How the cloud skills gap is hindering business development

Cloudreach released data highlighting the latest cloud technology trends, underscoring the impact the cloud skills gap is having on businesses. More than 70% of surveyed IT leaders internationally saw the skills gap as an urgent concern. 46% of respondents claimed it either slowed them down or posed an existential crisis to the company (9%).

As more organizations rush to adopt cloud technology to improve efficiency and sustainability, the report shines a light on how the industry needs more skilled professionals than ever to maintain operations. Business leaders are finding that their cloud transformation initiatives are increasingly hampered by a lack of skilled professionals, with 34% of respondents explaining that the shortage has reduced their ability to operate and launch services.

Low supply of cloud skills is also hitting innovation, causing high staff turnover and wage inflation. Multi-cloud capabilities, cloud system development, and cloud governance were the top three areas most impacted by the skills gap, according to respondents.

“This research confirms that there is a shortage of cloud talent today, threatening cloud transformation projects that are essential to business survival,” said Brooks Borcherding, CEO, Cloudreach.

“Talented architects and engineers are vital to delivering on the promise of cloud for businesses, and the opportunities are huge for their careers. This skills gap poses a challenge for organizations to find new ways of recruiting, hiring and upskilling talent; including removing barriers of entry that have historically limited diversity within the industry.

“Businesses recognize the importance of cloud infrastructure to help them grow and become more effective, and this study confirms the demand for cloud services continues to grow,” said Vittorio Sanvito, Director of EMEA Partner Development at AWS.

Concern about the cloud skills gap in North America and Europe

The concern about the skills gap remained consistent across cloud organizations in both North America and Europe. The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025, half of the global workforce will need reskilling, and 97 million new roles will emerge because of digitization. With fewer skilled workers than open jobs, and growing demand on the horizon, cloud organizations will fight to maintain their teams and operations.

The study revealed other trends in cloud technology, including the essential role it can play in business operations, growth, and sustainability efforts.

• 48% of respondents are now engaged in business transformation through cloud adoption, driving broader changes in organizational thinking.
• 71% of respondents see cloud strategy as the biggest driver of sustainability today, with this percentage rising to 85% in 2023.

“This study shows that cloud is crucial to achieve carbon emissions targets. Enterprises consume less energy and reduce their environmental footprint when migrating to a cloud environment,” said Carla Arend, Senior Program Director and Lead Analyst, Cloud in Europe at IDC.

“To be impactful, sustainability practices need to be embedded in the enterprise business processes. These go beyond tracking CO2 emissions or utilities consumption but look for greener practices across the entire asset lifecycle.”