CompTIA Research Reveals Gaps in IT Skills Influence Majority of Companies

A recent research study by CompTIA reveals business operations in a majority of companies are suffering more gaps in the IT skill sets of their employees.

"Even as the importance of technology to business success grows exponentially, few organizations are exactly or even very close to where they want to be with technology utilization and staff skill levels. These gaps are hampering business success," Terry Erdle, executive vice president at CompTIA (News - Alert), said in a release.

The research found that constant changes in the technology solutions market and a general lack in training resources widen those gaps. In an effort to address this growing concern, companies are increasing their training resources.

"Millions of businesses are clearly not where they want to be when it comes to optimizing their utilization of technology and in the skill levels of their IT staffs,” added Erdle. “Even modest improvements in these two areas would yield tremendous benefits in operational efficiencies, business productivity and economic growth."

Based on CompTIA’s study, 41 percent of responding companies said gaps in IT skills limits staff productivity, while 32 percent said it affects their customer service offering and engagement. 31 percent of the polled companies said that security is a major concern for them while 34 percent respondents said that lack of skill set slows the market for IT businesses.  

"With core technologies, new options for their usage translate to the need for more and different skills,” said Amy Carrado, director of market research, CompTIA. “Emerging areas will require IT staff and end users to have sufficient new knowledge bases and skill sets to maximize the return on technology investment."

Research also revealed that gaps in skill sets were predominant in existing core areas of the business as well as in emerging areas. Addressing this issue is a core requirement for majority of the companies. These companies want to bridge the IT skills gap by providing training resources and retaining already trained staff.

Added Erdle: "The expected commitment to more education is an encouraging sign. IT professionals have a strong propensity for lifelong learning and skills enhancement, so the large majority will welcome the opportunity to broaden their knowledge. An investment in new IT education and training will deliver strong return on investment to the business's bottom line."