Dive Brief:

• A new survey of CIOs and other tech leaders found 65% feel that the tech talent shortage is precluding them from keeping up with the rate of digital change and innovation.

• The report, from Harvey Nash and KPMG, also found that the number of CIOs that say they are facing a tech skills shortage is the highest it has been since the 2008 recession. 

• Of the tech talent roles, data analytics experts are in greatest demand for the second year in a row, according to the survey.

Dive Insight:

The survey of 3,352 CIOs and other technology leaders found more of them feel they are at a disadvantage due to the lack of tech talent this year than did last year. 

"That’s pretty staggering," said Bob Miano, president and CEO of Harvey Nash USA told the Wall Street Journal. "CIOs may have great ideas but if you can’t get the IT talent, that’s a growing problem."

Project managers were in second greatest in demand skill set, followed by business analysts. Staff to manage outsourcers was in least demand. The outsourcing market has continued to change and recent reports found that the size of IT outsourcing deals are shrinking.  

Once CIOs find the tech talent they need, 90% reported they are worried about keeping them, according to the survey.

The report also found that projects in some areas—Big Data, for example—are generally less successful. With a lack of appropriate talent, many projects have the potential to fail. A report from Appirio and Wakefield Research last fall found 25% of IT projects are abandoned as a result of a shortage of IT workers.