Most companies struggle to find room in the budget for IT training or to recruit new tech employees. But a recent survey says most organizations are being held back by gaps in their IT staff’s skills. 

Most companies say their IT department lacks some of the skills they need to adequately support the business, according to a recent survey from the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

Of the 500 business and IT managers surveyed, 93% said there was some gap between the technical skills of their company’s IT staff and the skills the organization needs. For most (83%) of the organizations, the gap was described as small or moderate, but 9% said their IT department’s skills are far from where they need to be.

What’s that mean for Finance? According to the survey respondents, those skills gaps are hurting organizations’ efficiency and impacting the bottom line. The most commonly cited areas suffering due to a lack of IT skills were:

1. Employee productivity
2. Customer service and customer engagement
3. IT security
4. Innovation and new product development
5. Speed to market of products and services, and
6. Profitability.

The biggest challenge for organizations: Technology changes so rapidly that it’s difficult to train current employees or hire new people with cutting-edge skills.

One tool that can help companies overcome that challenge: online self-study programs for IT employees, which half of organizations said they’re using. That’s often the most cost-effective way to provide training, and it can also allow staff to learn new skills with a minimal impact on their day-to-day work.

As for what specific training companies are offering IT employees, the skills given the highest priority by the managers in the survey were:

1. Networking and IT infrastructure
2. Server and data center management
3. Storage and back-up
4. IT security
5. Database and information management
6. Help desk and IT support
7. Telecommunications
8. Printer, copier and fax management
9. Data analytics and business intelligence
10. Web design and development, and
11. Customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

Tags: hiring, IT skills, IT training