IT Trends Report highlights the rise of the IT generalist

Auvik has released the results of its 2025 IT Trends Report, an annual analysis of the current state of the IT sector based on feedback from internal IT and MSP professionals surveyed on top trends and challenges impacting IT teams. This year’s survey - titled “Why IT is long on challenges but short on time,” reveals that stress and burnout are approaching all-time highs amidst the Baby Boomer retirement era, underscoring the critical need for AI and automation solutions and giving rise to the IT generalist.

Rise of the IT Generalist: IT Pros Asked to do More

IT teams continue to navigate challenges associated with a shortage of skilled workers, giving rise to the “IT generalist” – IT professionals who must possess knowledge across a very broad range of IT functions due to the talent gap, tool sprawl, and evolving technology. According to survey respondents, the heaviest burden of work is currently falling on the most senior employees. IT professionals with more than 10 years of experience and the Baby Boomer generation experience the longest work weeks. A generational disparity in the workload is rapidly exacerbating issues around burnout, since as many as 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65 and retire every single day between now and 2030, leaving even more work for remaining IT employees.

Already, 60% of IT professionals expressed feeling burnt out by their work, and 78% said that stressors at work are preventing them from upskilling. Contributing to the stress is the high volume of reactive and time-sensitive tasks on IT professionals’ plates. 58% of IT professionals shared that they spend half or more of their work week on tickets resolving end-user requests. Another 44% said the burden of work is outweighing their ability to be productive.

“The IT generalist is arising out of necessity,” said Doug Murray, CEO, Auvik. “The vast majority of IT professionals manage mixed vendor environments. MSPs, who typically manage the most mixed vendor environments, wrangle the most tool sprawl, with nearly 50% of them reporting more than 10 network tools in use. And more tools are being added to their workflows without their OK – 47% noted they are frustrated by not being consulted earlier in the tool procurement process. With a continuing talent gap and increasing tool sprawl, IT professionals don’t have the bandwidth to develop deep expertise in any one area of IT. They must be able to manage a broad range of tools and IT functions, while relying increasingly on AI and automation to complete the more menial, routine tasks that historically have been major time commitments.”

AI and Automation: Potential Path to Sustainable Workloads

To support the remaining IT workforce and attract new talent, organizations will need to evolve to integrate AI and automation into their daily operations. These tools are integral to tackle current challenges like growing workloads, complex and hybrid networks, and poor documentation hygiene.

However, the successful adoption of these tools must start at the top. In general, 84% of IT professionals are highly satisfied with corporate management’s support for IT initiatives, except when it comes to their understanding of AI and security risks. According to report data, 20-24% of respondents are not satisfied with the current incorporation of AI policy. Additionally, 34% of respondents don’t yet have a policy in place to tackle AI concerns, and 36% don’t feel confident they would be allowed to experiment with new technology, such as AI and automation tools.

These sentiments are in sharp contrast to the desires of IT professionals to work more with AI and automation, recognizing its potential to free up massive amounts of time to focus on more strategic initiatives. When asked about wishlist items for desired network-related activities, 39% of IT professionals surveyed put researching new technology at the top of the list, but not enough time (32%) and not enough team members (28%) were reported as the main impediments.

“Business leaders must lend support to their IT teams in pursuing AI and automation tools,” continued Murray. “Although 70% of respondents expect growth in their IT budgets this year, this number is actually down from the 86% who saw budget increases last year. With the talent shortage only worsening amidst mass retirings of Baby Boomers, automating certain IT tasks is the only way these critical teams can continue supporting their organizations without falling even further behind. Already, 75% of IT teams update documentation monthly or more often, while 61% report changing their network configurations on a weekly basis or more often. Automation is a simple and highly necessary solution for alleviating this burden, and many others like it within the IT function.”

Other key findings from the 2025 IT Trends Report include:

IT professionals are still largely supporting remote and hybrid formats – 85% of IT professionals support remote workers at least part of the time, with 63% supporting remote workers 50% of the time or more.

MSPs, who typically manage the most mixed-vendor environments, experience the most tool sprawl, with nearly 50% reporting 10 or more network tools in use.

Beyond tool sprawl, cost (48% of respondents) and complexity (45% of respondents) were other common problems IT professionals report regarding their network tool stack. 37% also mentioned lack of integration amongst their tool stack.

End-user satisfaction continues to be the most important success metric for almost half of all IT respondents (48%), which correlates to the fact that nearly 60% of IT professionals spend half their work week or more resolving end-user ticket requests.