Filling in the IT Gaps in the Southeast

Sunshine is abundant in the south. It’s why Georgia peaches and Florida oranges flourish here. It’s also why so many people are drawn to the area and one of the reasons so many companies choose to locate here. I’ve lived in Atlanta since 1997 and now serve as General Manager of CenturyLink’s Enterprise market. Our region stretches from Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida and is home to 35 of the Fortune 1,000 companies, with a thriving craft beer community and boasts the busiest airport in the world. Business here is booming!

The technology sector is growing rapidly, with FinTech, cybersecurity, digital media and software leading the way. At the same time, health care, manufacturing, and government continue to expand throughout the area. While a boon for the local economy, this growth comes with certain challenges. As companies expand their operations here, they need global connectivity that they can rely on, and CenturyLink’s fiber expansions in the region provide that connectivity.

They also face increased competition for talent. In the 21st Century, every company is a tech company, whether you’re selling chicken sandwiches or FinTech software. This has spurred a surge in demand for workers with tech skills. With some of the top universities in the region, such as Georgia Tech, Georgia State and University of Georgia, local graduates are in high demand, but there aren’t enough of them. That leaves IT organizations scrambling to fill in the gaps. CenturyLink is finding ways to fill those gaps, assembling teams that can develop custom solutions that allow companies to move their businesses forward.

Filling in the Talent Gaps

Attracting and retaining talent is one of the biggest issues facing IT organizations right now. This talent gap has become even more of a challenge due to the global health crisis. Many companies have furloughed workers or laid-off employees resulting in IT organizations being short-staffed and scrambling to keep critical projects on track while meeting the demands of a remote workforce. Help desks are understaffed, resulting in longer lead-times in addressing users’ issues. With fewer people watching the network, security concerns increase. And application upgrades and management need to be reprioritized.

Customers are turning to CenturyLink to help fill in those gaps. Our fully managed IT services and security resources are helping to provide peace-of-mind and critical infrastructure to IT organizations stretched thin by transitions in the business.

For example, the CIO at one company suddenly found himself in a bind to continue to provide IT support during an acquisition. Facing an uncertain future, many of his employees decided to seek positions elsewhere, leaving him unable to manage his help desk, applications or endpoint computer devices. He turned to CenturyLink for help and entrusted us to bring in an entirely new suite of services to help run his IT organization.

Within one month, we were able to bring in the people he needed to manage his help desk, his entire security operations center and his applications. With CenturyLink as his partner, he was able to fill the gaps and achieve his goal of being able to hand over the keys to a very well-run organization on the day of final acquisition.

As the global economy moves forward, more gaps will open at companies across our region. My team and I are actively partnering with our customers to fill those gaps and build the connections to the future. In our great region, the sun continues to shine and CenturyLink continues to be a trusted network partner- helping businesses achieve amazing results.

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This blog was previously published on LinkedIn on August 14, 2020.

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