The IT skills shortage - is there a way out? - PhoenixDX

Written by Patricia | Sep 5, 2022 8:36:50 AM

Faced with increased demand for ‘must have’ digital offerings, a growing IT skills shortage and shrinking budgets, IT leaders are asking themselves: “How can I compete in this digital battlefield without an army?” Their backlog keeps growing, but they don’t have enough skilled people to deliver mission-critical business capabilities. While these challenges might seem overwhelming, there is a way forward…

In a recent survey of over 100 Australian IT leaders, 79% cited a talent and skills shortage as the #1 barrier to executing business priorities, such as their digital transformation.1 The rapid increase in demand for all things digital has left their existing IT teams overstretched, with many managing up to 100 times as much code as they did a decade ago.

A key factor in the growing demand for technical skills is the traditional approach to software development, which requires a multitude of specialist skills, as well as a deep understanding of underlying frameworks. To quickly deliver quality solutions, IT leaders usually need a battalion of experienced software developers covering integration, data, mobile, web and core system skills on their team. The development of a successful mobile application can take up to 10 highly-skilled IT professionals, six of them being developers.

While a distributed global workforce has enlarged the talent pool, there are still not enough people with the necessary tech skills to go around. Competition for highly experienced staff is fierce, with compensation for top talent increasing, while IT budgets remain unchanged or decreasing. According to Andrew Brushfield, director of the leading US recruitment firm Robert Half:

“There is a shortfall of skilled tech talent across the board, with software development skills among the hardest to find. This is driving up premiums for starting salaries by 20 to 30 per cent.”

Not too long ago, it was just the tech organisations that needed top-notch developers, software engineers and data analysts. Today, these skills are in demand at almost every organisation.

For non-technical businesses, it’s even more difficult to attract high-quality talent and foster an environment to ensure they feel engaged and technically challenged. Many businesses have experienced the pain of not being able to deliver on a business vision because their team lacked the right skills, or having lost outstanding talent at a critical moment because they didn’t feel stimulated by their workplace culture. The Robert Half Technology 2022 Salary Guide reports that 88% of tech leaders are concerned about valued employees leaving for new opportunities.

To remain competitive in this new environment, businesses must find a way to address their mission-critical business needs or risk being left behind. Fortunately there is a way out.

By joining forces with a highly experienced technology partner that works with powerful tools and agile methodology, businesses can gain immediate access to a motivated team of multi-skilled IT professionals who can help deliver their digital transformation initiative from idea to go-live…and beyond. In a few weeks, not months.

Such a partnership allows businesses to engage the right skills at the right time throughout their project life cycle by tapping into widely-skilled squads with specialised professionals that can blend in with their IT team to create a powerful delivery capability. In-house teams are freed up and empowered to focus on delivering other high-value work.

This approach removes the need to hire, onboard, train and manage IT professionals across each area of specialisation, enabling IT leaders to reduce their costs and risk while delivering results better and faster.

With a modern application development platform, IT leaders find that modernisation and innovation are achievable within their budget. IT teams can raise their delivery productivity by speeding up software development, automating low-value tasks and processes and managing the full development life-cycle more efficiently. In this way, businesses can avoid tech debt and the need for extensive in-house technical skills.

With a simple shift in mindset from hiring to partnering with a rapid software development specialist, IT leaders can overcome the skills shortage problem quickly – for a fraction of the time and cost of traditional software development.

Recognised as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Australia, PhoenixDX has been working as an extension to their customers’ IT teams for many years. Pepper Money, Certis Security and GPT Group have delivered groundbreaking solutions by collaborating with our team of specialists.

“PhoenixDX gained my trust with high-quality delivery and a dedicated team willing to go the extra mile to meet our needs. I feel they are an extension of my team. I would recommend PhoenixDX to any company that is serious about getting the most out of OutSystems.”

- Ying Loong Lee (Managing Director, Certis Australia – Security Business)

"Working with PhoenixDX has felt like a partnership. We are all part of the same team and there is no division in terms of where you've come from. We work very well together, and there is a great cultural fit."

- Product Owner, PhoenixDX Customer

“The PhoenixDX team didn't bring problems; they brought solutions. They're flexible, and they understand what we need from a development point of view and what the customer experience will be. They delivered the best solution for the customer, which I think is key."

- Product Owner, PhoenixDX Customer

Let us show you the way out.

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