Jurassic park: New technologies baffle 3 out of 5 IT staff in Singapore

Unsure experts put firms at risk.

IT personnel are supposed to be a company’s most tech-savvy employees. But a survey released on Tuesday revealed that majority of Singapore’s IT personnel actually lack confidence when it comes to tackling new technologies.

According to SolarWinds, 64% of Singapore’s IT personnel are not confident when it comes to providing guidance and expertise on emerging technologies, such as Cloud Computing, Software as a Service, Technical Support and Information Security.

“The mismatch is putting many Singapore businesses behind their counterparts - most significantly in Information Security.To address this, a staggering 61% said they would need more training in their respective areas of responsibility, while approximately one third (36%) saying they would need a better understanding of the business,” the study stated.

Here’s more from SolarWinds:

In the past 3-5 years, mobility was cited as the most disruptive evolving technology for business by survey respondents (19%), while Cloud Computing was identified as the one technological advancement that has had the most significant impact on their company (33%).

Both Cloud Computing (36%) and Mobility (22%) are also expected to have the most significant impact on companies in the next 3-5 years.

In the next 3 – 5 years, IT roles will also undergo a sea change – IT professionals believe that key technologies and IT functions such as Cloud Computing or Software as a Service (43%), Technical Support (39%) and Information Security (36%) will become automated, further pointing to a need for IT staff to advance their skills in order to stay relevant.

In the coming 12 months, IT department organisational growth is set to continue, with almost half (48%) of IT personnel expecting to gain new colleagues and over one-third (37%) expecting to stay at their organisation for another 4-7 years.

As a result, companies should view attention to resources and training on the impact of emerging technologies as an investment.

Most significantly, the IT role that needs to adapt the most to evolving technology is Information Security, with almost one quarter of respondents agreeing.

The findings reaffirm the need for more education to manage the growing list of issues faced by IT pros and also stress the importance of keeping up with the evolving threat landscape by understanding of the associated risks and treating security as a business critical function.