There’s a tech consulting skills shortage looming. Here’s your chance to dive in.
The technology sector is a multi-billion-dollar industry with a big problem: in the next two years, the industry is likely to need an additional 286,000 workers – but there aren’t enough skilled professionals to meet demand.
And it’s not just technical specialists who are on the list. Increasingly, businesses across all sectors will be seeking tech consultants, too. If you’ve ever aspired to a tech career but don’t have a tech background, or if you’re already in tech but want to change direction or build on your existing skill set, the time to do it is now.
Calling all functional consultants
Unlike analysts, data scientists and programmers, tech consultants help businesses get their tech working for them to achieve multiple aims — improving business processes, reducing costs, and enabling the development of effective digital strategy and technology change processes.
There are lots of different types of tech consultants; among them, functional consultants are an increasingly high-profile group. These niche specialists are often attached to a specific product, like an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool or a customer relationship management platform (CRM) and use their expertise to bridge the gap between what a business needs and what the tech can deliver.
ERPs (like Microsoft Dynamics 365) and CRMs (like Salesforce) help businesses integrate and streamline important functions — ERPs are all about business operations, while CRMs are focused on enhancing the customer experience and driving sales growth, as well as helping the businesses who use them to collect and manage customer data. ERPs and CRMs are part of towards the increasing integration of technology into day-to-day business, even in non-technical fields.
It’s no surprise, then, that the market for both ERPs and CRMs is experiencing massive rates of growth. That growth is likely to mean more demand for functional consultants who can help businesses maximise the benefits of these platforms.
Kickstart your tech consulting career
As well as providing career options for current tech professionals, the functional consultancy career track offers exciting opportunities for those for non-technical types, too. Functional consultants often transition into the role from design, transdisciplinary innovation, communications or science backgrounds, among others, drawing on their diverse expertise to deliver new ways of tackling challenges at the intersection of technology and business.
If this sounds like you, then it might be time for a quick skills assessment to figure out what you’ve already got— and what you still need — in the journey towards a functional consultancy career. The good news is that an increasing number of short courses, microcredentials and even highly specialised postgraduate qualifications are hitting the market to help bring you up to speed.
Among them is the UTS Graduate Certificate in Business Consulting and Technology Implementation, which has been co-designed by Microsoft and UTS in partnership with some of the tech and consulting world’s big hitters: Avanade, Capgemini and EY. This eight-subject course will equip you with the skills require to work as a functional consultant in Microsoft’s partner ecosystem or its client base.
Find out more about tech consulting careers with The UTS Graduate Certificate in Business Consulting and Technology Implementation.
