Almost eight in ten (78%) of IT roles will see significant changes to the skills and responsibilities required over the next four years, according to the latest findings from member-based advisory firm CEB.

As the ‘baby boom’ generation retires, many companies are already struggling to fill the knowledge gap. Meanwhile over half (57%) of IT staff lack the analytic skills and judgment needed to succeed in the changing workplace, including much greater interdependence across different teams and more business-led IT.

With 82% of staff now involved in tech-based work that requires analysis and judgment, IT departments needs to devote less effort to supporting employees when technology is deployed or breaks and more towards coaching employees in how to use this technology productively.

If IT departments are to keep up, wholesale changes are required to way staff are recruited and trained.

Member-based advisory firm CEB has identified the six new roles that companies need to start training for now – or else risk paying the consequences in a few years’ time.

1. Collaboration and social media evangelists

This employee coordinates with internal stakeholders deploy collaboration and social media capabilities, helping the business to understand that there is more beyond e-mail. This candidate is likely to have a background in business, marketing, communications, or behavioural science.

2. Information insight enablers

The information insight enabler is responsible for supporting the business with insight, business intelligence, and management reports for effective decision-making. These employees will commonly have a data analyst background, able to present information in a user-friendly manner and generate the most valuable insights for business units and senior leadership.

3. Cloud integration specialists

This person assimilates cloud services – for both applications and infrastructure – into the existing IT environment. Working closely with business leaders, service managers, and technology brokers to evaluate new cloud service offerings and determine integration needs, this employee should have good experience in developing, deploying, and maintaining integration solutions.

4. User experience gurus

The user experience guru collaborates with service managers and end users to understand and improve user experience and workflow for new and existing applications. The ‘guru’ designs and configures user-centric interfaces for in-house and cloud applications, allowing end users to easily access, visualise and navigate information and analytics.

5. Technology brokers

This employee is responsible for introducing new technologies and vendors to business units, the multifunctional shared services group, and the remaining IT organisation. He or she is likely to have a background in sales or business development at a technology service provider.

6. End-to-end IT service managers

Last but not least, the service manager identifies the cost drivers for IT services and communicates to business partners how those cost drivers impact their expenses. This role is about guiding the business to help drive down overall expenditure and effectively support business capabilities.