1. IT Trends Report 2019: NA, UK, and DE 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 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
208 technology practitioners, managers, and directors in North America, United Kingdom, and Germany from public-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
Of tech pros surveyed, one-third are somewhat unconfident or completely unconfident (combined) about having the necessary skills to do so. By business size, one-third of small business, mid-size and enterprise tech pros (respectively) are somewhat unconfident or completely unconfident (combined) about possessing all the necessary skills to successfully manage their IT environment for the next three to five years. And as business size increases, the percentage of tech pros who are somewhat confident slightly increases.
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?
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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=23): no noteworthy mentions
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the #1 most important technology, followed by #2 automation and/or orchestration and #3 SIEM and/or threat intelligence. By business size, the top 3 (by weighted rank) remain the same for small business and mid-size tech pros (respectively) with #2 and #3 in reverse order (respectively) for each. Enterprise tech pros rank the same top 2 as overall, followed by #3 big data analytics.
#2 by weighted rank
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 #1 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
“Other” responses (N=23): no noteworthy mentions
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the #1 most important technology, followed by #2 automation and/or orchestration and #3 SIEM and/or threat intelligence. By business size, the top 3 (by weighted rank) remain the same for small business and mid-size tech pros (respectively) with #2 and #3 in reverse order (respectively) for each. Enterprise tech pros rank the same top 2 as overall, followed by #3 big data analytics.
Over half of tech pros surveyed indicate that artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain (respectively) are one of the technologies they feel unequipped to successfully implement and/or manage given their current IT skillset, followed by quantum computing and machine learning, and/or deep learning (49% and 45%, 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)
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC.  All rights reserved.

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=13): no noteworthy mentions
Only 2% of tech pros did not work to develop a skill over the past 12 months because they feel they already possess ALL needed skills. By business size, a larger percentage of small business tech pros worked to develop their systems and infrastructure management skills compared to their mid-size and enterprise counterparts (respectively).
Over the past 12 months, over half of tech pros surveyed have worked to develop their system and infrastructure management skills 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 network management skillset, hybrid IT (mix of cloud and on-premises) deployment, monitoring and management skills, and security management skills (such as SIEM, policies, compliance) (43%, 42%, and 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)
© 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=13): no noteworthy mentions
Only 2% of tech pros did not work to develop a skill over the past 12 months because they feel they already possess ALL needed skills. By business size, a larger percentage of small business tech pros worked to develop their systems and infrastructure management skills compared to their mid-size and enterprise counterparts (respectively).
Over the next three to five years, 52% 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)), followed by their hybrid IT deployment, monitoring and management skills, and system and infrastructure management skillset (43% and 38% respectively).
Q: Which of the following skills will you need to develop over the next three to five 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)
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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
#6 by weighted rank
#2 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=23): no noteworthy mentions
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the #1 most important technology, followed by #2 automation and/or orchestration and #3 SIEM and/or threat intelligence. By business size, the top 3 (by weighted rank) remain the same for small business and mid-size tech pros (respectively) with #2 and #3 in reverse order (respectively) for each. Enterprise tech pros rank the same top 2 as overall, followed by #3 big data analytics.
#4 by weighted rank
Over three-fifths of tech pros surveyed indicate that technology innovation is one of their top three career development goals over the next three to five years, with 30% listing it as their number one career development goal. By weighted rank, technology innovation is the number one career development goal, followed by IT security protocol and/or processes, and strategic planning.
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
#4 by weighted rank
#5 by weighted rank
#6 by weighted rank
“Other” responses (N=23): no noteworthy mentions
By weighted rank, cloud/hybrid IT is also the #1 most important technology, followed by #2 automation and/or orchestration and #3 SIEM and/or threat intelligence. By business size, the top 3 (by weighted rank) remain the same for small business and mid-size tech pros (respectively) with #2 and #3 in reverse order (respectively) for each. Enterprise tech pros rank the same top 2 as overall, followed by #3 big data analytics.
#2 by weighted rank
Nearly three-fourths 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 32% 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=13): no noteworthy mentions
Only 2% of tech pros did not work to develop a skill over the past 12 months because they feel they already possess ALL needed skills. By business size, a larger percentage of small business tech pros worked to develop their systems and infrastructure management skills compared to their mid-size and enterprise counterparts (respectively).
One-fourth of tech pros surveyed indicate that vendor training sessions is their primary source of IT skills training/career development, followed by online communities/forums (such as Slack) and industry events/trade shows (18% and 17%, 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=32): no noteworthy mentions
After tech pros surveyed participated in IT skills training/career development from their primary source, over half of tech pros considered the training to be informative, nearly two- fifths 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)
My Org and/or Coworkers
“Other” responses (N=3): no noteworthy mentions (ie disjointed (1), lots of variability depending on presenter (1))
Those opting for training via vendor training sessions find it slightly less engaging/interactive when compared to those opting for training/career development from other sources.
By primary source (qualitatively speaking), those opting for training via online communities/forums (such as Slack) and industry events/trade shows (respectively) find the training/career development slightly more informative 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
By business size, a slightly lower percentage of mid-size IT pros indicate that their IT management tasks “sometimes” extend into the time earmarked for career development when compared with small business and enterprise tech pros (respectively).
Over one-fourth of 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 over half of tech pros state that happens “sometimes” and nearly 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 programs
By business size, a higher percentage of small business and enterprise tech pros (respectively) engage weekly compared with their mid-size counterparts. And a higher percentage of mid-size tech pros engage annually when compared to small business and enterprise tech pros (respectively).
Nearly three out of ten 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 17% engage quarterly.
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
By business size, a slightly higher percentage of small business and enterprise tech pros (respectively) would commit daily compared to their mid-size counterparts. And a slightly higher percentage of mid-size tech pros would commit quarterly compared to their small business and enterprise counterparts (respectively).
37% 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 over one-fourth of tech pros would commit monthly and 17% 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 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.
44% 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.) (one-third). Less than one-tenth 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=275): no noteworthy mentions (i.e., books (5))
By business size, the top three (by weighted rank) remain the same as overall for enterprise tech pros while small business and mid-size tech pros (respectively) have the same top three as overall but with number one and two in reverse order (respectively).
#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 webinar and self-guided online course (21% and 15%, 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]
© 2019 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC.  All rights reserved.