If you’ve picked up the paper or read the news in the last few months, then you’re probably acutely aware of the impending IT skills shortage Australia is facing. According to Deloitte, in the next six years there will be a demand for a further 100,000 ICT workers and with declining rates of ICT graduates, the situation only seems to be getting worse.
While there have been numerous calls to action in recent months to address the IT skills shortage issue – including one to make coding a compulsory part of the school curriculum – we are still a fair way from finding a feasible, long term solution.
As more and more of what we do relies on technology, the greater the problem becomes. For small business the issue is amplified. Faced with fewer resources, a leaner team and smaller budgets, access to IT tools and professionals is more limited and often out of reach. Considering small businesses make up 97% of all Australian organisations, it’s important that essential IT tools are accessible to all.
Consider custom app development. While apps offer immense value to businesses, programming or coding skills were traditionally required to develop them. This meant it wasn’t a feasible option for small businesses.
Instead, they would rely on off-the-shelf apps. While in some instances, these apps do the job, they don’t always address the individual needs of a business or provide any kind of competitive advantage.
Apps of this nature tend to be generic to appeal to a wide audience, so there is little or no personalisation. This clearly presents disadvantage for small businesses, especially those with niche services, which could benefit from a customised solution.
However, with the rise of tools that can be used to create custom apps without any coding or programming skills, it has opened up huge opportunities for small businesses.
There are fewer requirements for technical expertise to develop a simple custom app. And now almost anyone has access to a tool that was once available only to larger organisations. In essence, it’s helping to democratise IT, and it’s a great example of what we need to see more of within the industry.
There is a need for businesses to have access to technology tools that anyone can use – not just those with programming or coding expertise. Anyone can develop a custom app using templates where they can easily drag and drop components.
Making it easy to create and maintain does not necessarily reduce the potential power of the result – these tools have the built-in smarts behind a simple user interface. It’s this type of innovation that empowers users to create the solutions they need.
While this is only one piece of a large and complex puzzle, access to tools that don’t require great technical knowledge can help alleviate immediate pressures for technical skills and open up more tools to more people.
There will be less reliance on experts and more opportunities for people who might not be highly technical to branch into a new area. This does not only benefit businesses, but also us as customers and, ultimately, the Australian economy.
As the IT skills shortage continues to grow, we need to look at every avenue to help alleviate the pressure. Up-skilling and making it easier for more people to perform previously highly technical tasks is one small step that can help make a difference.
David Head, Consulting Engineer, APAC, FileMaker, Inc.
