As part of this month’s SAMPanel debate, SAMChannel asked Chuck Fried, President and CEO of TxMQ, ‘How can the Talent Shortage in the SAM Sector be Addressed?’

Below was his response…

As a businessman, and business owner for many years, the topic of talent shortage is near and dear to my heart. One of the divisions within TxMQ provides staffing solutions for companies, so I spend quite a bit of time dealing with the business realities of talent shortages – or talent gaps, as I like to call them. A talent shortage implies a reality we can’t really speak to as an absolute fact. A talent gap, however, addresses an unmet, defined need for a skillset that a company lacks.

The broader question of talent gap is a topic I can talk about for hours. It’s been an issue for decades in the enterprise IT space, and shows no signs of abating anytime soon. My company has found a solution for talent gaps in our other services groups, and we apply the same principles to SAM services.

When a company has a skills gap, there are multiple options to fill it. If the need is temporary, the company can bring in a contractor. If the need will be ongoing and permanent, the company may choose to hire an FTE (a Full Time Equivalent employee). But if the need is outside the company’s core competency, is there really the need for a SAM center of excellence, for an FTE? The short answer is no.

My philosophy is this: While the very large enterprise space may be able to justify such an investment in SAM, for most companies, competent partner firms like TxMQ should handle SAM as a managed service.

Just as companies utilize outside counsel for legal work, accounting work, even insurance services and banking, so should most organizations look to an outside solutions provider to deliver SAM services. Simply put, this is the only option to address the growing skills gaps across the technology space today.

In addition, a managed services solution can allow companies to leverage talent (service providers) regardless of geographic barriers. Partner firms like TxMQ, with in-house compliance and SAM teams can handle the burden of sourcing the talent, training the staff and managing SLAs. A bank might have a particular need to bring SAM under its ITSM desk. Other shops might want this managed at a more senior executive level. Regardless of the situation, a managed services provider skilled at SAM services can address these concerns, and offer a nimble, flexible, scalable service to meet nearly any need, for nearly any shop, of any size.

TxMQ has customers across the US and Canada, and shortly the globe.   Location is no longer an issue, thus talent gaps are more readily addressed.   A SAM expert in Europe can provide his skills as an employee of TxMQ to customers anywhere on the globe.

In addition, talented professionals, in our experience, love the opportunity to support multiple customers afforded by working for a managed services provider. The variety of work presents never ending challenges and opportunities for growth often lacking in a single position inside an end customer on a small in house SAM team. Thus solution providers and managed services providers often see far longer tenure of staff, than is the norm these days in traditional in house roles.

About the Author

Chuck Fried | President and CEO of TxMQ | Connect with Chuck

Chuck Fried is the President and CEO of TxMQ – a solutions provider offering managed services around SAM, middleware support, and related technology and business segments. www.txmq.com