AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Mar 12, 2014) - Spiceworks, the professional network for IT, today announced the results of a new survey examining the IT training and certification priorities and plans of IT professionals in North America and EMEA. The report "Making the Tech Grade" shows 84 percent of IT professionals believe IT training is very to extremely valuable, and most believe it can increase job opportunities and salaries. However, 39 percent of IT professionals say their employer places limited to no value on IT training, and 54 percent said they would pay for all or some of their training courses on their own. The independent report was sponsored by New Horizons, a provider of IT training and certification courses.
"IT professionals are responsible for making sure organizations of every size and shape are running in peak condition, said Kathryn Pribish, Voice of IT program manager at Spiceworks. "However, the technology industry is constantly evolving, new threats and challenges are emerging, and IT departments are constantly asked to do more with less. IT training is crucial in not only the professional development of technology professionals but in helping them stay on top of the latest technology trends while keeping their organizations up-and-running at all times."
More than 75 percent of IT professionals plan to enroll in new training in 2014
- According to the IT professionals surveyed, 47 percent took at least one training course in 2013, and 78 percent plan to enroll in a course this year. Of those who are not planning to take a training course in 2014, 67 percent plan to train themselves, 63 percent believe training is too expensive, and 62 percent don't believe they have enough time.
- When asked what specific types of training courses they were planning to take in 2014, 43 percent said virtualization training, 39 percent cited networking, and 34 percent said operating system and information security courses.
- Of those who have taken or plan to take a training course in 2014, 62 percent plan to attend a self-paced, online course while 44 percent plan to attend an instructor-led class.
Overwhelming majority of IT professionals see certifications as at least somewhat valuable
- Ninety percent of the IT professionals surveyed see vendor certifications as somewhat to extremely valuable, although only 19 percent received a new certification in 2013. Forty-one percent are planning to receive a new certification in 2014.
- IT professionals believe certifications can have a positive impact on their career. Sixty-seven percent said they can help increase the job opportunities available to them, 55 percent said they can improve their credibility and half said certifications can help increase their salary or rate.
- Vendor certifications IT professionals view as important to their careers mirrored their training priorities. Certifications from Microsoft, Cisco and VMware were rated as the most important to have.
Methodology
The survey was conducted in January 2014 and includes 850 respondents from North America and EMEA. Respondents are among the more than 5 million IT professionals who use Spiceworks and represent a variety of company sizes including small-to-medium businesses and enterprises. Respondents come from a variety of industries including manufacturing, IT service providers, healthcare, education, government, non-profits, and finance.
About Spiceworks Voice of IT®
The Spiceworks Voice of IT market insights program publishes statistics, trends and opinions collected from IT professionals worldwide. More than 640,000 IT professionals in over 100 countries have joined the program to share information and feedback on the technology issues important to them.
About Spiceworks
Spiceworks is the professional network more than 5 million IT professionals use to connect with one another and over 3,000 technology brands. The company simplifies how IT professionals discover, buy and manage more than $525 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Austin Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Goldman Sachs, Shasta Ventures and Tenaya Capital. For more information visit
http://www.spiceworks.com.
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Spiceworks and Voice of IT are registered trademarks of Spiceworks, Inc. All other names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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