Cyber-Security Remains a 'Pain Point' for Most Organisations: Survey

Cyber-security remains a "pain point" for a majority of organisations as they are struggling to find solutions and adding to their woes is the dearth of talent in this segment, says a global survey of senior IT managers.

According to the survey by Experis, ManpowerGroup's professional resourcing and project-based solutions arm, it is no longer a question of whether information security breaches will happen, it is a question of "when" and "how much".

"As organisations grapple to find solutions, they now face a widening security talent shortage that further complicates an already complex situation," ManpowerGroup India Group Managing Director A G Rao said.

Rao further added cyber-security remains a pain point for most organisations. Recent high profile security breaches have moved information security from a hidden corner of the IT

function to a topic of strategic importance to both business and society.

The Experis' survey noted cyber-security as the most frequently cited in-demand skillset globally (32 percent), nearly twice as much as the next mentioned skillset, software development (18 percent).

Globally, the most in-demand and hard-to find areas of expertise mentioned by IT leaders are Information Security, Software Development, Business Analytics, Project Management and Cloud Expertise.

Indian Employers state Information Security as one of the most in-demand skill followed by Data Analysis and Software developing/ programming.

In India, IT leaders mentioned Java as in-demand and hard-to find skill, both now and in the next 12-18 months. In business intelligence and analytics, Indian employers are looking for big data professionals followed by database management and SQL skills.

Executive awareness of the problem, innovative and flexible approaches to education and training, and increased collaboration across organisations are the keys to successful security workforce management, the report noted.

"Information security is a fast-changing field, and companies have to explore new talent models to keep up," ManpowerGroup Global Chief Technology Officer Ganesh Ramakrishnan said.

Trends towards faster, better-aligned training, more on-the-job learning, and new thinking about workforce composition - balancing internal with external expertise - are all steps in the right direction," Ramakrishnan added.