The IT Nerd

Information technology (IT) channel companies in Canada are cautiously optimistic as they refocus on growth opportunities in 2021 and beyond after the unprecedented events of 2020, according to new research from CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the IT industry and workforce.

Ninety percent of Canadian channel executives believe the channel maintains its relevance in the IT universe, CompTIA’s “International State of the Channel 2021” report finds. But they are split when asked about the channel’s health: 43% say it is holding steady in its current form, 47% say it’s rapidly changing.

Asked about the steps they are taking to maintain relevance Canadian executives say they are enhancing the customer experience to create a competitive differentiator. Also top of mind are becoming a trusted, go-to source for cybersecurity and implementing consultative selling that’s aligned with shifting customer demographics and buying behaviors.

The channel’s cautious optimism is bolstered to some degree by forecasts for global IT spending of more than $5 trillion this year, based on the feeling that customers will resume their spending on software, devices, hardware infrastructure and IT services. 

But channel executives acknowledge that some customers may still be reluctant to buy, including small businesses and industry sectors hit hardest by the pandemic (hospitality and retail, for example). Among all countries surveyed four in 10 executives express concern about the continuing impact of COVID-19 on customers’ ability or willingness to invest in new technology solutions. 

The CompTIA report gauges executives’ views on other key factors that impact the IT channel, including:

What are you selling?

Canadian respondents predict positive revenue potential over the next two years from a variety of service offerings with data services leading the list. Other services expected to generate solid business include cloud, digital marketing services and IT solutions.

About those emerging technologies

Involvement with emerging technologies was yet another disruption that channel firms encountered in the past year, causing 38% of Canadian companies to pause  their emerging tech efforts temporarily or indefinitely or pull the plug entirely. On the positive side, 35% of companies stayed the course on what they were doing with emerging tech (actively selling, using internally or experimenting) and 20% ramped up their work in areas such as the internet of things, robotics, 5G wireless networks and artificial intelligence.  

The channel and cybersecurity

When it comes to cybersecurity services offerings a majority of Canadian channel companies say they are ahead of the game (8%) or on target with their plans (49%). But a significant number of firms (43%) say they are just beginning to formulate a cybersecurity strategy and portfolio, are behind schedule or are not involved in cybersecurity at all. 

Vendor-partner relationships

Channel firms’ satisfaction generally with their vendors remains fairly high, with 72% of Canadian respondents saying they’ve been either satisfied or very satisfied with their vendors in the last two years. Asked what they want from their vendor partners, the most sought-after items are business-oriented: sales, marketing and operational training and services. This is forcing vendors to re-evaluate traditional partner program resources and incentives to meet new expectations.

CompTIA’s “International State of the Channel 2021” report is based on a Q2 2021 survey of 880 IT channel professionals in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg), Australia and New Zealand. 

Canada’s technology industry recorded another year of steady growth in 2019, according to Cyberprovinces™, the annual report on the size and scope of the country’s tech industry and workforce published by CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the global technology industry.

Net tech employment increased by nearly 60,000 positions in 2019, a growth rate of 3.6% over the previous year, and now totals an estimated 1.72 million workers. Since 2011, net tech employment in Canada has increased by an estimated 282,000 net new jobs. The figures include technology professionals working in technical positions and business professionals employed by technology companies.

Canada’s tech sector accounted for 4.7% of the overall Canadian economy in 2019, up slightly from 2018. There are approximately 73,154 tech business establishments with payroll located throughout Canada.

Eight provinces recorded gains in technology employment in 2019, led by Ontario (+31,735), Quebec (15,937) and British Columbia (+12,323).

The media annual wage for a technology worker in Canada is $76,471 CAD compared to $54,483 CAD for all occupations.

CompTIA’s Cyberprovinces report is based on data available through the end of 2019. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian technology industry and workforce will not be fully understood until complete 2020 labour market data is available.

Double-digit growth is projected for the period from 2019 through 2027 for several occupations, including database analysts and administrators (22%), systems analysts and consultants (17%), software engineers (16%) and user support technicians (15%).

Technology job  postings through the first half of 2020 were down from the same period in 2019, but still totaled more than 54,700.      

The report notes that employer demand for skills in areas such as machine learning, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, blockchain, internet of things and related emerging technologies increased by 36% percent in 2019. Though still a relatively small subset of overall job postings, it is an indicator of where business investment in tech may be headed.

The complete Cyberprovinces 2020 report, with comprehensive national and province level data on average wages, business establishments, job postings, emerging tech metrics and more, is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/cyberprovinces-2020.

More than 61,000 new workers joined Canada’s technology workforce in 2018, according to a new report from CompTIA, the leading trade association for the global tech industry.

CompTIA’s “Cyberprovinces™ 2019” reveals that net tech employment across Canada totaled an estimated 1.66 million workers at the end of 2018, a 3.8 percent increase over the prior year. Since 2010 net tech employment has increased by an estimated 249,000 new jobs.

The report also finds that tech wages averaged $78,070 CAD in 2018, some 51 percent higher than the average private sector wage of $51,794 CAD.

The outlook for future employment growth appears positive, according to the report. Even with the addition of 61,000-plus tech workers last year, Canadian employers posted job openings for some 116,000 tech positions in 2018. Employer demand for emerging technology skills in areas such as machine learning, robotics, augmented reality/virtual reality, blockchain, and the Internet of Things increased by 23 percent from 2017 and 2018.

