Today, there is an IT/cybersecurity skills crisis. Gartner predicts that this skills crisis could cause 75% of businesses to experience visible disruptions. This means, the inability to perform business operations due to an IT outage, cybersecurity breach, or ransomware attack.
We all depend on technology. Regardless of the size of your dealership – you need technology to sell and service cars and trucks. As technology advances and the cybersecurity threat continues to grow, you need skilled professionals to ensure that your IT environment is always optimized and that your systems, data, finances, and reputation are secure. But to do this you need people with a set of IT/cybersecurity skills that are increasingly hard to find. Not only are they hard to find – but they are also hard to keep.
A recent CNBC report said that 72% of IT workers are considering quitting their jobs in the next 12 months. There are an estimated 190,000 new IT/cybersecurity positions available. Yet at the same time only about 65,000 new graduates with IT related degrees. Even if you can recruit one of these valuable professionals – to get the most out of them – you need to be committed to their continuous learning.
Since technology and the tactics of the cybercriminal are evolving at a dizzying pace, if your IT/cybersecurity professionals aren’t kept up to speed on the most recent IT/cybersecurity best practices then the value of these people will quickly depreciate. For many businesses, the everyday demands on the IT/cybersecurity resources in place completely consumes these people – leaving no time for continuous learning. In fact, the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) reports that 82% of IT/cybersecurity professionals claim they can’t keep up with the learning and certifications they need to remain effective because their everyday workload takes up all their time.
Recruiting, retaining, and the ongoing training of the IT/cybersecurity professionals that dealerships need in today’s technology and cybersecurity environment is difficult and expensive. The best way for dealerships to handle this crisis is to outsource.
By outsourcing, you transfer the effort and expense associated with recruiting, retaining, and training IT/cybersecurity professionals to someone else. Outsourcing to an IT/cybersecurity managed services provider (MSP) spreads the effort and expense of building and maintaining a team of knowledgeable professionals across multiple dealerships. As a result, each client of the MSP gets access to a team of well-trained and well-maintained experts that would otherwise be beyond their reach.
Outsourcing all – or a portion – of a dealership’s IT/cybersecurity makes sense. It provides dealerships with top notch, well-trained, and certified professionals without the headaches and expenses associated with hiring, keeping, and maintaining these essential assets. Oh, it can also reduce your cybersecurity insurance premiums! Food for thought.