Chapter 31: Information technology issues in South Africa

Many skilled information technology (IT) professionals working in South Africa understand that they work in a fast-changing environment. The emergent nature of IT, coupled with growing demands for new sets of IT skills in South Africa, has fostered a miscellany of employment issues in the IT profession at a higher percentage relative to other professions. Arguably, the antecedents that shape these issues in the profession are critical for managers in the industry. This chapter presents findings that are based on an investigation carried out in South Africa regarding the miscellany of organizational, technological, and individual issues that IT professionals face. Having a reliable and efficient IT infrastructure was by far the most highly ranked organizational issue. The most important technology issue as perceived by respondents was networking and telecommunications. Insights to these findings are discussed in this chapter.