Aussie data centres grappling with chronic staff shortages: survey

Ian Grayson
Wednesday, 14 January 2009 06:41

IT Industry - Market

Almost half of Australian data centres are struggling to keep pace with business demands because of a massive shortage of staff, a new international survey has found.

With companies looking to extract more from their IT departments in the face of the global economic downturn, many data centres are finding they simply can’t keep up:  a situation likely to worsen before it improves.

The State of the Data Centre report, conducted across 21 countries by security specialist Symantec, found data centre managers are struggling with the twin challenges of keeping a lid on costs while responding to increasing corporate demands.

“Unfortunately the business side of any environment is asking for more to be done,” Symantec senior director David Dzienciol told IT Wire. “This is putting more pressure on IT and companies are not looking to increase their headcounts.”

The survey found 46 per cent of Australian data centres consider themselves currently understaffed while just 7 per cent think they have too many people. Furthermore, 47 per cent of Australian data centres are finding it a problem to source qualified applicants for open positions.

Many industry watchers believe the reason for such chronic staff shortages can be traced back to a decline in university enrolments in IT courses following the dot-com implosion. With young people lured into alternative careers, the resulting drop is now translating into a dearth of qualified technicians both in Australia and around the world.

Dzienciol says that, to overcome the challenges of staff shortages, many data centres are looking to outsource some basic tasks in the hope this will give employees more time to concentrate on higher value-added activities.