Skills drought haunts CIOs heading into recovery mode

Staffing and resource levels continue to dog CIOs as the economy picks up again, however many remain confident they can continue to provide the same level of service for existing business requirements.

On a scale of one to five – one being “strongly disagree” and five being “strongly agree” – local CIOs averaged 2.9 (three is neutral) when asked if their organisation was “resourced properly for current and future success”.

Similarly, when asked if the IT organisation has the right number of skilled people to meet business needs, CIOs responded with an average of 2.9, or just below “neutral”.

The findings are part of the 2010 Gartner Executive Programs CIO Survey.

Despite the lack of skilled resources, CIOs remain confident their IT organisations are able to deliver against the enterprise’s (and business unit’s) strategy.

Linda Price, group vice president of executive programs at Gartner Asia Pacific said staff leaving – or being poached – is still a concern for CIOs and as a result contractor rates are starting to go up again.

CIOs recognise the need to raise IT skill levels, but few are making it a priority.

A low 27 per cent of CIOs believe they have the right number of skilled resources in IT, and only 19 per cent have “building IT personnel” as one of their top five strategies.

That leaves 54 per cent of CIOs that do not have the right skills and are not building up personnel as a matter of priority.

As the economy places a premium on productivity, CIOs will be required to address three main issues: how will the enterprise work differently to create additional capacity with the same level of resources; what structural changes need to be made in the IT organisation to raise productivity and service levels; and how does the CIO increase resource flexibility and focus in on important and changing priorities.