These in-demand skills will be a must-have for IT departments
To identify the most desirable IT skills, we looked at the most popular Global Knowledge training courses as well as the following data collected from over 9,000 IT professionals in the upcoming 2020 IT Skills and Salary Report.
Most IT certifications are desired.
The most challenging areas of employment
Top tech investment areas
Weakest IT skill sets
We also considered what skills will be most useful during an economic revival. This year’s list is significant because organizations of all sizes will be dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak for the remainder of 2020 and beyond.
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This is the area to consider
- Security
- Cloud computing
- Data analytics and data science
- Networking and wireless
- Software development
- AI, machine learning
- Project management
- Programming
- IT services management
- Virtualization
Cybersecurity
This years top ranking is Cybersecurity. It is due to the pandemic. As many companies are forced to slow down or reprioritize IT investment and projects, they need to consider which skills will be most beneficial in rebuilding. Recent surveys by the International Data Corporation (IDC), revealed that companies are prioritizing cybersecurity skills regardless of whether they are experiencing economic downturns or slow growth. 1
Cybersecurity should not be neglected, no matter how tight budgets are. Although the physical world has declined in recent months cybercriminals continue to use digital tools to access sensitive data, it is still an important area. The attacks are actually increasing since the pandemic. Since February, phishing emails have increased by 667%.
Prior to COVID-19 cyber security was a priority. Globally, more than half of IT decision-makers plan to invest in cybersecurity in the coming year. For the fifth year straight, cybersecurity is the most difficult IT field to fill. 3
Brad Puckett (Global Knowledge global portfolio director of cyber security) stated, “As the number, frequency, creativity, and severity of cybersecurity breaches grows, so does our shortage of cybersecurity specialists with the proper skills to defend the government, enterprise, and military networks.” “The global shortage of cybersecurity professionals is creating a high demand market for anyone looking to excel in this field and advance their career.”
Cloud computing
Cloud certifications are highly in demand, and they are associated with some of the highest IT salaries. The main reason cloud skills are so important is that they can be combined with any other skill on the list.
Cloud has made the game more interesting. AWS and Microsoft Azure have made the cloud the ultimate enabler. They are opening up new revenue channels through the use of technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. Cloud adoption also has influenced other topics, such as cybersecurity, project management, data analytics, and networking.
Cloud computing is also one of the highest IT investment areas and the most challenging areas for decision-makers to work in. 3
Cloud administrator and cloud architecture are two of the best-suited IT jobs to help with economic recovery. IDC also predicts that IT spending this year will drop by 5.1%, although there may be some growth. 4
Data analytics and data science
New data will continue growing, regardless of whether it is a pandemic. Because data analysts are highly sought after by organizations, they are needed to store and manage data. Data scientists are needed to analyze that data, identify how it can be used to solve issues and make informed choices.
This has created a double-edged problem as organizations have had to struggle with the growing amount of data. IDC estimates that by 2025 the world will produce and replicate 163 billion ZB of data. This is 10x the amount created in 2016. 5 This new data is accumulating constantly, creating security and storage issues that must be addressed. IT professionals are needed to manage the data growth. It’s a top IT issue, and it’s made worse by the fact IT decision-makers cannot find enough people with this skill.
Donovan Scott, Global Knowledge product manager, stated that “data is a vital component for organizations as it helps leaders make decisions on the basis of facts and trends.” “Data scientists and analysts support these efforts, extracting, processing, and analyzing the data to answer the critical questions and make predictions.”
IT professionals who are in an economic slump say data analytics will help them to navigate the road to recovery. 1
Data scientists and data analysts already play an important part in the fight to COVID-19 within the health care industry.
Scott said that “These roles are actively seeking out to determine infection rate and transmission rates, demand for health care services, and establish projections in order to make policy decisions at the local, state, national levels.”
Networking and wireless
Cisco predicts that there will be more devices connected through IP networks than ever before 2023. 6 Network admins and engineers will remain key roles. spending levels in IT infrastructure are predicted by IDC and are unlikely to be affected by a slowdown in the economy.
Cisco is the leader in the market in networking and wireless technology. Professionals in the IT sector are getting certifications in their thousands. Cisco is second in popularity among certification categories. Our 2020 IT Skills and Salary Report revealed that 22% of our nearly 10,000 respondents had earned at least 1 Cisco certification.
Thirty-one percent of IT decision-makers expect Cisco technologies to be a priority area for their business this year. In contrast, 15% expect their company’s investment in networking and wireless LAN.
Development of Software
Software development jobs are expanding faster than any other IT job. The number of jobs for developers of software is expected to rise by 21% in 2028 and 28% in 2028. The growing demand for computer software, and mobile phone apps is the reason for this increase. 7
Decision-makers in IT acknowledge that mobile app developers are one of the weaker skills in their team, despite this demand. Professionals with these skills will be highly sought after and most likely highly recompensed. Professionals in IT of Northern America are paid nearly one hundred and forty thousand dollars a year for being certified in the application development field. 3
Machine learning and AI
As big data becomes more important for decision-making, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI), skills will continue to be in high demand. AI and machine learning can identify patterns and trends that humans are unable to see or process by traditional methods.
They can also help automate tedious or time-consuming tasks. It’s not surprising that AI is a major investment area in 2020.
