IT Staff Training in SaaS Era

In 2013, there were articles in the publication entitled “SaaS: The Killer of the Traditional IT Department.” Forrester’s research at the time predicted that by 2020, IT departments could disappear.

We can safely say that the end of the decade is over, and that IT is not yet on the list of endangered species. However, the development of SaaS apps has significantly changed the composition of today’s IT departments, even if some of these dramatic pieces are not aging well.

IT professionals can improve their standing in this environment by participating in training and development programs. Most people who work in technology understand that adaptation is essential for survival. As a result, IT worker training is essential for improved efficiency and technology detail.

The training of IT professionals must change because of the increased use of SaaS systems. It should concentrate on soft skills development, comprehending growing security concerns, and monitoring the continuous influx of disruptive technology.

This article will help you think about the IT staff training you want to offer to succeed in 2022.

Let us Focus More on Business Results

Managing SaaS applications typically requires fewer IT resources. As a result, IT leaders who understand the company’s priorities and know how to position their department to achieve their business goals are more valuable to organizations.

This change means moving from a cost center to a value center relationship with a company. The result is the involvement of IT staff, with business leaders, enabling them to participate earlier in the planning of strategic innovation and growth initiatives.

In addition, the emergence of modern technology requires managers and staff with experience in dealing with vendors. IT teams need to understand how to reject and articulate what makes sense or not. Otherwise, you could get a considerable price increase and a whole host of other headaches.

As a result, IT workers’ non-technical and soft skills training should be considered to assist them and add value to the company. This training could include critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, and other topics. In addition, the IT staff greatly anticipates this type of training: Professional development programs for honing soft skills are highly crucial for 74 percent of firms’ employees.

Stay Up to Date with Security

Security breaches have become commonplace, and customers and business partners want to know that their data is fully protected. However, with the GDPR and other privacy standards, such as consumer-specific mandates such as the CCPA (which came into force in January 2020), companies realize that they need to focus more on security for several reasons.

We recently wrote about the security challenges of SaaS applications. Therefore, it is a good place to start to ensure that much of your IT training focuses on security.

Certifying and retraining designated security team members takes a lot of effort, but it excludes many other IT staff. For example, in dealing with cyber-attacks against end-users, support is often a front-line team. Therefore, consider offering cybersecurity training to all IT teams.

Focus on Next-Generation Technology

In addition to SaaS technology, IT teams need to create a learning culture that includes next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, 5G, and cloud networks for future success.

As SaaS technology continues to grow, IT departments will soon be expected to guide organizations through their next-generation technologies and provide a new level of service that is not just day-to-day operational support.

According to the CIO survey, skills in data science and analytics are particularly difficult to find and were mentioned by 42% of respondents. Data science was followed by artificial intelligence/machine learning (31%) and cloud services/integration (22%). Instead of hiring experts, you should sponsor existing staff to receive additional training to help them learn about topics such as AI technology and data science.

Train the Pace of Change

In training employees in an area where evolving technology is the norm, it is essential to keep pace with innovation. This means a consistent approach to promoting new skills. Although SaaS has not killed the IT department, it has fundamentally changed it. If your team has the skills to deal with this fact, you can succeed in 2022 and beyond.