[July 28, 2015] |
|
Mid-Year Reality Check: More IT Leaders Expect Budget Increases; Hiring Hits Summertime Lull
TEKsystems (News - Alert)®, a leading provider of IT
staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services,
today released the results of its quarterly IT "Reality Check," a survey
that compares current market conditions on the state of spending, skill
needs and impact areas originally reported in the company's Annual
IT Forecast released in December 2014. The most recent survey
represents the views of more than 240 IT leaders (CIOs, IT VPs, IT
directors, IT hiring managers) as of June 2015.
Key highlights from the survey include:
Budget Increases Rise Past Levels Originally Anticipated; Hit High
for 2015
-
Heading into 2015, 45 percent of IT leaders expected their IT budgets
to increase. Through the first half of the year, the percentage of IT
leaders who expect increases for the coming quarter is now at its
highest level. At the end of March, 43 percent expected increases,
while 50 percent expect increases as of the end of June.
-
Thirty-nine percent of IT leaders expected their IT budgets to stay
the same as they entered 2015, but fewer say this is the case heading
into the second half of the year. At the end of March, 43 percent
indicated budgets would stay the same, while 35 percent report this as
of the end of June.
-
At the beginning of 2015, 16 percent of IT leaders expected their IT
budgets to decrease. This viewpoint remained relatively consistent
through the first half of the year, with 14 percent and 15 percent of
IT leaders reporting the same for the end of March and June,
respectively.
-
Findings: The number of IT leaders who expect budget increases in the
last quarter has grown past the number that originally anticipated
increases and is now at a yearly high. Compared to the original
forecast, an additional 5 percent expect increases, shifting away from
expectations for budgets to stay the same (4 percent decrease) or
decrease (1 percent decrease). Furthermore, the number of IT leaders
who expected budgets to either increase or stay the same has been
remarkably consistent at 84 percent heading into 2015, 86 percent at
the end of March and 85 percent at the end of June.
Confidence at Year's Highest Levels
-
Heading into 2015, 71 percent of IT leaders were confident in their IT
department's ability to satisfy business demands. Heading into the
second half of the year, slightly more express confidence. At the end
of March, 70 percent were confident, while at the end of June, 74
percent expressed confidence.
-
Twenty percent of IT leaders expressed a neutral view in their IT
department's ability to satisfy business demands as they entered 2015.
At the midpoint of 2015, this percentage decreased. At the end of
March, 18 percent had a neutral stance and 13 percent felt the same at
the end of June.
-
At the beginning of 2015, 9 percent of IT leaders lacked confidence in
their IT department's ability to satisfy business demands. Slightly
more report they lack confidence as they finish out the first haf of
the year, with 12 percent and 13 percent reporting a lack of
confidence in the end of March and June, respectively.
-
Findings: As IT leaders start to see the reality of their budget
levels settle midway through the year, attitudes have shifted towards
a more defined opinion. Of the 7 percent decrease in those without a
firm opinion at the beginning of the year, 3 percent express more
confidence and 4 percent express less confidence in their department's
ability to meet business demands. As of the end of June, the number of
leaders that express confidence is at its highest level.
Majority of Most and Least Impactful IT Trends Stay Consistent;
DevOps Rises
-
Throughout the first half of 2015, security, mobility, cloud computing
and business intelligence (BI) / Big Data ranked in the top five
initiatives with the largest impact on organizations. Security
maintained the top spot as originally forecasted, while mobility rose
from No. 3 at the beginning of the year to No. 2. DevOps, originally
No. 10 in the forecast, rose to No. 3. Meanwhile, cloud computing was
originally forecasted at No. 5 and rose to No. 4, while BI / Big Data
dropped from No. 2 to No. 5.
-
Since the beginning of 2015, open source, VoIP / unified
communications, social technologies and consumerization of IT rank
among the least impactful initiatives. Data center consolidation,
while originally expected to be the No. 6 most impactful area heading
into 2015, sits at No. 12 midway through the year.
-
The initiatives that fluctuated the most were DevOps, which rose seven
spots, and data center consolidation, which fell six spots.
