Last year witnessed the evolution of a changing business landscape. There have been changes to job requirements that prompted both working professionals and job seekers to invest in new skills and to ensure that they prepare not only for today but for an ever-changing future. IT professionals are facing numerous disruptions around every corner, from rapidly changing corporate demands to emerging technologies as companies are undergoing significant digital transformations. Companies are now, more than ever, demanding relevancy from their IT teams regarding how they respond to these changes.
IT professionals must learn how to adapt to a dynamic environment where corporate learning and innovation go hand in hand. Further, to address a notable technical skills gap in the market, many decision-makers are recognizing the value of IT certification programmes to foster growth not just at the individual level but on a corporate-wide scale as well.
The challenges and opportunities brought on by an evolving remote landscape have driven IT professionals to seek certification and development programmes to further their skills and capabilities. Keeping in mind that they are also looking towards an immersive learning process, digital learning solutions are also on the rise, providing the same level of interaction as in the real world, but with a higher degree of flexibility.
Among the main reasons the IT skills gap is enduring in today’s economy is the lack of suitable learning opportunities in the workplace. Not only does this cost companies billions of dollars in additional expenditure, it also leads to significant opportunity losses for both organisations and IT professionals. Workplace learning programmes that target upskilling and reskilling the existing IT workforce are more cost and time-efficient. While training an employee from scratch can be very expensive and time-consuming, it takes way less resources to retrain existing employees with online personalised learning programmes that aid in the development of advanced skills. A reskilled workforce translates to continued career advancement as well as better adaptability for new roles. Online learning is increasingly in demand from both students and professionals, and employers and universities fully support this trend. Digital economy skills are crucial to individuals as the foundation of a healthy career, and are essential to employers as a critical resource for digital transformation and long-term competitiveness.
Some of the most popular trends in the IT industry if you’re planning to make a skills investment are cybersecurity, cloud computing, data analytics and data science, networking and wireless, software development, AI and machine learning, project management, programming, IT service management, and virtualization. Of course, the first two in-demand skills are exponentially increasing as more and more people and businesses are going online, while simultaneously cybercrime is also rising thanks to newer tactics to obtain sensitive data. Cloud skills and certifications are also in very high demand because the technology is a game changer; it has opened up new channels of revenue by leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.
As new data continues to accumulate, skills in data analysis will be highly sought after because organizations need professionals – who can store and manage data – and data scientists who can dive into that data and understand how it can be used. Data is a crucial component for businesses because it helps key people make decisions based on facts and trends. Similarly, companies are also increasingly using big data to make data-driven decisions, where AI and machine learning skills are used to identify patterns and trends. In addition to being used for automating time-consuming and menial tasks, AI skills are very important for organizations whose business has been slowed due to the pandemic. Most companies have their employees working from home, and AI can be used to improve endpoint security, safeguard data, and protect devices connected to the corporate network.
Today’s IT workforce cannot afford to ignore the ever-present skills gap. IT professionals with skills and experience relevant to their responsibilities are a must, yet it can be difficult for them to keep up with a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Today’s businesses require practical skills that can no longer be taught in a conventional classroom. Through licensing and training certification programmes, you can help fill in the skills gap and help your IT team to adapt to the evolution of the organization’s demands, further enhancing training effectiveness.
