Only 10 per cent of digital leaders feel that their organisation has enough resources to address the management issues and IT trends that their company has prioritised, according to the annual digital leaders survey from BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT in the UK.
More than half of the digital leaders surveyed (57 per cent) indicated that they need enhanced IT skills among their existing workforce, 48 per cent require additional IT staff that are suitably qualified, and 37 per cent would like a bigger budget.
Adam Thilthorpe, director of professionalism for the institute, said: “These results reinforce the impact IT has on business today. The digital leader or CIO needs the right people with the right skills to enable an organisation to improve productivity, increase efficiency and maximise competitive advantage in the marketplace.”
The survey also reveals that business change is high on the agenda for 2014. Digital leaders were asked what they considered to be their organisation’s top three management issues over the next 12 months. Almost two-thirds – 64 per cent – rate business transformation and organisational change as a priority, followed by strategy and planning (49%) and operational efficiencies (47%).
Business change is high on the agenda for 2014
Respondents were also asked what they consider to be their organisation’s top three IT topics or trends for the next 12 months: 57 per cent rate mobile computing, followed closely by information security (53%) and cloud computing (49%).
More organisations are realising that such technological developments can potentially benefit their business, help increase productivity and ensure business continuity. Yet, while these can bring operational cost savings and employee satisfaction, it can mean increased headaches for information security professionals. And security emerged as the thing most likely to keep digital leaders awake at night.
The survey also asked leaders to consider their organisation’s priorities for the next three to five years. These were information security (55%), cloud computing (48%) and big data (47%).
BCS is also represented in Malta. The BCS Malta Section was launched in 1997 as one of the BCS’s oldest overseas sections, with the aim of promoting the ideals of the BCS in Malta, organising professional activities and fostering the development of professional standards in the IT industry. It also supported the launch of the ECDL computer skills certification in Malta.