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Telstra has cast aside the industry-wide shortage of IT talent, particularly the growing need for IT professionals with security and network expertise, by starting a Business Technology Services BTS) academy to train its own IT pros.
The telco now has around 30 recruits – including 24% of female recruits – already in training in a three-year program to become either security or networks specialists delivering technology solutions to Telstra business customers.
The academy programme, is run by Telstra’s Executive Director, Business Technology Services, Christopher Smith, who says that technology is evolving rapidly and specialist skills in security and networks are in high demand.
Smith says, in fact, that last year, Telstra’s Cyber Security Report found that 62% of organisations have too few information security professionals to implement security activities within their organisations - and the shortage of skilled security staff is one of the major challenges faced by the industry.
{loadposition peter}And, Smith notes a report from one business publication that showed, amongst Australia’s most in demand jobs in 2016, IT staff came in at number five.
As Smith told iTWire, the academy’s programme aims to achieve the creation of a whole new set of talented engineers and consultants in network and security.
“Talent is hard to find and in some areas there’s not enough talented people. We want to create a talented workforce with a combination of formal, informal on-the-job training,” he says.
“We don’t have fixed numbers we are targeting, but we would like to intake at least around the same number (30) every year, or maybe more often depending on how fast we are growing….we’re growing pretty quickly in network and security. Our aim is to do it (new intakes) on an annual basis.”
In the first 6 weeks of each training programme, Smith says some of the inaugural inductees are already achieving billable work and accreditations for tech course around vendors.
The academy uses its own internal trainers and in the first days of the induction programme, inductees are given an orientation to Telstra, with the programme led by the training team as well as by business leaders from the wider IT industry.
The academy conducts its training programmes in Telstra facilities spread across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Smith says he is thrilled that 25% of the inductees in the inaugural training programmes are females.
“It (IT industry) is not typically a gender diverse area,” Smith notes. “It is a good opportunity (for Telstra) to address gender imbalance.”
“Telstra faces the same as other companies. In security there’s not a huge amount of talent available, although there’s increasing requirements for people.”
Smith says Telstra hopes to provide trainees with exposure to fun and interesting work. “We’ll keep them busy and hopefully they will want to stay with Telstra.”
A spokesman for Telstra said the academy complements the company’s existing Graduate Recruitment Program, but with more focus on technology resources.
“It is a comprehensive specialised training program, which includes exposure to industry professionals and cutting-edge technologies to develop technology talent.”
And, Telstra’s stated aim for the Business Technology Services (BTS) Academy: “A programme aimed at attracting and developing technology talent in line with Telstra’s vision to be a world class technology company.”