Large Hong Kong enterprises lack cloud expertise

Large enterprises in Hong Kong could be losing out on revenue as 84% of IT decision makers say that they don’t have the required cloud expertise.

Large enterprises across the world are losing out on $258.1 million a year as a result of a cloud skills gap, according to a new report commissioned by Rackspace in collaboration with LSE academics.

The study also found that this lack of expertise is stifling creativity, with 80% of IT pros saying they could bring greater innovation to their organization with the right cloud insight.

Beyond innovation and growth, 44% of IT decision makers believe a lack of skills is causing a lag in their organization’s ability to deploy cloud platforms. The wide majority (77%) also believe they need to invest more in their workforce to meet the developmental challenges of cloud computing.

“While the rise of Artificial Intelligence and automation may cause some to think that human insight is less important, our report shows that this is not the case,” Rackspace CTO John Engates said.

“With technology and the cloud now underpinning business transformation, the growing technology skills gap means organizations must have a strategy to access the expertise needed. Those that don’t will struggle to be competitive and innovative.”

The Cost of Cloud Expertise report looks at the wider implications of the cloud skills gap and provides a route for businesses to tackle the realities of modern IT and the resulting skills gap. Consisting of research amongst 950 IT decision makers and 950 IT pros – as well as in-depth conversations with IT leaders – in large enterprises around the world, the study uncovers current and future trends in cloud expertise.