The IT Talent Gap Is Fueling Tech Investment Decisions, According to New Research
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
New data from Salesforce's MuleSoft reveals that 98% of IT Leaders say the 'Great Resignation' has created skills gaps in their department
More than a third (36%) of organizations plan to increase their use of low- and no-code tools in the next 12 months
Based on a global survey of 1,000 senior IT leaders, the 2022 IT Leaders Pulse Report provides insight into the people, process, and technology challenges facing organizations in the modern digital era
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IT talent acquisition challenges are now heavily influencing technology investment decisions, according to new research released today from Salesforce's MuleSoft. The 2022 IT Leaders Pulse Report reveals that almost three quarters (73%) of senior IT leaders agree that acquiring IT talent has never been harder, and nearly all (98%) respondents say attracting IT talent influences their organization's technology investment choices.
The report also shows that today's IT leaders are using technology to create more people-centric experiences for their employees and customers. The majority (86%) of senior IT leaders now say the experience an organization provides its employees and customers is as important as its products and services, and four out of five respondents agree that improved customer-facing (86%) and employee (85%) technologies are critical for their organization to compete.
"Shifting economic headwinds are making technology even more fundamental to success across every part of the business, including sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT," said Matt McLarty, Global Field CTO, MuleSoft. "As IT leaders struggle to fill roles to support this additional demand, the traditional playbook is in question. Today's IT leaders must look instead to broader, company-wide process improvements, through automation, that foster innovation, enhance user experiences, and drive efficient growth."
Almost nine out of ten (87%) senior IT leaders agree investing in people is hugely important. As a result, the majority of respondents plan to invest in improving IT employees' wellbeing (82%) and upskilling (78%), both of which are ahead of increasing IT headcount (68%), over the next 12 months. The report shows:
-- The 'Great Resignation' has created skills gaps across IT: Nearly all
(98%) of senior IT leaders say that the 'Great Resignation' has created
skills gaps in their organization's IT function, primarily within IT and
solutions architecture (60%), and cloud and infrastructure management
(45%).
-- Organizations are embracing automation and self-serve initiatives: Many
senior IT leaders are turning to automation and self-serve initiatives
to address the growing skills gap. Across industries, 58% of
organizations are automating tasks and processes, and 53% are empowering
non-technical employees with automation tools to meet their own needs.
-- IT leaders are being measured on user experience: More than half are now
evaluated on employee productivity (52%), while many are also measured
on cost reduction and optimization (50%), customer experience (48%), and
employee experience (46%).
While creating experiences is crucial, a people-centric IT and business strategy needs efficient processes to succeed. More than half of IT leaders (54%) think that working processes between IT and business teams could be significantly improved. The report also showed:
-- Existing IT processes are a bottleneck: Nine out of ten (91%) senior IT
leaders say that existing IT processes are hindering productivity.
Process challenges are also reported to negatively impact innovation
(91%), technology adoption (92%), customer experience (92%), and
employee experience (93%).
-- Process improvements are high on the agenda: Almost half (46%) of senior
IT leaders say that making process improvements is a major priority for
their organization over the next 12 months.
-- Fusion teams for process efficiency: A majority of respondents are
looking to create fusion teams to improve processes and address
process-oriented challenges. Fusion teams are multi-disciplinary teams
that blend workers with technology, analytics, or domain expertise and
who share responsibility for business and technology outcomes. More than
two-thirds (69%) of organizations have created or are in the process of
rolling out fusion teams, and 22% plan to do so within the next 12
months.
Notably, of organizations with fusion teams already in place, 63% of senior IT leaders say these teams have been very effective in helping the business meet its goals.
Empowerment and enablement through technology drives business growth, and organizations are using best-of-breed technologies to create new customer and employee experiences. While this strategy can increase agility, four out of five (81%) senior IT leaders agree that this approach means that their organization struggles with IT complexity. What's more:
-- Integration headaches remain: The majority of senior IT leaders believe
data or system integration projects take too long (66%) and are too
expensive (69%). At the same time, more than two-thirds (68%) recognize
that a lack of data or system integration creates a disconnected
customer experience. Consequently, nearly all (98%) senior IT leaders
say that new investments are influenced by a tool's ability to integrate
with existing technology.
-- Companies are embracing low- and no-code tools: Many senior IT leaders
are turning to low- and no-code tools to enable business users to build
and test new experiences. Almost all organizations (96%) currently use
low- and no-code tools and 36% plan to increase their use over the next
12 months.
-- Automation maturity is growing, but there is room for improvement: Many
organizations have implemented automation to enhance customer
experiences and product quality. Two-thirds of organizations (67%) have
either mostly or fully automated their IT operations, and many have
introduced similar levels of automation across other business functions
-- including customer support (59%), finance (60%), marketing (58%),
sales (56%), and HR (55%). However, fully automated processes remain
quite low -- with an average of 23% of organizations saying they've been
able to achieve this across business functions.
"The current economic climate leaves IT leaders no choice - they have to do more with less. The tools are there to empower more users to become digital builders, and help their organizations grow while improving efficiency. By automating processes where feasible, leaders can realize value faster and accelerate innovation," added McLarty.
More information:
-- To learn more about IT priorities and investments read the full IT
Leaders Pulse Report here.
-- Check out From Farm to Database: How MuleSoft is Helping Make Bayer Crop
Science Faster and Greener to learn more how the industry is adapting
for the future.
-- Find more on MuleSoft's latest automation and integration capabilities
here.
Methodology
MuleSoft's IT Leaders Pulse Report, in partnership with Vanson Bourne, was produced from interviews with 1,000 senior IT leaders across the globe. The online survey was conducted between June 2022 and July 2022 across the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Only suitable candidates participated in the survey and were verified by using a rigorous, multi-level screening process. All respondents work at an enterprise organization in the public or private sector with at least 1,000 employees and hold a departmental or intermediate managerial position or above within the IT function.
About Salesforce
Salesforce, the global CRM leader, empowers companies of every size and industry to digitally transform and create a 360° view of their customers. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-it-talent-gap-is-fueling-tech-investment-decisions-according-to-new-research-301618804.html
SOURCE Salesforce
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Weekly Recap: 11 Tech Press Releases You Need to See | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Sup AI Sets New Benchmark Record with 52.15% on Humanity's Last Exam | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Trigent Partners with WeWork India to Expand its GCC Footprint | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Skunk Works® and XTEND Expand Joint All Domain Command and Control for Advanced Mission Execution | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
DEADLINE ANNOUNCED FOR 2026 NEW TOP-LEVEL DOMAIN APPLICATIONS | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Altair HyperWorks 2026 Delivers Design and Simulation at Scale with AI | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Exia Labs Brings Keystone to the U.S. Navy via DIU's Blue Object Management Challenge | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Glasswall Brings Defense-Level File Sanitization to Every Government Agency and Business Using Microsoft 365 | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Marketing Evolution Announces New Investment Led by Insight Partners to Power AI-Ready Marketing Data for the Agentic Era | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Genpact Named a Leader in ISG Provider Lens(TM) 2025 for Insurance GCCs and Agentic AI Services | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
|
