Bridging the Digital Skills Gap: Build or Buy?

As the digital landscape expands, so does the demand for specialised skills. The national digital skills gap poses a significant challenge for organisations trying to keep up. With a competitive market centralising skills in key centres of excellence, businesses face a critical decision: should they build their own capabilities or buy them through managed service providers (MSPs)? As MSPs attract top talent, what options remain for the rest of us?

Key Takeaways:

• Mitigating Single Points of Failure (SPOF): Avoid risks associated with relying on individual experts.
• Adapting to Technological Shifts: Leverage MSPs to manage paradigm shifts and emerging tech.
• Accessing Specialised Expertise: Utilise MSPs for hard-to-find skills and immediate implementation.

Mitigating Single Points of Failure (SPOF)

A common issue organisations face is the single point of failure (SPOF). As systems evolve, subject matter experts may become indispensable, creating a bottleneck. These experts, who often juggle multiple responsibilities, lack the time to document processes or train others, leading to a silo of knowledge. This poses a significant risk, as these key individuals are not always available—they can fall ill, take time off, or be poached by competitors, driving up their salary demands. Without adequate support, businesses risk losing these experts, resulting in a critical skills gap.

Adapting to Technological Shifts

A complete paradigm shift in technology can exacerbate skills challenges. For instance, transitioning to Unified Communications (UC) services like Teams with Enterprise voice capabilities requires a different skill set than traditional PBX systems. Skilling up individuals for such shifts is costly and can recreate the SPOF problem. Additionally, a skills gap can delay technology adoption, limiting an organisation's ability to stay competitive and adapt to market trends.

Example Case: A company moving from a traditional PBX to a modern UC system like Teams may struggle due to the lack of adaptable skills within their ITOps team. Training existing staff is expensive and time-consuming, often leading to delays and inefficiencies.

Accessing Specialised Expertise

For many, the solution lies in partnering with MSPs. The managed services market is a desirable destination for individuals with specialised skills, and MSPs can harness these talents to bridge the skills gap. In UC, for example, MSPs can accelerate the transition from outdated PBX systems to advanced contact centres, transforming how organisations reach their audiences in weeks. MSPs also offer support for complex tools and architectures, such as MS Project, enabling PMOs to fully utilise technology from the outset, delivering immediate value and efficiencies.

Example Case: By leveraging an MSP, a business can quickly and effectively transition to a modern UC system, benefiting from the MSP's specialised expertise and avoiding the pitfalls of an internal skills gap.

Conclusion

While retaining skills in-house may seem attractive, the finite relationship between skilled individuals and their employers presents ongoing challenges. MSPs manage these challenges on a larger scale, offering depth and support to retain and utilise skills effectively. This leads back to the crucial question: should your organisation build its own capabilities or buy them through MSPs?

Partnering with an MSP can provide the specialised expertise, mitigate risks associated with SPOFs, and ensure swift adaptation to technological shifts, ultimately helping your organisation maintain a competitive edge.