4 June 2019

Talent deficit: AI and Cybersecurity specialist are getting scarce


The need for Application development skills in the market is expanding as skilled developers are shrinking in numbers around the world, according to a study conducted by OutSystems, with a sample size of 3,300 Information Technology (IT) leaders.

The research reveals, the inverse proportion has been a problem for quite a while now, with no possible near-future resolution.

The ever-rising trends of digital revolution are supplementing the demand and with it, the absolute dependence of leaders on technology to amplify the customer experience and go head-to-head on data analytics.

The number of applications which end users have ordered for delivery in 2019 is 60% higher than in last year's corresponding survey. A vast majority, 65%, said that they have planned to deliver 10 or more applications, 38% plan to deliver 25 or more apps, and 15% said that they plan to deliver 100 or more apps in 2019. 


While the need for applications is growing in numbers; developers are not. A mere 36% of the organizations in the survey have bigger application development teams as compared with a year ago. 

Nevertheless, development teams are getting more proficient at getting applications designed, built, tested and out the door. Most IT managers, 61%, have reported that it takes all of four months or less to deliver an application: which is up from last year's 54%.

Be that as it may, the deficit remains. Almost 30% of IT professionals, 64%, say they have an app developer backlog, and for 19% of these respondents, the backlog was more than 10 apps. Only 39% said their application development backlog had improved in the last year, and 50% say it's about the same. 

Finding ample people to cater to these global backlogs to build and deliver this influx of ordered applications has grown more difficult with time. Only 15% of IT managers report this recruitment as easy, and for many skills, recruitment was described as tough or very tough. Most IT managers report that it is difficult or "very difficult" to find or train professionals for the following skills:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) specialists: 72 percent

Cybersecurity experts: 64 percent

Internet-of-things (IoT) Specialist: 56 percent

Full-Stack Developer: 56 percent

Business Intelligence or Data Analytics Scientists: 52 percent

Application Programming Interface / Integration / Backend developer: 45 percent 

"Respondents told us which app dev skills their organization was prioritizing for staff development in 2019. Web development, mobile development, and API/integration/backend stood out as the top priorities.", revealed study.

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