Over half of IT decisions are now made outside of the IT department. It is reality that trends like the consumerisation of IT and cloud are rapidly changing the balance of IT decision-making in organisations of all sizes.
In the recent Capgemini report ‘Business Cloud: The State of Play Shifts Rapidly’ it was reported that 45% of all cloud decisions are now made outside of IT. This shift of power in decision-making has significant impact on the skills which certified technical professionals need to succeed in today’s complex world.
Now, effective IT leaders need to build a deep understanding of business models and strategy, develop strong relationships with business decision-makers, and become more internal customer oriented.
An employee with an IT certification will add high value to your organisation due to the skills and expertise which naturally come with experience. Certified professionals are likely to be more confident at making decisions and more active — creating greater workplace efficiency and lower operational costs.
A recent IDC study which looked at the professional benefits of IT certifications found that procrastination levels were slashed by up to 20% in organisations where employees possessed IT certifications.
In addition, network management budgets were reduced by 20% and network security support saved up to 30% on their annual budget spend.
Microsoft Certified Professionals are particularly valuable to IT organisations and set a high benchmark in terms of expertise and knowledge in their ‘mobile first, cloud first’ strategy. According to Microsoft, hiring capable and certified professionals can increase customer satisfaction, reduce network downtime and push service to a higher level.
Employees who are actively seeking out new skills and always adapting to the changing IT landscape are more valuable than an experienced worker who is happy to coast along using the same old tricks. This is why a dedicated individual who has made the effort to study a certification deserves that opportunity over an unskilled candidate.
You only have to look at Cisco’s own research to see that certified employees earn on average 10% more than those without Cisco training and certification who are working in networking, data centre and security roles.
“An IDC study which looked at the professional benefits of IT certifications found that procrastination levels were slashed by up to 20% in organisations where employees possessed IT certifications”
The world of IT is evolving fast, and those fussy clients who will only work with certified IT professionals are about to become the majority. Customers regard qualifications as a sure sign of capability, so if your business is distinctly lacking in certifications then you’d better hurry before you miss the boat. According to IDC research, by 2018, 40% of jobs will be in information technology, professional and business services.
The astronomical call for large networks, big data, cloud computing, security and video technologies will lead to a surge in IT jobs, and employers will need an estimated 22 million workers to cope with the demand. Post-secondary degrees are believed to be the minimum requirement for a role of this kind with IT certifications considered a required add-on.
There has never been a better time to invest in the personal development of IT professionals. Leading organisations are recognising this important evolution in the relationship between IT and business and are helping technical professionals build capabilities in competencies like business influence, relationship building and customer service orientation.
This important investment will ensure that IT and business can work effectively together and use technology to improve productivity and innovate to win against their competition.
Steven Purcell is country manager at Global Knowledge Ireland.
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