carbonite logo

Commonly searched topics:

backupcloud backupaccount sign in

Article · May 17, 2018

IT skills shortage: How bad is it?

Businesses in the U.S. and Western Europe are struggling to fill important IT roles, according to a new ESG survey. Find out which IT skills are needed most.

IT decision makers in the U.S. and Western Europe are struggling to fill important positions within their organizations, especially when it comes to cybersecurity, according to a new survey from the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG).

ESG surveyed 651 IT decision makers at midmarket and enterprise companies representing more than 20 industries and found other top areas where IT managers face skills shortages include IT architecture planning, server and virtualization administration compliance management and data protection.

"The cybersecurity skills shortage has multiple implications," ESG senior principal analyst Jon Oltsik said. "Organizations don’t have the right sized teams and operate in a perpetually understaffed mode. Often, the cybersecurity team lacks some advanced skills in areas like security analytics, forensic investigations, or cloud computing security, putting more pressure on the most experienced staffers to pick up the slack."

chart

"Finally, many organizations are so busy with day-to-day security operations that they have little time for ongoing cybersecurity training," Oltsik wrote. "According to research from ESG and the information systems security association (ISSA), 62% of cybersecurity professionals believe that their organization is not providing an adequate level of training for them to keep up with business and IT risks."

Ready to learn more? Get expert advice how to staff the most difficult-to-fill IT positions.

Author

Mark Brunelli

Senior Writer

Mark Brunelli is a Senior Writer on the Corporate Marketing team at Carbonite. He blogs about Carbonite happenings and IT industry trends.

Related content