Several critical technology occupations are projected to experience double-digit growth between 2018 and 2026, including database analysts and administrators (24 percent), software engineers (20 percent), systems analysts and consultants (20 percent), and computer user support technicians (18 percent). By comparison, Canada’s overall base of employment is projected to increase by nearly 10 percent during the same period.

More from Cyberprovinces 2019

• Ontario led the nation in tech employment growth in 2018 with 36,698 new jobs, followed by British Columbia (10,840) and Quebec (10,774).
• On average tech industry wages are highest in Alberta ($81,967) followed by Ontario ($81,726) and British Columbia ($78,927).
• There are estimated 70,189 tech business establishments – companies with payroll – across Canada. Nearly two-thirds of these firms are located in Ontario and Quebec.

The complete Cyberprovinces 2019 report, with comprehensive national and province level data is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/cyberprovinces-2019.

Tech employment in Canada expanded by nearly 45,000 jobs in 2017, to an estimated 1.2 million workers, according to Cyberprovinces™ 2018, published today by CompTIA, the leading technology industry trade association.

Net tech employment accounted for approximately 8.4 percent of the overall Canadian workforce in 2017

The outlook for technology employment points to a continuation of the growth trend, which has seen tech jobs increase by about 32,000 each year since 2010. Projections from Statistics Canada indicate the base of tech occupations is projected to increase by nearly 8 percent between 2018 and 2026.

The growth projections for many technology occupation categories exceed the national benchmark, and in some cases, by a significant amount. For example, database analysts and administrator roles are projected to grow at three times the rate as the national average. Software, systems analysts, which includes cybersecurity roles, and user support technicians will also experience notable gains through 2026.

Beyond the raw numbers of new jobs, many of these positions have salaries well above those in other industries. According to Cyberprovinces 2018, the average annual wage in the tech industry is $76,200; 51 percent higher than the average annual wage for all jobs ($50,400).

Among other key findings from Cyberprovinces 2018:

• The top provinces when it comes to Net Tech Employment are Ontario and Quebec. The greatest number of jobs were also added in these provinces when compared to 2016.  Tech employment also represents about 10% of the total employment in these provinces.
• When compared to the other provinces Ontario stands apart for the number of jobs in tech with 44.6 percent of Canadian net tech employment coming from this province. This is consistent with Ontario’s population ratio (about 37 percent of the country), and economic impact (about 39 percent). Anchored by Canada’s most populous city, Toronto, the province of Ontario also accounted for a significant portion of tech employment gains during 2017.
• Tech business establishments tend to be concentrated in population centers and in locations that are close to the customers they serve. Combined, Ontario and Quebec account for nearly two-thirds of the total tech business establishments with payroll in the country.
• There are approximately 69,000 tech business enterprises with payroll located throughout Canada. This is supplemented by self-employed tech workers, which are classified separately by Canadian government sources.
• According to data from Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, the number of job postings by Canadian employers for tech occupations reached nearly 114,000 during 2017. This figure was roughly in line with the rate from the previous year.

Cyberprovinces 2018 is based on CompTIA’s analysis of data from Statistics Canada, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, and other sources. Estimates for 2017 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete Cyberprovinces 2018 report, with complete national and province level data, is available at https://www.comptia.org/resources/cyberprovinces-2018.

Tech employment in the United States expanded by nearly 200,000 jobs in 2017, to an estimated 11.5 million workers; and at $1.6 trillion, the tech sector is one of the largest components of the nation’s economy, according to Cyberstates™ 2018, the definitive annual analysis of the nation’s industry published today by CompTIA, the world’s leading technology industry association.

The economic might of the tech industry is felt in nearly every state. The industry is a top-five economic contributor in 22 states; and in the top 10 of 42 states.

The outlook for technology employment points to a continuation of the growth trend, which has seen tech jobs increase by about 200,000 each year since 2010. Projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the base of tech occupations will increase by 626,000 jobs by 2026. When factoring in the need to replace retiring or career-change workers, the total potential tech workforce reaches  1.2 million through 2026.

Beyond the raw numbers of new jobs, many of these positions have salaries well above those in other industries. According to Cyberstates 2018, the average annual wage in the tech industry is $112,890; 107 percent higher than the average annual wage for all jobs ($54,420).

Among other key findings from Cyberstates 2018:

• 38 states saw positive tech employment growth in 2017, slightly better than 2016, when 36 states experienced growth. The top five states for net job gains in 2017 were California (43,600), Texas (13,400), Michigan (13,200), Florida (12,000), and New York (10,400).
• On a percentage change basis, the top five states for 2017 tech job growth were Utah (+ 3.6 percent), Michigan (+ 3.4 percent), North Carolina (+3.1 percent), Washington (+ 2.9), and Idaho (+ 2.8 percent).
• At 10.6 percent, Massachusetts has the highest concentration of tech workers relative to its overall employment base. Following are Washington (9.9 percent), Virginia (9.9 percent), the District of Columbia (9.7 percent), and Colorado (9.7 percent).
• Nationally, the composition of the tech sector workforce is 66 percent men and 34 percent women, unchanged from 2016. The District of Columbia (39.8 percent) has the highest concentration of women in its tech workforce, followed by South Dakota, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Missouri.
• The number of tech business establishments across the country grew for the sixth consecutive year, and now totals nearly 503,000 businesses.

Cyberstates 2018 (#cyberstates) is based on CompTIA’s analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, and other sources. Estimates for 2017 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete Cyberstates 2018 report, with complete national, state and metropolitan level data, is available at http://cyberstates.org/