SMEs hard hit by IT skills shortage

But struggle to recruit the right talent may be positive for the channel as outsourced IT provision grows in popularity

Nearly half of all SMEs across the UK are struggling to recruit the right IT staff according to research.

The report - entitled Responding to the IT Infrastructure Challenge, was published by cloud and datacentre specialist Node4, and questioned over 250 IT decision makers in SMEs across the UK.

It claimed that skills shortages are most evident in the south east with 65 per cent of firms unable to find the right staff, north east (60 per cent) and east midlands (60 per cent).

The picture is no better in London with 46 per cent of SMEs based in the capital suffering from a dearth of talent.

As a result, Node4’s research claims IT provision is becoming more viable for the 79 per cent of SMEs that admitted to being frustrated with their current IT setup, with 65 per cent of those admitting that outsourcing their IT removes a headache.

According to the results, the number of UK SMEs with fully outsourced IT provision has increased by five per cent this year compared to last year.

Paul Bryce, business development director at Node4, said: “Companies increasingly view technology and IT as a business enabler, as something that underpins their day to day operations. But along with the growing importance of technology has come the need for increasingly skilled staff to manage, maintain and constantly develop these complex systems.

“The nationwide struggle for skilled talent is a major concern for businesses. With a large number of SMEs frustrated with technical limitations and the day-to-day administration of their infrastructure it’s hardly surprising that local outsourcing has become a preference so that organisations can continue to win more business, beat the competition and succeed.”