1. IT Trends Report 2019: North America
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 program 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
22% of respondents were from MSPs/MSSPs
307 technology practitioners, managers, and directors in the U.S. and Canada from public- and private-sector small, mid-size, and enterprise organizations 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
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
Of tech pros surveyed, three in 10 are somewhat unconfident or completely unconfident (combined) about having the necessary skills to do so. And as business size increases, the percentage of tech pros who are somewhat unconfident or completely unconfident (combined) decreases (49%, 31%, and 27%, respectively).
Tech pros surveyed represent the 75% 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.
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?
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

5. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Most important technologies for organization’s technological transformation over next three to five years
#6 by weighted rank
#3 by weighted rank
#1 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=10): no noteworthy mentions (ie backup/recovery (2))
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the most important technology, followed by SIEM and/or threat intelligence and #3 software-defined network (SDN), storage (SDS) and/or datacenter (SDDC). Across business size, the top three (by weighted rank) remain the same for mid-size tech pros while small business and enterprise tech pros (respectively) rank first and second the same as overall, followed by automation and/or orchestration.
#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 organization’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 organization’s technological transformation over the next three to five years? [choose up to five in prioritized order]
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6. Technology Skills and Training Are Needed
Technologies tech pros feel unequipped to successfully implement/manage with current skillset
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By business size, small business, mid-size and enterprise tech pros (respectively) mirror the overall top three findings, with a larger percentage of small business and mid-size tech pros (respectively) feeling unequipped for each technology while a slightly smaller percentage of enterprise tech pros feel unequipped.
Over half of tech pros surveyed indicate that artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the 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 blockchain (43%, 43%, and 42%, 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
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall top 3 findings
Only one percent of tech pros did not work to develop a skill over the past 12 months because they feel they already possess ALL needed skills. Along with the top three overall, small business tech pros also worked to develop their coding and scripting skillset while mid-size tech pros also worked to develop their network management skills.
Over the past 12 months, nearly half of tech pros surveyed have worked to develop their systems and infrastructure management skills to better manage their day-to-day IT environment and its needed disciplines (IT Ops, DevOps, SecOps, and/or outsources services (MSP/MSSPs) followed by security management (such as SIEM, policies, compliance) and hybrid IT deployment, monitoring, and/or management (41%, 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)
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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=7): no noteworthy mentions (ie artificial intelligence/AI (3))
Public sector IT pros: #1 and #2 same as overall, #3 systems and infrastructure management
Over one-third of tech pros feel they need to develop their data science and analytics skills (37%) and their software-defined network (SDN), storage (SDS) and/or datacenter (SDDC) skills (36%).
By business size, mid-size and enterprise tech pros (respectively) reflect the top overall findings (in a slightly differing order for mid-size tech pros), while small business tech pros reflect the top 2 overall findings in reverse order, followed by the need to develop their system and infrastructure management skillset.
Over the next three to five years, almost half of tech pros surveyed need to develop their hybrid IT deployment, monitoring and/or management skills (47%) and their security management skills (such as SIEM, policies, compliance) (46%) in order to better manage their day-to-day IT environment and its needed disciplines (IT Ops, DevOps, SecOps, and/or outsources 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
#3 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
#2 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=3): no noteworthy mentions
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By weighted rank, technology innovation is also the number one career development goal, followed by IT security protocol and/or processes and strategic planning. By business size, the top three (by weighted rank) remain the same for mid-size and enterprise tech pros (respectively) while small business tech pros rank first and second in reverse order, followed by management/leadership skills (people management).
#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 29% listing it as their number one career development goal.
Q: What are your top three career development goals over the next three to five years? [choose up to three in prioritized 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
#3 by weighted rank
#1 by weighted rank
#6 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=8): no noteworthy mentions
Public sector IT pros: Number one same as overall, second and third in reverse order
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the most important technology, followed by SIEM and/or threat intelligence and software-defined network (SDN), storage (SDS) and/or datacenter (SDDC). By business size, the top three (by weighted rank) remain the same as overall for mid-size tech pros while small business tech pros rank first and second the same as overall, followed by automation and/or orchestration. Enterprise tech pros rank number one the same as overall, followed by software-defined network, storage and/or datacenter and big data analytics.
