Mind the converged infrastructure skills gap

Tim Cazemage from recruitment firm Stott and May explains why the channel is facing a challenge in this space

Over the last five years, we have entered the converged infrastructure age. It’s not hard to see why it has become so popular with customers, given the cost and efficiency benefits that come as a result.

Combining systems and storage, virtualisation and networking technology into a single, optimised product is great for customers, as they no longer have to deal with multiple and possibly conflicting systems.

But the rise of converged infrastructure presents the channel with problems as well as solutions: with different technologies operating in a unified system, there is a need for people who have a high level of expertise across all three technologies. But there is a shortage of skilled individuals with the required levels of knowledge and training in systems and storage, virtualisation and networking.

Individually, these skills were already in relatively short supply as training has lagged behind the rate of technological advances. Now that these technologies have merged into a single solution, there are even fewer people with the ability to operate at the converged infrastructure level, particularly in high-level roles.

There are several reasons for this. First, the lack of training offered to employees at companies which have not yet gone down the converged infrastructure route. This does make business sense – if a company hasn’t implemented a system, why spend money to train staff in it? But this approach is short-sighted, as if those companies later decide to add converged infrastructure to their offerings, they will be on the back foot as far as the employee skillset is concerned.

This skills shortage also reflects a growing trend for cloud-based solutions. Again, the training of staff to support the cloud has fallen behind the pace at which the cloud is being adopted. The result is increasing numbers of businesses moving their IT to the cloud, with fewer and fewer staff upskilled and ready to converge the infrastructures. The shortage is further compounded as those people who do possess the right skills are already in the best jobs, and are generally happy in them.

After all, these employees are operating at the cutting-edge of technology and working on big projects for the best clients – to tempt someone of this calibre to move means making an incredible offer that is beyond the reach of many companies.

Looking beyond such problems, what can IT companies do to plug this skills gap? I would suggest three options to provide the best possible chance of finding the best talent for converged infrastructure roles. The first is to use a good recruiter who has ample knowledge of the market – they’ll know the major players and will be well-placed to advise on the compensation package needed to attract a highly-skilled candidate.

The best candidates are well aware that they offer a rare proposition, so companies hoping to woo them will need to offer a rounded package that will include better pay, tighter vendor relationships, bigger and more exciting projects, and improved training plans.

Top-calibre candidates are very technically-minded, and will in almost every circumstance have worked hard to train themselves in multiple skills – this is why these candidates are in such high demand.

But this does mean that candidates are only going to want to work at businesses that offer a dynamic working environment. The best candidates know that they are in a great position to negotiate on work-life balance, and as such will often ask for remote and flexible working arrangements.

In a market where it is incredibly difficult to find qualified candidates without expert help, improving training programmes may be the only way to produce people with the right skillset for converged infrastructures.

Many would do well to remember that technology can only do so much without people with the expertise to run it.

Tim Cazemage is associate director, UK IT Infrastructure Practice at Stott and May