IT talent acquisition challenges are now heavily influencing technology investment decisions, according to new research released by Salesforce’s MuleSoft. The 2022 IT Leaders Pulse Report reveals 73% of senior IT leaders agree acquiring IT talent has never been harder. 98% respondents say attracting IT talent influences their organisation’s technology investment choices.
The report shows that today’s IT leaders are using technology to create more people-centric experiences for their employees and customers. The majority (86%) of senior IT leaders now say the experience an organisation provides its employees and customers is as important as its products and services. Four out of five respondents agree improved customer-facing (86%) and employee (85%) technologies are critical for their organisation to compete.
“Shifting economic headwinds are making technology even more fundamental to success across every part of the business. This includes sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT,” said Matt McLarty, Global Field CTO, MuleSoft. “As IT leaders struggle to fill roles to support this additional demand, the traditional playbook is in question. Today’s IT leaders must look instead to broader, company-wide process improvements, through automation. This foster innovation, enhance user experiences, and drive efficient growth.”
Skills shortage shaping technology investment
Almost nine out of ten (87%) senior IT leaders agree investing in people is hugely important. As a result, the majority of respondents plan to invest in improving IT employees’ wellbeing (82%) and upskilling (78%). Both of which are ahead of increasing IT headcount (68%), over the next 12 months. The report shows:
- The ‘Great Resignation’ has created skills gaps across IT: 98% of senior IT leaders say that the ‘Great Resignation’ has created skills gaps in their organisation’s IT function. This is primarily within IT and solutions architecture (60%), and cloud and infrastructure management (45%).
- Organisations are embracing automation and self-serve initiatives: Many senior IT leaders are turning to automation and self-serve initiatives to address the growing skills gap. Across industries, 58% of organisations are automating tasks and processes. 53% are empowering non-technical employees with automation tools to meet their own needs.
- IT leaders are being measured on user experience: More than half are now evaluated on employee productivity (52%). Many are also measured on cost reduction and optimization (50%), customer experience (48%), and employee experience (46%).
Process improvements foster innovation and efficiency
While creating experiences is crucial, a people-centric IT and business strategy needs efficient processes to succeed. More than half of IT leaders (54%) think that working processes between IT and business teams could be significantly improved. The report also showed:
- Existing IT processes are a bottleneck: Nine out of ten (91%) senior IT leaders say that existing IT processes are hindering productivity. Process challenges are also reported to negatively impact innovation (91%), technology adoption (92%), customer experience (92%), and employee experience (93%).
- Process improvements are high on the agenda: Almost half (46%) of senior IT leaders say that making process improvements is a major priority for their organisation over the next 12 months.
- Fusion teams for process efficiency: A majority of respondents are looking to create fusion teams to improve processes and address process-oriented challenges. 69% of organisations have created or are in the process of rolling out fusion teams. 22% plan to do so within the next 12 months.
Notably, of organisations with fusion teams already in place, 63% of senior IT leaders say these teams have been very effective in helping the business meet its goals.
Automation and low- and no-code tools drive efficiency
Empowerment and enablement through technology drives business growth, and organisations are using best-of-breed technologies to create new customer and employee experiences. While this strategy can increase agility, four out of five (81%) senior IT leaders agree that this approach means that their organisation struggles with IT complexity. What’s more:
- Integration headaches remain: The majority of senior IT leaders believe data or system integration projects take too long (66%) and are too expensive (69%). More than two-thirds (68%) recognise that a lack of data or system integration creates a disconnected customer experience. Consequently, nearly all (98%) senior IT leaders say that new investments are influenced by a tool’s ability to integrate with existing technology.
- Companies are embracing low- and no-code tools: Many senior IT leaders are turning to low-and no-code tools to enable business users to build and test new experiences. 96% of organisations currently use low-and no-code tools, and 36% plan to increase their use over the next 12 months.
- Automation maturity is growing, but there is room for improvement: Many organisations have implemented automation to enhance customer experiences and product quality. Two-thirds of organisations (67%) have either mostly or fully automated their IT operations. Many have introduced similar levels of automation across other business functions. This includes customer support (59%), finance (60%), marketing (58%), sales (56%), and HR (55%). However, fully automated processes remain quite low. An average of 23% of organisations say they’ve been able to achieve this across business functions.
Enterprise Times: What this means for business
Another report highlighting the depth of the talent gap in IT. The headline finding from MuleSoft’s report suggests 98% of senior IT leaders say attracting IT talent is heavily influencing their technology investment choices. Three-quarters agree that acquiring IT talent has never been harder.
The current economic climate leaves IT leaders no choice – they have to do more with less. The tools are there to empower more users to become digital builders and help their organisations grow while improving efficiency. By automating processes where feasible, leaders can realize value faster and accelerate innovation. The report explains why earlier in the year, Salesforce launched the next generation of MuleSoft. The innovation automates any workflow so any technical or non-technical team could adapt to constant change and business complexity. A development which should automate complex business tasks across legacy and modern systems. Important for enterprises looking to save time and resources for key teams, especially during a time of skills shortage.
