Fostering home-grown skills

But it is not all doom and gloom. According to Professor Barry Dwolatzky, academic director at the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), South African software developers are good, and are recognised as such around the world, and locally, there is no shortage of talent.

"Our software developers are innovative and often far more multi-skilled than developers from other countries. Most of the major IT systems currently running in government, the financial sector and elsewhere in our economy were developed locally, and many of the people who developed these systems are still in the market. The challenge is to draw on these positive aspects and the market`s legacy skills to grow the new generation of developers," Dwolatzky says.

Greg Vercellotti, executive director at software development house Dariel Solutions, agrees. He says the challenge that the local IT industry is facing is the development of affirmative action (AA) candidates into the more technical areas of the industry.

"All IT firms are working very hard to recruit and grow AA candidates into senior technical roles. However, this is proving very difficult to achieve, especially in the more complex world of software architecture, development and consulting," says Vercellotti.

JOB MARKET SLOW

But businesses want programmers with hands-on experience, and the job market is slow on the uptake. According to Vercellotti, South Africa only created 6 000 jobs during the first quarter of 2006 when the country was hoping for 30 000.

"This is almost a disaster, especially when you take into consideration the skills shortage we have in the IT industry. The industry has the capacity and desire to hire skilled IT professionals. In fact, according to the IDC, for advanced technology skills there were 36 500 vacancies last year and it is estimated that this figure will grow to 69 700 in 2009, representing a 30% shortfall in supply versus demand," he says.

According to Vercellotti, these shortages are likely to continue as it is becoming increasingly evident that some high schools and universities are not equipping today`s students with the tools, skills and capacity to succeed in an increasing complex technology environment.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM

"The solution is complex and it`s going to take more than learnerships, SETAs and skills development levies to address this. We have to go to the heart of how we are educating our top students at schools and universities, how we are challenging them to grow, and the opportunities we are providing to the ones that have the passion and desire to succeed," he says.

In order to address the shortage of these skills, more needs to be done to increase the number of graduates in ICT-related disciplines, according to Dwolatzky. In addition, `raw` graduates need further training and on-the-job experience to assist them in acquiring specific skills for the workplace.

"The industry and universities, therefore, need to work closely together to develop appropriate curricula, retain good lecturers and attract good students," says Dwolatzky. The private sector and universities also need assistance from government in this regard, he says.

"By providing funding for good academic programmes, supporting on-the-job training (such as learnerships) and improving primary and secondary education, particularly in maths and science by providing incentives for suitably qualified teachers to be recruited and remain in the system, government would provide invaluable support for improving software development skills within the market," Dwolatzky says.

Pierre van der Merwe, applications manager at Fujitsu Services, agrees. He says programmes need to be established where people who study software development have a way of gaining experience in the market. "The issue that most new developers complain about is getting work with no experience," says Van der Merwe.

BUDGETING LEARNERSHIPS

Arnel Taute, general manager: services for Sybase SA, echoes his sentiment.

"The IT industry needs to ensure an increase in the availability of local software development skills by implementing and budgeting for both short-term courses as well as internship and learnership programmes," says Arnel Taute. "While many companies budget annually for employees to attend short courses in software development, they are not budgeting for learnership programmes that are focused on job creation for junior skills levels and previously-desadvantaged individuals in the market," she says.

"Learnership programmes also provide unemployed graduates with the opportunity to be appropriately skilled for a career in the ICT industry, as well as assisting participating organisations with employment equity compliance."

FOSTERING EXCELLENCE

Dwolatzky says the JCSE`s primary mandate is to improve the level of software engineering in South Africa and assist in whatever way it can to grow the sector. As a partnership between industry, Wits University and the City of Johannesburg, it is ideally positioned to do that.

"There are, however, many challenges ahead, given that the JCSE is still in its start-up phase. However, the key to growth lies in communication and the sector coming together as much as possible to look for innovative ways to help grow the sector," he says.

Another way to improve the skills base is by encouraging community among developers through user groups and software process improvement networks (Spins), says Catherine De Klerk, technical consultant at Compuware Corporation South Africa.

The JCSE launched a Spin for the Gauteng region last year, and is one of a number of Spins around the world that are registered with the Software Engineering Institute. The aim of the Spin is to provide people from the software sector the opportunity to network and discuss changes in the industry and how they affect the sector in future, and it has been very well received.

"Skills transfer is vital for the growth of the sector. This not only happens within companies, but when developers get together to discuss issues.

"User groups not only meet on a regular basis, but interact constantly online. They give developers the chance to meet colleagues with different skill sets and interact over challenges they face on a specific project or just generally on development issues," says De Klerk.

Companies need to encourage their developers to participate in user groups, which can often be done most effectively by hosting a user group meeting or offering one of their senior developers to present at a user group or Spin. This not only assists with the skills transfer process, but boosts morale and job satisfaction among developers because they are able to interact over challenges, learn from fellow developers and share their successes.