Agile, AI, IoT, and the Modern IT Team

As smart technologies and connected machines become more mainstream across industries, artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, and more emerging technologies will shape how IT teams are staffed and how they get work done.

For instance, lines of business leaders no longer need to request server resources from the IT department because they can attain them directly from the cloud with a quick credit card transaction. Employees and customers expect their enterprise application experience to work similarly to and as well as the consumer apps they tap on their smartphones. And C-level executives are turning to IT to be sure the business is aware of and adopting the hottest new technologies to gain a competitive advantage.

Still, despite all these advances in technologies, many companies are still slow to embrace the tools in the workplace as a whole.

What’s the IoT Challenge?

A 2019 IoT Signals report from Microsoft surveyed 3,000 IT professionals and decision-makers in several companies across the globe. Of the respondents, 88% said technology is “critical to business success.” At the same time, 97% of those adopting IoT technology say they had security concerns, though that did not necessarily stop them from adopting.

Of the reasons cited as challenges to adopting IoT technology, some 38% said complexity and technical challenges were the biggest hurdles, and more than half (47%) said they didn’t have enough skilled workers. Just under half (44%) of respondents said their organization didn’t have the available resources to train workers in the technology.

What does this mean for the IT team? As these technologies make their way into the mainstream, they will certainly change their roles. No longer is IT only responsible for software fixes or log monitoring to determine where problems occurred. Now IT will be tasked to invest in technologies and adopt business practices that can lead to better efficiency, as devices with real-time sensors connected to the Internet collect volumes of data that can provide meaningful insights to the business.

Minding the Skills Gap

To keep up with the demands of this brave new world, the skills IT professionals need to thrive must evolve as fast as the technology. These workforces may already be falling behind.

According to a report from Deloitte, more than half (51%) of CIOs surveyed said there is a significant mismatch between current skill sets and future needs, and a major reason for this is that employees come to them with highly specific skill sets—such as specific software like SAP—that aren’t easily transferred to new roles as technology evolves. As a result, many employees will either require retraining or employers will be forced to replace them with workers with hard-to-find skillsets.

The same Deloitte report says that “technology athletes,” workers who know how to solve problems through technology, will be the highest in demand. Unfortunately, they will also be the hardest to find. According to the survey, some 65% of CIOs surveyed say workers with skills in analytics and data science will be the hardest-to-find technical skills in the next five years.

According to a report from The Future of Work, employers are on the lookout for IT employees with skills that enable them to quickly react to customer’s needs and to have the mindset of DevOps, which connects application developers with IT operations, enabling the creation of higher-quality software. IT domains such as development, operations, and security will be expected to work together to deliver high-performing apps across a reliable, secure network.

The report also notes the need for IT teams to develop agile development practices, being able to script and alter software, whether cloud-based or “off-the-shelf,” to fit the organization’s needs. Finally, they must be skilled in predictive analytics, the ability to identify security threats in real-time and before they occur to avoid business disruptions.

IT in the Era of Digital Transformation

IT is no longer a back-office must-have for the business; in today’s fast-paced digital economy, IT becomes a strategic differentiator for the business. And that means IT leaders will be called upon to apply their technological expertise to real-world business problems and help drive growth for the business. In the future, they will be business partners who can combine soft skills such as communication and business savvy with their tech know-how to solve problems before they occur and spot opportunities in emerging technologies.

While it’s unlikely companies will turn over IT responsibilities solely to the machines, it’s time for IT to take advantage of the speed and accuracy machines bring to the workforce. IT professionals can then focus their brainpower on learning new skills that will help the business keep pace with technology advances and stay ahead of the competition.