#2 by weighted rank
Over 70% 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 28% 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 to five years? [choose up to five in prioritized 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=11): no noteworthy mentions (ie training sites such as lynda.com/LinkedIn (2), online courses such as udemy/TestOut (2), MOOCs (1))
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By business size, small business tech pros turn to online communities/forums and industry publications above all other sources, while mid-size tech pros turn to vendor training sessions, followed by industry publications above all other sources. Enterprise tech pros opt for vendor training sessions and industry events/trade shows equally, followed by their organization and/or co-workers.
One-fifth of tech pros surveyed indicate that vendor training sessions is their primary source of IT skills training/career development, followed closely by online communities/forums (such as Slack) and industry events/trade shows (18%, 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=12): no noteworthy mentions (ie disjointed (1), lots of variability depending on presenter (1))
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
A higher percentage of small business tech pros considered the training to assume knowledge/experience that they did not have compared to mid-size and enterprise tech pros (respectively).
By primary source, those opting for training via industry events/trade shows find it slightly more informative than those opting for training from other sources, while a higher percentage of those opting for training via industry publications find it “too simple” when compared to those opting for training from other sources.
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, one-third considered it engaging/interactive, and one-fourth considered it not long enough.
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)
Vendor Training Sessions
Industry Events/Trade Shows
Online Communities/Forums (i.e., Slack)
Industry Publications
“Other” responses (N=12): no noteworthy mentions (ie disjointed (1), lots of variability depending on presenter (1))
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By primary source, those opting for training via industry events/trade shows find it slightly more informative than those opting for training from other sources, while a higher percentage of those opting for training via industry publications find it “too simple” when compared to those opting for training from other sources.
A higher percentage of small business tech pros considered the training to assume knowledge/experience that they did not have compared to mid-size and enterprise tech pros (respectively).
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
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
Nearly three out of 10 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 55% of tech pros state that happens “sometimes.” As business size increases, the percentage of tech pros whose IT management tasks “always” extend into the time earmarked for career development decreases.
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 programs
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By business size, one-fifth of small business tech pros engage quarterly, monthly or weekly (respectively) while three out of 10 mid-size tech pros engage monthly or a few times a year (respectively). Nearly 30% of enterprise tech pros currently engage in training and/or career development a few times a year while 23% engage weekly and one-fifth engage monthly.
Nearly three out of 10 tech pros surveyed indicate that they currently engage in IT skills training and/or career development programs a few times a year, while 22% of tech pros engage monthly and one-fifth of tech pros engage weekly.
Q: How often do you currently engage in IT skills training and/or career development programs? (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 programs given no schedule/workload restrictions
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By business size, over half of small business tech pros would commit weekly and one-fifth would commit daily while 45% of mid-size tech pros would commit weekly and one-fourth would commit monthly. Nearly 40% of enterprise tech pros would commit to training and/or career development weekly, one-fourth would commit monthly, and nearly one-fifth would commit daily.
Over 40% of tech pros surveyed indicate that given no schedule/workload restrictions, they would commit to IT skills training and/or career development programs on a weekly basis, while one-fourth of tech pros would commit monthly, and 17% of tech pros would commit daily.
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 programs? (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=3): no noteworthy mentions
Public sector IT pros: no sig diff from overall findings
By business size, small business tech pros are split evenly between time/availability and cost (37%, respectively) as the biggest barrier while 60% of mid-size tech pros consider time/availability the biggest barrier and one-fourth consider cost the biggest barrier. Nearly half of enterprise tech pros consider time/availability the biggest barrier while 29% identify cost as the biggest barrier.
Nearly half 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 programs, followed by cost (of training program, travel to tradeshow, etc.) (29%). Less than 10% of tech pros believe any other barrier is the biggest one to overcome.
Q: What is the biggest barrier to your current ability to participate in IT skills training and/or career development programs? (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
#1 by weighted rank
#4 by weighted rank
#2 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=22): no noteworthy mentions (ie semester-length, classroom-style training (1), blogs (1), reading old training (1))
By business size, the top three (by weighted rank) remain the same as overall for small business tech pros while enterprise tech pros rank number one and number two the same as overall, followed by half-day, in-person workshop/user conference. Mid-size tech pros have the same top three as overall with number one and number two in reverse order.
#6 by weighted rank
Over 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 webinars and self-guided online courses (19% and 16%, respectively). By weighted rank, full-day, in-person workshop/user conference is also the ideal delivery format, followed by self-guided online courses and webinars.
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 5 in prioritized order]
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