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."
IT talent acquisition pressures
are shaping technology investment decisions
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%).
Process improvements foster
innovation and efficiency
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.
Automation and low- and no-code
tools drive efficiency and enhance user experiences
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.
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SOURCE Salesforce