The reason why not so many people are familiar with business intelligence, except those who have gotten wise to the trade through academia or by being in the right place at the right time, is that Malta wasn’t quick off the mark in applying it to our changing reality.

Failing to mention other factors such as the size of the island and its limited human resources is failing to acknowledge the holistic truth, but the determining factor in this situation is our inability to harness all the benefits arising from such an under perceived commodity.

An indispensable component of an organisation, if it is to be at the top of its game at all times, is the repository of information it possesses. This has become even more relevant in a market where the fight for the control of information is an intrinsic part of the business’ plan of action.

The tools by which an organisation gathers, accesses, stores and archives information determine its level of efficiency. It is in every firm’s best interest to use its available resources optimally by identifying the areas which need improvement while keeping the cost at a minimum.

Apart from being essential for the status quo of the organisation, business intelligence is of crucial importance for the future – it can offer foresight, help make predictions and facilitate the distribution of wealth. Rather than going into the unknown, thanks to what are called key performance indicators, companies can have some accurate guesses as to how and whether it will evolve.

By making a cross-section of the company’s niche, its management style as well as its location, one might be able to detect in which way the information flows. Rather than having the business drowning in data, business intelligence helps it become more selective as to which data is useful and which is more trivial. That is why business intelligence architects, analysts, developers and testers must not only possess technical understanding, but also be timely and adept, so as to lead to the path of more profitability.

“This is why it’s critical to ensure the BI people not only know how to manage the tools collecting the data but they must know how to get this data across to the people who need it. The lack of such effective tools could mean lack of direction”, says Castille Resources senior consultant John Dimech.

A company that makes appropriate use of its information will reach its clients and customers and listen to their demands. It will be able to detect external economic indicators to which it is exposed. Most importantly, it will distinguish itself from the crowd.

The demand for skills associated with business intelligence in the local market came along when, as Castille Resources non-executive chairman Pierre Mallia rightly denoted, in the early 90s, “an IT revolution” came about. It shaped our technological landscape in such a way that it widely started getting defined by our aspiration to become one of the top information societies, with IT being a main economic pillar.

The 2004 National ICT Strategy followed by the SmartIsland Strategy covering the period 2008-2010 both outline the path towards making our society aware of the broad spectrum of advantages extracted from information technology. These strategies have also planned to reduce the barriers of knowledge, thus making our island an ideal destination for foreign direct investment.

The only downside to business intelligence in the local market is that it is implemented by larger firms, as it initially requires a substantial investment in the licensing of the latest software and hardware. However, while the big players have sparked advancement, the smaller ones, small and medium-sized enterprises, should logically put business intelligence into practice, because if they don’t, they will lose out on the benefits it reaps.

The latest progress in data management consists of cloud computing, which is the ultimate form of outsourcing of data. Rather than having it managed internally, cloud computing allows data to be managed by an externally placed service provider, which can be either public (sells its services to anyone) or private (offers its services to a limited number of people).

Although it might look appealing in that it saves precious time and resources, it has many implications attached to it. The most important of these is the fact that the provider will possess various other knowledge clusters due to its range of customers, so the relationship between the provider and the business will not be the same as when the business employs business intelligence developers who will be more reliable, trustworthy and exclusively focused on their job.

Consultants at Castille Resources are aware of the persistent skills shortages in business intelligence, but are also hopeful that such positions will keep on being in demand. Mr Dimech thinks “the demand for skilled BI developers is outweighing the supply and making it difficult for software companies in this market to find qualified people”.

One has to be an optimist and see opportunity in this challenge.

(Ms Calleja is a brand associate at Castille Resources, a local ICT and finance recruitment specialist.)

www.castilleresources.com