By Joe Byrne, Regional CTO, AppDynamics
With the world shifting to a digital-only economy almost overnight, it has fallen to technologists to deliver the innovation that organizations have relied on so heavily during this tumultuous period. Technologists have done an incredible job accelerating digital transformation and enabling new digital services, while still maintaining seamless digital experiences for customers and employees.
Across every industry, technologists are being praised for the skills and commitment they have displayed throughout the pandemic, and rightly so. In many cases, organizations have only been able to survive because of the speed technologists have responded to turbulent market conditions and changing customer needs.
Without doubt, the role that technologists play within today’s digital-led businesses is now more widely understood and recognized within most organizations and among the wider population. One of the positive things that has emerged over the last year has been a much greater appreciation of the positive role technology can play in all of our lives, allowing us to communicate with and support one another, regardless of where we are in the world, and to access the products and services we need, quickly and safely. And of course, it is the skill, vision and hard work of technologists that makes it all possible.
For many technologists, the pandemic has presented a welcome opportunity to demonstrate the value that they bring to their organizations and wider communities. An AppDynamics report (Agents of Transformation 2021: The Rise of Full-Stack Observability) which surveyed over 1,000 global technologists, found that 90% have a desire to make a positive impact and leave a legacy of innovation at work, and 75% feel that this is a defining moment for them in their careers and a chance to shine.
The results technologists have delivered over the last year should provide a platform for them to accelerate their careers and fulfil their ambitions.
All work, no progression?
Unfortunately, however, many technologists are yet to feel any real benefits from this new, hard-won respect. It certainly hasn’t acted as a springboard for new opportunities.
The Agents of Transformation report finds that many technologists now feel frustrated in their jobs, held back by a lack of tools, data and insight to do their job properly, and a lack of support from the business. They’re working longer hours, under extreme pressure and with the constant worry they might make a costly mistake.
Furthermore, for all of their incredible work during the pandemic, many technologists are concerned that their efforts are not being reflected in terms of their career development opportunities.
One recent study revealed an emerging paradox where the pandemic has ‘elevated technology professionals’ stature but limited their career growth.’ Our own research suggested that technologists are eager to propel their careers forward over the next year – 90% expressed a desire to maximize their employment prospects and earning potential during 2021.
The challenge of proving business impact and how to support
So why aren’t technologists seeing opportunities for career growth? Why are they feeling held back?
Part of the reason that technologists are yet to see the new opportunities and rewards that their efforts over the last year deserve is because organizations and leadership teams are still too busy firefighting and responding to constant disruption. It’s still all hands on deck to get through the pandemic and business leaders simply don’t have the headspace or capacity to think beyond that. Hopefully, as the pressure from the pandemic eases over the coming months and leaders start to look ahead, this situation will be addressed quickly. Technologists need to keep up the good work and be ready when opportunities do come along.
Another, more worrying reason for a lack of progression is that many technologists are struggling to demonstrate and prove the value of their work to the business. Everybody can see the impact that digital transformation has had over the last year, but some technologists don’t have the data and insight to talk to business leaders in the language that matters most to them – financial performance.
We found that 66% of technologists lack the strategy and tools to effectively measure how technology decisions impact business outcomes, and 79% acknowledge that they need to find a better way to link digital transformation to business performance. While most technologists acknowledge that the ability to monitor the IT stack is important, the majority (92%) say the ability to link technology performance to business outcomes such as customer experience, sales transactions and revenue, will be what’s important to deliver innovation over the next 12 months.
This is a concerning situation for both technologists and their organizations. From a technical perspective, it’s clear that organizations need to be able to link IT performance to business results in order to make smarter decisions and prioritize actions based on business impact. This is essential to identifying and fixing issues quickly to maintain seamless digital experiences.
And, from a personal perspective, there is a risk that technologists will become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned if they can’t demonstrate the value of their work to the business and don’t get the recognition and opportunities they deserve as a result.
Business leaders can’t afford for this situation to continue, given the critical need for ongoing innovation and digital transformation. They must act now to ensure their technologists have the tools and data they need to do their jobs properly and prove the impact they are delivering. Full-stack observability is the way technologists can handle the increasing IT estate and increased complexity created by rapid innovation.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joe Byrne is a Regional CTO at AppDynamics, a part of Cisco. His primary focus is on working with customers and prospects on APM strategy and helping with digital transformations. He also works closely with Sales, Marketing, Product and Engineering on product strategy. Prior to AppDynamics, Joe held technology leadership roles at Albertsons, EllieMae and Johnson and Johnson.
