MSPs Filling IT Talent Gap

There is debate these days as to whether an IT talent shortage really exists. After all, more and more functions are being outsourced or consolidated, reducing, at least in theory, the demand for able IT bodies. And with so much employment, there are more and more IT pros applying for jobs. One thing we do know – if you can’t find an IT worker, there is an IT labor shortage.

Fernando Quintero, McAfee’s vice president of channel sales and operations for the Americas, is one who believes in the shortage, having just penned an opinion piece on how this problem creates opportunities for MSPs.

“Managed and professional services are the most profitable revenue sources for solution providers, and there’s a huge IT talent shortage affecting vendors, solution providers and enterprises equally,” Quintero argued.

This isn’t just a numbers game, as a large number of IT pros looking for work don’t negate a shortage of particular skills, particularly as the cloud and managed services continue to rise, security risks abound, and new mobile tools drive changes in software development.

When you can’t buy talent, you can always rent in the form of services. “IT staffing and security expertise shortage, though, is creating a real opportunity for solution providers, namely in managed, cloud and professional services. As skilled labor becomes scarce and the cost of building and maintaining on-premises infrastructure increases, the attractiveness and value of services increases,” he said.

Besides technology offerings such as cloud services, enterprises are also looking at professional services. “Enterprises can tap the expertise of their solution providers for term project work. Yes, professional services are expensive, but enterprises are willing to pay more because these are often short-term engagements with a defined purpose. Solution providers can bring in outside pros to remediate security incidents, conduct forensic analysis or design new security infrastructure. Again, the contracting enterprise bears none of the staffing expense,” Quintero continued.

Where the Skills Aren’t

IBM late last year surveyed some 1,200 IT and business leaders focused on hiring. While many old-style admin functions are rather easily filled, it’s tougher to find social networking, analytics, cloud, and mobile computing talent, the report found.