| Cisco addresses technology
skills shortfall
By BISI OLALEYE
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
As part of its continuing effort to help channel partners
bridge the global technology skills gap, Cisco recently unveiled
a Partner Talent Portal for the Middle East and Africa (MEA),
providing regional channel partners with access to local Cisco
Network Academy graduates and Cisco certified talents.
The new Partner Talent Portal features curricula vitae and
profiles of local Cisco Network Academy graduates to help
facilitate the connection between Cisco channel partners and
this proven talent pool.
Julius Ayuk Tabe, Cisco Networking Academy Manager for West
Africa, explained that the study undertaken last year by Cisco
and conducted by the industry analyst firm, IDC, revealed
that, the demand for networking skills in the UAE alone was
set to exceed supply by an average of 27 per cent in 2009.
This translates into a shortage of more than 19,000 skilled
people.
This portal which is already alive and accessible to Cisco
partners in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
Lebanon, Pakistan, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and
Ethiopia, provides partners with a fast and effective way
to find qualified candidates, while allowing for a much-needed
inflow of talent into the, overall industry.
Guido Romagnoli, director of Channels, Middle East and Africa,
said: "The Middle East and Africa as a whole is experiencing
tremendous IT growth and people are the heart of this boom.”
"To help our partners successfully address today's skills
and talent shortage, we must look beyond the traditional channel
strategies that have focused on providing partner training
and programme. With the Partner Talent Portal, we are taking
an active role in helping partners tackle business critical
issues such as recruiting, retaining and developing talent."
The skills gap is even more extreme when certain technology
areas are singled out. For example, the shortfall between
supply and demand in advanced networking technology skills
(IP telephony, security and wireless) will be 35 per cent
in 2009. This gap is in contrast to findings from Western
and Eastern Europe that showed an average advanced networking
skills gap of 15.8 per cent by 2008.
IDC also expects the ongoing economic expansion in the region
to have a strong impact on ICT demand, including networking
skills. IDC forecasts demand for IT in the Middle East to
increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than
16.9 per cent between 2005 and 2009.
Julius Ayuk Tabe added that Cisco would continue to work with
local universities to create a global list of profiles for
all Network Academy graduates. The Middle East and Africa
portal has already been accessed by more than 700 Cisco certified
partners, and features over 1000 posted curricula vitae, with
more being added on a daily basis. This highlights the portal's
ability to facilitate the initial recruitment phase by helping
partners source the right candidates, at the right time and
with the right skill-sets.
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