Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 31 | Page 57

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// FEATURE: TRAINING Bridging the skills gap IT is a fast-moving industry that demands its professionals move with the times. Small surprise then that there seems to be a constant shortage of skills in key areas. Fortunately, attempts are being made to increase the number of skilled professionals available to work in the sector. A s economies race headlong into a period sometimes referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, rampant technological advancements are a key characteristic of the time. Organisations in the Middle East join others around the world in suffering constraints to development, coping with a mismatch of skills due to changes in the IT industry and ever-increasing competition for talent across different verticals including engineering, aviation and construction. The demand for skills eHosting DataFort (eHDF), a leading cloud infrastructure, managed hosting and security services provider, recently announced the growing trend of Managed Security Services (MSS) globally as well as in the Middle East. One of the reasons the company cited for the increasing demand for MSS, alongside the increased level of cyberthreats, was the in-house shortage of security skills talent in many enterprises across the region. www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 57