A new study from an American company that develops software for businesses to help manage their networks, systems, and information technology infrastructure, has revealed that two in three (67%) Hong Kong technology professionals believe they will be unable to confidently manage future innovations without further training and development, a report notes.
The results of the IT management software company’s IT Trends Report 2019 found that nearly all (99%) Hong Kong respondents had worked to develop a skill over the past 12 months.
But 38% of technology professionals working at small businesses, 33% at medium-sized businesses and 40% at enterprises informed researchers that they felt they were somewhat to completely unconfident in their ability to manage IT environments in the near future with their current skillsets.
Hong Kong respondents reported being the least confident in their ability to manage technologies related to machine or deep learning (56%), artificial intelligence (52%), and blockchain (49%). This is despite a report listing the latter two categories in the top 10 technologies with the most disruptive potential.
To adapt to the changing technology environment, Hong Kong technology professionals are prioritizing building skills in areas including systems and infrastructure management (39%), coding and scripting (39%), and hybrid IT monitoring and management.
However, while the largest proportion (26%) of Hong Kong technology professionals would be interested in pursuing career development on a weekly or monthly basis, 68% say their day-to-day IT tasks regularly extend into time earmarked for career development.
Currently, technology professionals engage in IT skills training or career development programs at frequencies ranging from annually (14%), a few times a year (22%), quarterly (14%), monthly (14%) and weekly (21%).
The biggest barriers to further participation in training and skills development include lack of time and availability (36%), and cost (23%).
Meanwhile, respondents to the survey report that the technologies expected to be most important for their digital transformation over the next three to five years include cloud and hybrid IT, big data and analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning.
Enterprises’ plans to focus their career development goals over the next three to five years on technology innovation (55%), strategic planning (47%), and people management skills (41%).
The EVP and global CTO of the firm that created the report noted that recent history has proven that there is a direct correlation between technology and business performance. The results of this year’s IT Trends Report highlight that businesses need to focus even more on developing these professionals charged with running and pioneering technologies for the businesses.
He added that by removing day-to-day barriers, arming technology pros with the right technology and management tools, and prioritising skills and career development in the IT budget, tech pros can be better equipped for the future and help with business growth.
The report recommends that firms and individuals in tech prioritise training in emerging tech. The dynamic rate at which modern IT environments are changing means that today’s technology professionals face the constant possibility of becoming overwhelmed by the sheer number emerging technologies that require experimentation with, mastery, and adopted of.
The report urges that over the next year, tech pros should approach skills development strategically and should prioritize necessary training based on the needs of daily operations and IT environments, as well as skills that translate to career growth.
Tech professionals should evaluate their current environments and determine what leading technology has remained and what technologies have been rendered obsolete. This way, they can keep pace with new tech and techniques.
