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oncerns around the global IT skills shortage continue to rage on , according to Advanced ’ s latest annual report on mainframe modernisation . The IT services provider has revealed that 89 % of large enterprises worldwide are worried they won ’ t have access to the right IT talent to maintain and manage their legacy systems .

The skills to modernise these systems are in short supply too . Almost two-fifths ( 37 %) of senior professionals – including CIOs and heads of IT – have admitted their modernisation programmes have failed because they lack the depth and breadth of skills required for newer technologies like the cloud . With 38 % also blaming a lack of planning for the success of modernisation projects , it ’ s startling that businesses are not learning the lessons of the past and approaching modernisation with these elements front of mind .

The 2021 Mainframe Modernisation Business Barometer Report is the second of its kind from Advanced , examining the challenges facing large enterprises worldwide with annual revenues of more than US $ 1 billion . This year ’ s report reveals the extent of the IT skills gap in maintaining and modernising legacy systems , which has been exacerbated by COVID-19 .

More than three quarters ( 78 %) of organisations have started at least one modernisation programme as a direct result of the pandemic – but it has brought challenges . A third are worried experienced staff are retiring and taking their legacy skills with them , while 36 % are concerned that people entering the workforce only have modern skills . In addition , 29 % say their staff don ’ t want to learn legacy skills , even though they are still in high demand .

The State of New Jersey in the US is one example which , at the start of the pandemic , saw hundreds of thousands of residents quickly submit applications to its unemployment system . The sudden 1,600 % increase in claims crashed the mainframes supporting critical applications , resulting in an urgent plea from the state ’ s governor for programmers qualified in COBOL – a coding language that is more than 60 years old , yet remains the most prominent language in the mainframe estate for 75 % of the enterprises surveyed .

Tim Jones , Managing Director of Application Modernisation EMEA at Advanced , said : “ The State of New

Jersey isn ’ t an isolated example . Many organisations worldwide are struggling to find the skilled staff needed to maintain and manage their critical systems . If programmers with expertise in the most prominent languages are retiring and taking their skills with them , large enterprises will continue to experience huge disruption to their operations .

“ And , as they move their mainframe estate to a modern environment like the cloud , enterprises could also end up overcompensating on the skills imbalance by hyper focusing on recruiting modern skills and disregarding the need for legacy talent . It ’ s important they crosstrain existing talent to improve existing staff ’ s ability to support both legacy and modern systems , particularly during and after a major modernisation initiative .” �