1. IT Trends Report 2019: United Kingdom Federal/Public Sector
Skills for Tech Pros of Tomorrow
Conducted by C White Consulting
December 2018

2. © 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
Study Overview
Areas of discussion
How equipped do tech pros feel with their current IT skillset to manage the emerging technologies of tomorrow?
In which areas are tech pros already upskilling today and/or know they should be upskilling today?
How often do tech pros find the time to participate in upskilling (skills training and/or career programme development) and from what primary source?
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

3. © 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
Study Overview
Respondent demographics
25% of respondents were from MSPs/MSSPs
61 technology practitioners, managers, and directors in the United Kingdom from public-sector small, mid-size, and enterprise organisations participated in a December 2018 online study
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

4. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Tech pro confidence in having all the necessary skills to successfully manage IT environment for next three to five years
Tech pros surveyed represent the 72% of all tech pros who are not “completely confident” in having all the necessary skills to successfully manage their IT environment for the next three to five years. Of tech pros surveyed, nearly three in 10 are somewhat unconfident or completely unconfident (combined) about having the necessary skills to do so.
Q: How confident are you that you already have all the necessary skills to successfully manage your IT environment for the next three to five years?
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5. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Most important technologies for organisation’s technological transformation over next three to five years
#3 by weighted rank
#1 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
#6 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=1): no noteworthy mentions
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the number one most important technology, followed by SIEM &/or threat intelligence and software-defined network (SDN), storage (SDS) &/or data center (SDDC).
#2 by weighted rank
Nearly 85% of tech pros surveyed indicate that cloud (public, private, or mix of both) and/or hybrid IT (mix of cloud and on-premises) is one of the top five most important technologies needed for their organisation’s technological transformation over the next three to five years, with 36% listing cloud/hybrid IT as their most important technology.
Q: What are the five most important technologies needed for your organisation’s technological transformation over the next three to five years? [choose up to 5 in prioritised order]
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

6. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Technologies tech pros feel unequipped to successfully implement/manage with current skillset
“Other” responses (N=2): no noteworthy mentions
Over half of tech pros surveyed indicate that blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) (respectively) are technologies they feel unequipped to successfully implement and/or manage given their current IT skillset, followed by quantum computing, machine learning and/or deep learning, and big data analytics (49%, 46%, and 38%, respectively).
Q: Based on your current IT skillset, which of the following technologies do you feel unequipped to successfully implement and/or manage? (choose all that apply)
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7. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Skills tech pros have worked to develop over past 12 months to better manage daily operations
“Other” responses (N=1): no noteworthy mentions
Almost all tech pros surveyed worked to develop a skill over the past 12 months – only five percent of tech pros surveyed feel they already possess all needed skills.
Over the past 12 months, over half of tech pros surveyed have worked to develop their systems and infrastructure management skills in order to better manage their day-to-day IT environment and its needed disciplines (IT Ops, DevOps, SecOps, and/or outsourced services (MSP/MSSPs)), followed by security management (such as SIEM, policies, compliance) and hybrid IT deployment, monitoring and/or management (48% and 46%, respectively).
Q: Which of the following skills have you worked to develop over the past 12 months in order to better manage your day-to-day IT environment and its needed disciplines (such as IT Ops, DevOps, SecOps, and/or outsourced services (MSP/MSSPs))? (choose all that apply)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

8. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Skills tech pros need to develop over next three to five years to better manage daily operations
“Other” responses (N=0)
Two-fifths of tech pros feel they need to develop their data science & analytics skills while 36% feel the same about their hybrid IT deployment, monitoring & management skills and one-third feel they need to develop their software-defined network (SDN), storage (SDS) &/or data center (SDDC) skillset.
Over the next three to five years, nearly three-fifths of tech pros surveyed need to develop their security management skills (such as SIEM, policies, compliance) to better manage their day-to-day IT environment and its needed disciplines (IT Ops, DevOps, SecOps, and/or outsourced services (MSP/MSSPs)).
Q: Which of the following skills will you need to develop over the next 3-5 years in order to better manage your day-to-day IT environment and its needed disciplines (such as IT Ops, DevOps, SecOps, and/or outsourced services (MSP/MSSPs))? (choose all that apply)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

9. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Top career development goals for tech pros over next three to five years
#1 by weighted rank
#2 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=1): no noteworthy mentions
#3 by weighted rank
#6 by weighted rank
Nearly six out of 10 tech pros surveyed indicate that technology innovation is one of their top three career development goals over the next three to five years, with 28% listing it as their number one career development goal. By weighted rank, technology innovation is also the number one career development goal, followed by strategic planning and management/leadership skills (people management).
Q: What are your top three career development goals over the next three to five years? [choose up to three in prioritised order]
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

10. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Most important technologies needed for tech pro career development/advancement over next three to five years
#1 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
#2 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
#6 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=1): no noteworthy mentions
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the most important technology, followed by automation &/or orchestration and security & information event management (SIEM) &/or threat intelligence.
#3 by weighted rank
Two-thirds of tech pros surveyed indicate that cloud (public, private, or mix of both) and/or hybrid IT (mix of cloud and on-premises) is one of the top five most important technologies needed for their career development/advancement over the next three to five years, with 33% listing cloud/hybrid IT as their most important technology.
Q: What are the five most important technologies needed for your career development/advancement over the next three years? [choose up to 5 in prioritised order]
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

11. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Tech pros’ primary source of IT skills training/career development
“Other” responses (N=0)
One-tenth or less of tech pros look to YouTube/Twitch or associations (respectively) as their primary source of IT skills training/career development.
Over one-fifth of tech pros surveyed indicate that industry events/trade shows is their primary source of IT skills training/career development, followed closely by vendor training sessions (20%) then industry publications, online communities/forums (such as Slack), and their organisation and/or coworkers (13%, respectively).
Q: When it comes to learning about emerging technologies, what is your primary source of IT skills training/career development? (choose only one)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

12. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Tech pros’ impression after participating in IT skills training/career development at primary source
“Other” responses (N=2): no noteworthy mentions (ie difficult to navigate (1))
After tech pros surveyed participated in IT skills training/career development from their primary source, nearly half of tech pros considered the training to be informative, 44% considered it engaging/interactive, and nearly one-fourth stated it assumed knowledge/experience they did not have.
Q: Overall, how would you describe the IT skills training/career development you have participated in from the primary source you just mentioned? [choose all that apply]
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

13. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Tech pros’ impression by primary source (top four)
Industry Events/Trade Shows
Online Communities/Forums (i.e., Slack)
Vendor Training Sessions
My Org and/or coworkers
“Other” responses (N=2): no noteworthy mentions (ie difficult to navigate (1))
Those opting for training via industry events/trade shows find that this source assumes knowledge/experience that they do not have more so than those opting for training/career development from other sources.
By primary source (qualitatively speaking), those opting for training via vendor training sessions find the training/career development more engaging/interactive and informative (respectively) than those opting for training from other sources.
Q: Overall, how would you describe the IT skills training/career development you have participated in from the primary source you just mentioned? [choose all that apply]
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

14. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Frequency that tech pros’ day-to-day IT tasks extend into time earmarked for career development
Three out of ten tech pros surveyed indicate that day-to-day IT management tasks “always” extend into the time they set aside for pursuing their career development goals, while 46% of tech pros state that happens “sometimes,” and one-fifth say it happens “rarely.”
Q: How often do your day-to-day IT management tasks extend into the time you set aside for pursuing your career development goals? (choose only one)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

15. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Frequency that tech pros currently engage in IT skills training/career development programmes
Nearly 30% of tech pros surveyed indicate that they currently engage in IT skills training and/or career development programmes a few times a year and monthly (respectively), while 13% of tech pros engage quarterly, 9% engage less than once a year, and 7% engage weekly and annually (respectively).
Q: How often do you currently engage in IT skills training and/or career development programmes? (choose only one)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

16. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Frequency that tech pros would commit to IT skills training/career development programmes given no schedule/workload restrictions
35% of tech pros surveyed indicate that given no schedule/workload restrictions, they would commit to IT skills training and/or career development programmes on a weekly basis, while one-third of tech pros would commit monthly and 16% of tech pros would commit quarterly.
Q: If you could set your own schedule and workload with no restrictions, how often would you commit to IT skills training and/or career development programmes? (choose only one)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

17. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Tech pros’ biggest barrier to current ability to participate in IT skills training/career development
“Other” responses (N=0)
Five percent or less of tech pros believe any other barrier is the biggest one to overcome, and 100% of tech pros surveyed believe IT skills training &/or development programmes are useful.
45% of tech pros surveyed indicate that time/availability (for travel, training itself, etc.) is the biggest barrier to their current ability to participate in IT skills training and/or career development programmes, followed by cost (of training programme, travel to tradeshow, etc.) and energy (mental, emotional, and/or physical) needed for “one more” activity (29% and 16%, respectively).
Q: What is the biggest barrier to your current ability to participate in IT skills training and/or career development programmes? (choose only one)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

18. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Tech pros’ ideal delivery format for IT skills training materials for IT ops, SecOps, DevOps, and MSP/MSSPs (overall)
#3 by weighted rank
#2 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
#1 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=21): no noteworthy mentions (ie written material to refer to/skim when necessary (1))
#6 by weighted rank
Nearly two-fifths of tech pros surveyed indicate that full-day, in-person workshop/user conference is their ideal delivery format for IT skills training materials, followed by self-guided online courses and webinars (25% and 20%, respectively). By weighted rank, self-guided online course is the ideal delivery format, followed by full-day, in-person workshop/user conference and webinar.
Q: In order of preference, what is your ideal delivery format for IT skills training materials pertaining to IT Ops, SecOps, DevOps, and outsourcing/managed services? [choose five in prioritised order]
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.