IT professionals need to be armed and equipped to win battles in a constantly changing environment.

Edward Tuorinsky, managing principal at DTS, a business-management consulting firm, says that training is an important component for every sector and profession, but it is absolutely vital for the IT professionals who serve your customers.

Unfortunately, there’s a disconnect between this and partner perception. It seems that many partner firms incorrectly assume that their technical staffers will either seek out training on their own, or that ongoing education and certifications will make key employees attractive targets for poaching. That attitude is taking a big chance with a valuable resource.

Tuorinsky will share advice and strategies in his presentation, “Training Dragons: Why You Need Continuous IT Staff Development,” part of the technology leader track, April 9, during the Business Success Symposium at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

Edward Tuorinsky

The session will give insight into how to establish and prioritize IT training for staff. It will address organizational culture, management objectives and the needs of individuals within technology teams.

Tuorinsky, a service-disabled veteran, brings nearly 20 years of experience to DTS in leadership, management consulting and information technology services. Prior to founding the company, Tuorinsky was a captain and logistics officer in the U. S. Army, serving at various locations nationally and abroad, including Korea, Germany and Kosovo.

He took time to answer our questions about his upcoming talk. We edited the transcript for clarity.

Channel Futures: Why is training/development essential for IT professionals?

Edward Tuorinsky: IT training is a business imperative for 2019. The role of IT has significantly changed in the last 10-15 years. Once, IT was a small department in a basement that you called when your laptop broke. Those days are over. Today, technology is integrated into all aspects of an organization. We need IT talent that understand how to analyze issues, how to make connections between systems and tools, [and] how to use cutting-edge tools and techniques like artificial intelligence and blockchain to solve problems. A well-structured IT training plan pays dividends in operations, innovation and culture, pushing you in front of your competition.

Coupled with that, IT is a field that is constantly changing. You can’t ask people to go the front lines for you and win without the most advanced tools and knowledge available.

CF: Can you elaborate on the misconceptions and concerns that partner firms have with regard to training? What are the implications of remaining ignorant or not taking affirmative action in these cases?

ET: If you don’t prioritize training for your IT team – the budget, time and resources they need to keep up with technology that is always changing – then your IT people won’t be prepared to do their jobs. Others will be critical of them. They won’t feel valued. And most critically, they’ll find another employer who takes better care of them.

IT is an extremely limited talent pool. If you’re not Amazon or Google, you need to be thinking about how you can make your company more attractive to IT talent. It’s not just about the compensation; it’s also about the …

… work, the environment [and] being in on the action. You want to be in a place where people are valued for their knowledge.

CF: Can you speak to the skills/talent shortage angle? How does this tie into companies and retaining talent?

ET: Gartner just put out the results from a survey of top executives that says a shortage of talent is their top concern for 2019. We have very little unemployment, so people [have] jobs, but there’s a talent gap. Organizations need specialized skills in data collection, protection and analysis. If you can’t find that out in the market, then guess what? You need to make it yourself. And that means training the people you have with the skills you need.

CF: What is one thing you hope your audience will take away from the presentation?

ET: We’re talking about IT training, but at the heart of things, we’re also talking about changing our organizations. You don’t have to fight for training dollars in an organization that is hungry for innovation, knowledge or one that leverages technology. They understand the connection and will see the returns. Organizations that use talent to propel themselves forward are always looking for ways to improve and develop their knowledge. That’s the new blueprint for success.