IT Earns Strong ‘Vote of Confidence’ for Tech and Business Support

The majority of tech leaders are highly confident that their department can satisfy core IT demands while helping support lines-of-business initiatives, according to a recent survey from TEKsystems. The resulting “2018 Reality Check” report compares survey respondents’ perspectives about the state of IT heading into the current year with how these expectations have actually played out (the latter being the “reality check”). So far, so good—respondents expressed generally positive perspectives about increases in both budgets and staffing. (Salaries, however, are lagging behind anticipated increases.) Nearly 250 IT leaders took part in the research. The following slide show presents highlights from the survey, with charts provided courtesy of TEKsystems.

Two of five respondents said their organization increased its IT budget this year (which is what was predicted late last year), and the same number said the IT budget held steady. Only one of five said it decreased.

Just over one-half of respondents said salaries for their IT employees are rising this year. That’s down from 58 percent who predicted in late 2017 that tech salaries would rise in 2018.

Nearly two of five respondents said their full-time IT headcount has increased this year. Only 7 percent said it has decreased. These findings are fairly consistent with what was anticipated late last year.

About three-quarters of respondents said they are confident that their tech department can meet core IT demands. Only 8 percent said they aren’t confident in their tech department’s ability to do this. These perspectives have essentially held steady since late last year.

Seventy-three percent of respondents said they are confident that their tech department can meet lines-of-business demands. Just 11 percent voice a lack of confidence about this. (Again, these perspectives remain relatively unchanged.)

When asked to list the most critical technology areas that are driving and enabling their company’s business strategies, 58 percent of respondents cited security tech. Cloud computing ranked second, as cited by 48 percent, followed by big data analytics (39 percent), DevOps (36 percent) and mobile apps (33 percent).

One-half of respondents said that—in terms of business impact—critical tech is helping improve customer services and support. Forty-five percent said it is reducing costs.

Two of five respondents said that critical tech is increasing customer satisfaction. Nearly that many said it is helping improve security/mitigate risk, and 35 percent said it is driving innovation.

When asked to list the biggest barriers in successfully executing critical tech, 19 percent of respondents cited a lack of required skills/expertise. Another 12 percent cited the need to serve business by executing/maintaining status quo while still implementing new initiatives, and the same percentage cited budget approval issues. (Note: Respondents could only select one option for a top barrier.)

When asked which tech areas specifically are most difficult to fill with qualified talent, 40 percent of respondents listed cyber-security. Big data analytics ranked second, as cited by 35 percent, followed by DevOps (33 percent), cloud computing (27 percent) and artificial intelligence (20 percent).