Megabyte Ltd, situated at Mosta Technopark, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Last week, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi visited the company, where he met the board of directors and toured the various units.
Founded in 1979 by the brothers Carm and Thomas Galea, Megabyte Ltd has an admirable history of achievements in the development of Total Computer Solutions. In 1988, Megabyte was further reinforced with the 50 per cent shareholding of Farrugia Investments Ltd.
As a pioneer in the evolution of information technology in Malta, Megabyte has, through the talents of its directors and its workforce, delivered a number of truly impressive IT solutions of national importance.
These include the development of the weekly lotto and Super 5 system, the electoral register, the voting system, the national ID card system and the VAT system and the recent development of a route profitability solution and a reservation invoicing application for Air Malta.
Software was also developed for the SME sector, such as the human resource, time and attendance, payroll system, the insurance agency system, retail system and sales force automation system. These solutions have had a positive impact on the advancement and application of IT, particularly in the organisations of its early clients, with whom Megabyte continues to work successfully.
Today, Megabyte provides a range of products and services designed to meet the needs of organisations operating integrated business systems. These include the implementation of Oracle business for Air Malta; the installation of a campus-wide fibre optic network at the University of Malta; provision of a Web development framework for MITTS; the implementation and support of the patient administration system at the Government hospitals; the computerisation of 30 hotels; and the design, project management, installation, commissioning and testing of computer and network platforms.
The design and implementation of a fault tolerant cluster platform and Oracle database implementation for the Freeport container terminal application, earned a special mention in the success stories of HP. The demands of today's business systems have accelerated rapidly in recent years, driven by technologies such as the Internet, mobile computing and eBusiness. Megabyte's solutions in the three key business areas which are applications, services and infrastructure, are designed to meet these demands
Megabyte chairman Thomas Galea explained the difficulties the company encountered during its first years of operation which centered on the fact that in the late Seventies few Maltese citizens had the required the skills to work in the computer industry as it was a time when there was hostility towards the introduction of the IT technology.
"To gauge the success of Megabyte, one has to consider what it did for itself, for its clients, for its employees and for the country," Mr Galea explained. "Megabyte has made a profit every year since it was established and has continued to grow by remaining close to its customers and understanding their requirements.
"Megabyte has always focused on quality control, technological excellence and research. We have also constantly invested in our employees and today we have a highly qualified, experienced and versatile team that is up-to-date with all the latest technological developments," he added
The Prime Minister praised Megabyte for its continuous and longstanding investment in human resources.
Megabyte Ltd is a prime example of an indigenous, knowledge-based company that is on a constant quest to maintain excellence in the local IT scenario.
To maintain its winning team Megabyte constantly develops the skills of its workforce and at any given time 10 per cent of the staff undergoes personal development programmes or on specialised training.
Currently, it has 52 employees, 40 per cent of whom are highly qualified university graduates. "Without such a foresight, Megabyte would not have become a leading company in the ICT sector," the Prime Minister said.
Dr Gonzi said that he was pleased to know that Megabyte gave prominent importance to research. "Both the public and the private sector in Malta should give more importance to research as many times this aspect is not given adequate and proper attention.
"Research is a value-added activity not only in the ICT sector but in all types of industry and should increasingly become a basic asset if we are to compete successfully," he said.
"This company puts flexibility in practice, and this is one of the reason why over the last 25 years it has managed to grow and maintain its leading position in this sector," he added.