporations than spending on their own IT departments.

This is a developing issue that will continue to draw a wealth of views and continues to need to be aired for the benefit if the industry.

See also:

CIOs vs. Canada’s IT Talernt GAP by The CIO Association of Canada