AI is also crucial for businesses whose operations have been hampered by the pandemic. Nearly every company has remote workers. Machine learning, AI, and machine learning are available to increase endpoint security. These devices and data can be connected to corporate networking.
IDC predicts that AI will grow by 12.3% year-over-year. However, IDC believes AI will rebound faster than other industries.
Jennifer Hamel is IDC’s research manager for Analytics and Intelligent Autonomy Services. She stated that the pandemic caused a halt to market growth for AI services in most regions. “Despite delays to other discretionary initiatives, we expect that the enterprise demand for AI capability to boost business resilience and human productivity in 2020 will sustain double-digit growth.”
IT decision-makers will need to find a method to provide training for their employees as AI and machine intelligence grow in demand. According to 2020, IT Skills and Salary Report AI and computer learning was the second-weakest skill category. 3
Project Management
Eighty-seven percent of IT decision-makers think that skills gaps pose a moderate to high risk to team objectives. This is why project planning becomes more crucial than ever.
There are many roadblocks that prevent projects from being completed on time and within budget. The job of a project manager is to plan, communicate, and implement a project strategy. IT is judged according to the success or failure of projects.
“In an era of uncertainty, you need project managing skills that help teams concentrate on providing the right benefit for their employers,” said Sean Braly. Global Knowledge is a senior agile project manager and scrum master. “Striving for excellence in project managing through continual education and improvement will allow you to deliver that value consistently with high quality.”
Braly identifies communication and change management as his most valuable skills for project management. It’s vital that project managers can adapt to changes, communicate with multiple audiences, resolve conflicts, and set expectations.
IDC believes that the IT skills shortage will have a global financial impact of $775 billion by 2022. This number is up from $302 trillion in 2019. It comes down to missed revenue, delayed product/service release, or higher cost. A good project leader keeps the focus on what’s important, even when disruptions arise and create havoc within a team.
Project Management Professional (PMPr) is a very important professional certification. It’s the fifth highest-paying U.S. certification ($143,493). 3PMP is also an option for cross-certification. Combining this project management credential along with other popular certificates can have a major impact on your earnings.
Programming
11 Computer programming jobs are predicted to drop seven percent by 2028. However, coding jobs as a subset should grow to 28M worldwide over the next decade. 12
C#, JavaScript, Python, and JavaScript are the most common programming languages. As mobile apps grow in popularity, so will the need for programmers. Network engineers need to be proficient in coding. As networks become more complex, there is a greater demand for automated configuration and operational tasks.
Programmers are needed more than ever as organizations become increasingly data-driven. Programmers or developers in IT earn an average of $110,000 per year in the U.S./Canada. 3 Certification holders earn an average of $140,000 each year.
IT-service management
The role of IT service management, commonly known as ITIL(r), is undoubtedly important in recovery. Because organizational objectives will change over time, it is essential to establish a set of best practices to ensure that IT operations are aligned with the strategies of the business.
As more companies depend on remote workers for their operations, ITIL(r) certified professionals will be a key part of helping improve the capabilities and managing all aspects of the IT lifecycle.
ITIL is the certification that is the most popular this year. It’s held in 17% off our IT Skills and Report of the salaries base.
Virtualization
Virtualization continues to be an effective way to reduce IT expenditures and increase IT agility. These are both critical capabilities that are desperately needed right now.
Virtualization is a significant concern for all organizations of all sizes. In fact, in the 2020 year it is the number eight tech-related area around the world. Virtualization is a major concern for companies of all sizes. In fact, it was the No. VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualization ranked 9th in the U.S., and Citrix Certified Professional – Virtualization ranked 15th.
A report from Spiceworks claims that virtualization adoption is likely to increase by two digits over the next two years. Spiceworks predicts an increase in application virtualization from thirty-nine percent now to fifty-six percent %by 2021.
Conclusion
Two skills that aren’t in the top 10: Blockchain and the IoT. These technologies which are emerging have a growing use, and the shortage of professionals that are skilled in their areas is not yet catching up.
20% of IT departments are planning to put capital into the Internet of Things for 2020. IDC forecasts that IoT spending in 2020 will slow but bounce back to two times the growth. This type of automation is a great way to increase the efficiency of the business.
Blockchain is a technology that is promising that many enterprises still haven’t fully embraced. While in the IT sector who makes decision are excited to put their money in it, they consider blockchain the IT skill which is the weakest. To fully realize the potential of blockchain in the IT sector, more training is necessary.
Donovan Scott noted that “Blockchain development skills and skills, in particular, are highly sought after.” “As government and organization continue to investigate use cases and develop them, it is important that professionals are skilled in implementing solutions and who can grasp the complexities of these issues.”
With the rise of disruptions in the supply chain during the pandemic, companies tracking inventory via blockchains have better visibility into their products. They can pinpoint locations of the products, and road blocks, as well as devise mitigation strategies to overcome them. These insights are useful for vendors and customers to understand the timing of product availability and help them get their products into the marketplace faster.
ABOUT AUTHOR
Over 4 years’ experience in the research industry. Experience with research and consulting projects, catering to domains such as ICT, Health & Pharma, and packaging. Managed projects on both B2B as well as B2C perspectives, which includes consumer preference analysis, interviews with key executives, etc
