CIOs failing to safeguard valuable IT skills

Skills to modernise core IT assets can be the most valuable in a recession

Chief information officers (CIOs) are failing to invest in staff with specialist knowledge of IT and business alignment, despite recognising the importance of such skills, according to new research.

Application management firm Micro Focus surveyed 450 companies globally for its Safeguarding the Corporate IT Assets report, and found that many organisations are not devoting the time or budget to safeguarding the skills needed to exploit their most valuable IT assets.

While two-thirds of human resources directors believe that IT skills are the most in need of recruitment, just 13 per cent of UK CIOs are hiring staff who understand IT and business alignment.

"There is a growing feeling that, in a recession, CIOs and IT leaders can be core to the UK getting back into economic recovery because IT is the nerve centre of the economy. But there is an awful lot of catching up to do," said Micro Focus chief executive Stephen Kelly.

The survey also found that just 13 per cent of chief financial officers globally are 'very confident' that the knowledge and skills exist within their organisations to maintain core IT assets into the future.

However, nearly two-thirds said that skills to modernise core IT assets are the most valuable in a recession, rather than skills to implement new replacement technologies.