Security Professionals and Architects Identified as the Most
Difficult to Hire
-
Security professionals, programmers and developers, software engineers
and project managers remained in the top five most difficult positions
to fill in the first half of 2015. Compared to the beginning of the
year, security professionals rose from No. 5 to No. 1 (maintaining its
top ranking achieved in Q1), architects rose from No. 3 to No. 2
(after briefly falling out of the top five in Q1), programmers and
developers fell from No. 1 to No. 3 (coming in at No. 2 in Q1),
software engineers fell from No. 2 to No. 4 (coming in at No. 3 in Q1)
and project managers dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 (coming in at No. 4
in Q1).
-
Since the beginning of 2015, social technology experts, mobile, cloud
and help desk / technical support ranked as less difficult positions
to fill. The only skill set to rise out of the five least difficult
positions to fill since the beginning of the year was Big Data
analytics (rising from No. 8 to No. 6), while business analysts fell
to the bottom five (from No. 6 to No. 9).
-
In terms of overall change in ranking since the beginning of the year,
security professionals made the biggest jump, rising four spots, while
business analysts fell three spots.
Full-Time Hiring Expectations Decelerates
-
Forty percent of IT leaders expected increases in full-time hiring as
they entered 2015. At the end of the first half of the year, this
expectation has fallen significantly. At the end of March, 45 percent
expected full-time hiring to increase, but at the end of June, just 28
percent agreed.
-
Heading into 2015, 50 percent of IT leaders expected full-time hiring
to stay the same as 2014. Midway through the year, this group has
grown. At the end of March, 46 percent expected hiring to remain the
same, but 59 percent agreed by the end of June.
-
At the beginning of 2015, 10 percent of IT leaders expected decreases
in full-time hiring. At the midpoint of the year, this group
increased. While only 9 percent expected decreases at the end of
March, 13 percent expect decreases as of the end of June.
-
Findings: Hiring expectations for full-time employees for the upcoming
quarter decelerated. Compared to the original forecast, 12 percent of
the IT leaders who originally anticipated increases shifted to "stay
the same" (increasing 9 percent) and "decreases" (increasing 3
percent).
Contingent Hiring Levels Out
-
Thirty-six percent of IT leaders expected increases in temporary
hiring as they entered 2015. This number fell at the end of the first
half of the year. At the end of March, 51 percent expected increases,
but only 29 percent expect increases as of the end of June.
-
Heading into 2015, 54 percent of IT leaders expected temporary hiring
to stay the same. Midway through the year, this number remains close
to the original forecast. At the end of March, 44 percent expected
hiring to remain the same, and at the end of June, 56 percent expect
hiring to stay the same.
-
At the beginning of 2015, 10 percent of IT leaders expected temporary
hiring to decrease. At the midpoint of the year, this figure
increased. At the end of March, 5 percent expected decreases in
contingent hiring, but by the end of June, this rose to 15 percent.
-
Findings: Hiring expectations for contingent workers leveled out by
June 2015. Compared to the original forecast, 7 percentage points of
IT leaders who originally anticipated increases shifted to "stay the
same" (increasing 2 percent) and "decreases" (increasing 5 percent).
"Hiring seems to have hit a summertime lull, as fewer leaders expect
hiring to increase in the third quarter after a significant uptick at
the end of March. However, it is good to see the number of IT leaders
that expect budget increases is surpassing what they had originally
predicted at the end of 2014," said TEKsystems Research Manager Jason
Hayman. "Additionally, their consistent confidence in their department's
ability to meet business demands demonstrates a clear understanding of
how to align IT initiatives with the needs of the organization."
TEKsystems' Jason Hayman is available for additional commentary. For
more information about the survey or to schedule an interview, please
contact Rick McLaughlin at [email protected].
About TEKsystems®
People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At
TEKsystems, we understand people. Every year we deploy over 80,000 IT
professionals at 6,000 client sites across North America, Europe and
Asia. Our deep insights into IT human capital management enable us to
help our clients achieve their business goals-while optimizing their IT
workforce strategies. We provide IT staffing solutions, IT talent
management expertise and IT services to help our clients plan, build and
run their critical business initiatives. Through our range of
quality-focused delivery models, we meet our clients where they are, and
take them where they want to go, the way they want to get there.
TEKsystems. Our people make IT possible.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150728005211/en/
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|