In the pre-Covid era, Lakshmi Mittra, VP – Centre of Excellence (CoE) and Clover Academy, Clover Infotech, explains companies had a highly centralized delivery model. This consisted of workspaces set in large delivery campuses, accommodating thousands of employees. Now, many large IT services companies have announced that they would not want to have more than 30 percent of their employees working from offices.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown compelled organisations to shift to a remote working model overnight. Organisations across sectors had to frantically adopt the cloud and integrate other digital technologies in their business models. Industry leaders say these innovations and disruptions have magnified the need for skilled IT professionals who could work across cloud and digital technologies.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic has brought one massive change – the Work from Home model, the IT industry has to constantly evolve with new technologies. Speaking on the same, Lakshmi Mittra, VP – Centre of Excellence (CoE) and Clover Academy, Clover Infotech, said, “From a centralized IT infrastructure, organisations had to move to a decentralized structure – a transformation that is here to stay even after the lockdown ends.”
In the pre-Covid era, she explained, companies had a highly centralized delivery model. This consisted of workspaces set in large delivery campuses, accommodating thousands of employees. Now, many large IT services companies have announced that they would not want to have more than 30 percent of their employees working from offices.
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According to Mittra, this means companies are required to enhance their cybersecurity practices, project management skills, and build systems that enable proper work allocation, monitoring, and reporting. “Owing to this model, organisations will be spending less on real estate and office management costs. However, there will be greater investments in reskilling and training of employees not only in technical areas but soft-skills as well,” she added.
She further said that organisations need to set up systems and processes to train human capital in skill sets such as virtual team collaboration, project management, and communication tools to ensure seamless remote working.
Employees can convert ‘saved commute time’ in upskilling themselves
The ongoing lockdown is putting a strain on the global job market. However, despite the threats posed by the current scenario, Mittra said the future only looks bright. “Covid-19 has put digital transformation at the forefront of organisations’ planning and strategy. Technology has emerged as the biggest enabler for business operations and this trend will continue to grow.”
She predicted this will put technology jobs in high demand. Talent with skill sets in digital technologies such as cloud, data analytics, RPA, and cybersecurity will be most sought after.
“Since IT has become the backbone of businesses, IT companies require an ever-broadening set of skills. The current business environment demands IT talent to have working knowledge of a decentralized IT infrastructure,” she said.
Industry leaders propound organisations that aren’t providing enough opportunities to their employees for upskilling will soon find themselves in a vulnerable position. Hence, the majority of IT services companies have already started working on reskilling initiatives for employees covering a variety of latest technologies along with leadership-based learning systems like virtual team management and financial training to build holistic capability.
In the same line, Clover Academy, the knowledge arm of Clover Infotech, has seen a significant increase in the number of the company’s employees opting for upskilling courses in Cloud Services Enablement.
Calling a learning management tool the need of the hour, Mittra said since employees are working from home, they have the opportunity to invest their ‘saved commute time’ in upskilling themselves.
“In such a situation, a learning management tool becomes an absolute necessity as it provides a centralized platform for educators and administrators to manage and organise supplementary reading materials and track employees’ progress. Such tools can also be used for designing content and courses, and facilitating online learning,” she added.
(As published in ET HR World)
