Abstract
It is now commonplace for an organization to turn to external firms for the provision of IT services and software. As technology advances and the business environment continues to evolve, a key challenge facing IT software and service providers is identifying critical skill sets, both today and in the future. The challenge is compounded as a result of the continuing growth of outsourcing and the increasing demand for technology solutions. This paper explores that challenge through a survey of IT software and service providers. We extend and complement previous studies of non-IT firms by comparing skills sought by non-IT organizations with those of IT services and software providers. Results indicate that, surprisingly, software and services providers place more emphasis on business domain and project management skills than on technical skills. This has implications for the hiring and retention practices of managers, and for academic curriculum and course offerings.
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Notes
“Non-IT firms” are defined as those whose primary business is the production of goods or services other than IT products or services (Abraham et al. 2006).
The panel consisted of a subset of the research team. There were six international IT academics and one IT practitioner with primary research interests and experience in IT human resources.
Please note that the original study of client firms asked the respondents to list desired skills, while the survey of IT firms presented respondents with a list of skills derived from the original study. This may account for some of the differences in results.
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Appendix
Appendix
1.1 Survey excerpt
(Note: The actual survey was conducted via the Internet. The following represents a portion of that survey. It is intended to give the reader a basic understanding of the survey’s wording and format.)
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This set of questions focuses on the capabilities your organization wants to maintain. Please answer the following questions for your organization unit.
The following tables ask about critical IT capabilities for your organization unit. There are sections on technical, business domain, project management, and sourcing capabilities in the rows, along with three columns related to changes over time.
Critical 2006: Check the boxes of IT capabilities your organization has decided are CRITICAL (most important) to obtain from employees in 2006. Please do not include those sourced from contractors.
Emerge/more critical 2009: Check the boxes of IT capabilities your organization expects will EMERGE in importance by 2009 and/or become MORE CRITICAL to obtain from employees.
Decline 2009: Check the boxes of IT capabilities your organization expects will DECLINE in importance by 2009 because they will become irrelevant, automated, or outsourced.
Technical | Critical 2006 | Emerging/more critical 2009 | Decline 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
Systems analysis | |||
Systems design | |||
Programming | |||
System testing | |||
Database design/management | |||
Data warehousing | |||
IT architecture/standards | |||
Voice/data telecommunications | |||
Operating systems | |||
Server hosting | |||
Security | |||
Mainframe/legacy | |||
Operations | |||
Continuity/disaster recovery | |||
Desktop support/helpdesk | |||
Other technical capabilities that are Critical for 2006 | |||
Other technical capabilities that will Emerge/Be more critical for 2006 | |||
Other technical capabilities that will Decline by 2009 |
Business domain | Critical 2006 | Emerging/more critical 2009 | Decline 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
Industry knowledge | |||
Company specific knowledge | |||
Functional area process knowledge | |||
Business process design/re-engineering | |||
Change management/organization readiness | |||
Managing stakeholder expectations | |||
Communication | |||
Other business domain capabilities that are Critical for 2006 | |||
Other business domain capabilities that will Emerge/Be more critical for 2006 | |||
Other business domain capabilities that will Decline by 2009 |
Project management | Critical 2006 | Emerging/more critical 2009 | Decline 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
Project planning/budgeting/scheduling | |||
Project risk management | |||
Negotiation | |||
Project leadership | |||
User relationship management | |||
Project integration/program management | |||
Working with virtual teams | |||
Working globally | |||
Capability maturity model utilization | |||
Other project management capabilities that are Critical for 2006 | |||
Other project management capabilities that will Emerge/Be more critical for 2006 | |||
Other project management capabilities that will Decline by 2009 |
Sourcing—managing customers | Critical 2006 | Emerging/more critical 2009 | Decline 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
Customer/product/service strategy | |||
Customer selection or qualification | |||
Contracting and legal | |||
Managing customer relationships | |||
Other sourcing capabilities that are Critical for 2006 | |||
Other sourcing capabilities that will Emerge/Be more critical for 2006 | |||
Other sourcing capabilities that will Decline by 2009 |
Sourcing—managing suppliers | Critical 2006 | Emerging/more critical 2009 | Decline 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
Sourcing strategy | |||
Third-party provider selection | |||
Contracting and legal | |||
Managing third-party providers | |||
Other sourcing capabilities that are Critical for 2006 | |||
Other sourcing capabilities that will Emerge/Be more critical for 2006 | |||
Other sourcing capabilities that will Decline by 2009 |
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Goles, T., Hawk, S. & Kaiser, K.M. Information technology workforce skills: The software and IT services provider perspective. Inf Syst Front 10, 179–194 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-008-9072-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-008-9072-9