Key Trends Affecting IT Leaders in 2017

Chris Chandler, head of our Executive Search practice, recently sat down with Computer Weekly to speak about IT skills, recruitment and career development priorities for IT leaders in 2017.

Here’s what he believes will be the key trends for the upcoming year:

DevOps will be mainstream for most organisations

This year, business will continue to push the digital agenda, opening up more opportunities for IT leaders. In particular, DevOps. Up until now, DevOps has just been seeded in traditional organisations but it will start to flourish this year.

Full stack development will be a highly sought after skill

Which could prove a challenge for some organisations, as full stack development skills across mobile and desktop are in short supply.

IT Security will be front of mind for all organisations at a board level

Organisations will look for CISOs offering the full spectrum – deeply technical, capable of operating at a senior level and on the ground in an instant when a security incident strikes. CISOs are spokespeople for digital literacy across the whole organisation and CEOs will be looking for CISOs who can take that responsibility on.

Want to find out more? Watch the video, here.

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Businesses must innovate to solve the IT skills shortage we face

If you are looking for the best engineers to join your team, you really need to have a compelling proposition. This goes way beyond bean bags and not making them wear suits…you need inspiring leadership, a commitment to innovation, and a learning culture that supports training and development.

Some of the best hires you will make will be at executive level.

We’re beginning to see organisations over-spend on genuinely exceptional leadership-level talent who have a natural born following. By hiring at this level, you can recruit a number of people very easily behind them do it directly.

Exceptional talent can be used as a marketing tool

Certain people will turn heads, which can create positive PR for organisations. It can even affect the company’s share price.

Watch the full interview with Computer Weekly to hear what Chris believes should be the no.1 priority for CISOs in 2017.