These skills are crucial for IT departments.
We analysed the most desired IT skills for the year and gathered these data from more than 9,000 IT professionals in 2020 IT Skills and Salary Report.
Many IT certifications are highly sought-after.
The most difficult areas to hire
Top tech investment areas
Weakest IT skill sets
We also considered the most important skills for an economic recovery. This is an important factor in this year’s checklist, as all organizations will need to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 and beyond.
Attention! The 2022 IT Skills and Salary Survey is open for participation. Participate in the largest international study on IT salaries, skills, certifications. Click here to complete the survey.
These are the areas to consider if your goal is to learn new skills or invest in IT.
Cybersecurity
Cloud computing
Data science and data analysis
Wireless networking
Software development
Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence
Project management
Programming
IT service management
Virtualization
1. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has been a top priority due to the pandemic. Many companies have had to reprioritize and slow down investments in IT projects. They have had to rethink their priorities and look at the skills that can help them rebuild. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), organizations prioritize cybersecurity skills regardless if they are experiencing slow growth, economic downturn, or both.
Even though budgets are shrinking, cybersecurity is an important area that must be addressed. Although the physical world has been declining in recent months, cybercriminals have discovered new and clever ways to access sensitive data from the internet. Since the pandemic started, the number of attacks has increased. Phishing emails have increased by 6667% since February.
Prior to COVID-19, cybersecurity was still a priority. More than half of global IT decision-makers anticipate that their organization will invest this fiscal year in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is the most difficult area in IT to hire for the fifth consecutive year.
Global Knowledge’s global portfolio manager for cybersecurity Brad Puckett stated that cybersecurity breaches are becoming more frequent, creative, and severe. This creates a shortage in cybersecurity professionals with the right skills to protect government, military, or enterprise networks. “This global shortage of cybersecurity professionals has created an opportunity market for anyone who wants to rise to the cybersecurity challenge and gain career-advancing skills.”
These cybersecurity certifications are worth looking at
2. Cloud computing
Cloud skills are in high demand and cloud certifications can lead to high IT salaries. Cloud expertise is important because it can be combined with any other skill.
Cloud has changed the game. Cloud, powered by platforms like AWS and Microsoft Azure, is the ultimate enabler. It opens up new revenue streams by leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things. Cloud adoption has had a significant impact in other areas such as data analytics and project management, cybersecurity, networking, and more.
Cloud computing is also the second-largest IT investment area and the most difficult area for decision-makers to hire.
The two most recession-proof IT jobs are cloud administrator and cloud architect. IDC predicts that IT spending this year will drop 5.1%. If there is any growth in IT spending, it will be in cloud computing. Despite the pandemic some cloud deployments and investments may be accelerated.
Cloud computing certifications available >
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