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2015 Q3 Reality Check: Internet of Things Rises to Priority Status

Nov 3, 2015 | HANOVER, MD | For media inquiries, please contact us at media@TEKsystems.com.

Hanover, Md. – November 3, 2015 – TEKsystems®, 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 300 IT leaders (CIOs, IT VPs, IT directors, IT hiring managers) as of September 2015.

Key highlights from the survey include:

Budget Expansions On-Target for the Year

  • Heading into 2015, 45 percent of IT leaders expected their IT budgets to increase. At the end of March, 43 percent expected increases, compared to 50 percent at the end of June and 45 percent at the end of September. Through the first three quarters of the year, the percentage never rose above 50 percent.
  • Heading into 2015, 39 percent of IT leaders expected their budgets to stay the same. At the end of March, 43 percent expected budgets to stay the same, compared to 35 percent at the end of June and 43 percent at the end of September.
  • Heading into 2015, 16 percent of IT leaders expected to see their IT budgets decrease. At the end of March, 14 percent expected budgets to decrease, compared to 15 percent at the end of June and 12 at the end of September.
  • Findings: The expectations quarter-to-quarter for each category have remained extremely consistent with less than a double-digit swing in any category. In general, expectations have trended to be slightly more positive.

Confidence Remains High

  • Heading into 2015, 71 percent of IT leaders were confident in their IT department’s ability to satisfy business demands. This has remained extremely consistent through the first three quarters of the year. At the end of March, 70 percent were confident, 74 percent at the end of June and 73 percent at the end of September.
  • Heading into 2015, 20 percent of IT leaders expressed a neutral view toward their IT department’s ability to satisfy business demands. At the end of March, 18 percent were neutral, 13 percent at the end of June and 15 percent at the end of September.
  • Heading into 2015, 9 percent of IT leaders lacked confidence in their IT department’s ability to satisfy business demands. At the end of March, 18 percent lacked confidence, 13 percent at the end of June and 15 percent at the end of September. 
  • Findings: As compared to entering the year, there have been minor changes. Those expressing a neutral view have declined (by 5 percent), while increases in confidence (2 percent) and lack of confidence (3 percent) were also indicated, nearing peak levels for these points of view. The quarter-to-quarter swings have been relatively minor.

IoT Joins the Stalwart Top Five

  • At the end of Q3, IoT entered the top five most impactful trends for organizations for the first time. Forecasted as No. 8 of 10, and maintaining that rank throughout Q1, in Q2 IoT rose to No. 7, and at the end of September was ranked No. 5.
  • Throughout 2015, security, mobility, cloud computing and business intelligence (BI) / Big Data have anchored the top five initiatives with the largest impact on organizations. The third quarter saw security retaining its top priority position, as initially forecasted, while cloud computing rose to its highest rank yet at No. 2.
  • Since the beginning of 2015, open source, VoIP / unified communications and social technologies have ranked as the least impactful initiatives.
  • In terms of volatility, the initiatives that fluctuated the most were DevOps (ranking between No. 3 and No. 10), data center consolidation (ranking between No. 6 and No. 12) and enterprise resource planning (ranking between No. 4 and No. 9).

Programmers and Developers Regain Top Spot as Most Difficult to Hire; Big Data Analytics Cracks Top Five

  • Three skill sets – programmers and developers, security, and software engineers –consistently placed in the top five most difficult positions to fill with exceptional talent throughout three-quarters of 2015. Programmers and developers – originally forecasted as the most difficult to fill – declined throughout the year, but regained the top spot at the end of September.
  • Big data analytics continued its progression, now placing in the top five for the first time. Project managers, architects and BI at some time have placed within the top five during the course of the year.
  • Social technology, mobile, cloud and help desk / technical support professionals have remained the least difficult positions to fill since the beginning of 2015.
  • Architects fluctuated the most in terms of roles most difficult to fill with exceptional talent (ranking between No. 2 and No. 6).

Full-Time Hiring Expectations Pick Back Up

  • Heading into 2015, 40 percent of IT leaders expected increases in full-time hiring. At the end of March, the percentage of IT leaders who expected increases in full-time hiring was highest (45 percent). This fell to 28 percent at the end of June and rose back up at the end of September to 36 percent.
  • Heading into 2015, 50 percent of IT leaders expected full-time hiring to stay the same as in 2014. At the end of March, 46 percent expected no change in full-time hiring, compared to 59 percent at the end of June and 55 percent at the end of September.
  • Heading into 2015, 10 percent of IT leaders expected full-time hiring to decrease. At the end of March, 9 percent expected full-time hiring decreases, compared to 13 percent at the end of June and 9 percent at the end of September.
  • Findings: Expectations for hiring full-time employees are on the rise. Since mid-year, an additional 8 percent of IT leaders expect increases in full-time hiring, while those who expected full-time hiring to stay the same or decrease has dropped 4 percent.

Contingent Hiring Expected to Surge

  • Heading into 2015, 36 percent of IT leaders expected an increase in temporary hiring. At the end of March, 51 percent expected contingent hiring increases, compared to 29 percent at the end of June and 39 percent at the end of September.
  • Heading into 2015, 54 percent of IT leaders expected temporary hiring to stay the same as 2014. At the end of March, 44 percent expected contingent hiring to stay the same, compared to 56 percent at the end of June and 54 percent at the end of September.
  • Heading into 2015, 10 percent of IT leaders expected temporary hiring to decrease. At the end of March, 5 percent expected contingent hiring to decrease, compared to 15 percent at the end of June and 7 percent at the end of September.
  • Findings: Expectations for hiring temporary employees has been more volatile than expectations for hiring full-time employees. Coming out of the summertime lull, hiring expectations are back toward where they were entering into 2015.

“The relative volatility of contingent hiring expectations speaks to the lack of workforce planning – while overall hiring expectations remain healthy, it’s clear that IT leaders do not have the same level of insight into their contingent hiring needs. They don’t accurately know what they need three weeks from now, let alone three months from now,” said TEKsystems Research Manager Jason Hayman. “That being said, on average, overall expectations for hiring this year are very much in line with the 2014 Reality Check numbers and indicate a measure of consistency and stability. The continued confidence and positive hiring expectations we’ve seen so far this year mirrors the healthier economy and the consistently strong IT job market.”

TEKsystems’ Jason Hayman is available for additional commentary. For more information about the survey or to schedule an interview, please contact Rick McLaughlin at TEKsystems@daviesmurphy.com.

 


About TEKsystems

People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At TEKsystems, an Allegis Group company, we understand people. Every year we deploy more than 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 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.