Singapore companies face Business Analytics talent shortage

There are good news for those who wants to pursue a career in Business Analytics in Singapore. SAS, a leading business analytics software and services provider and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market, had a Business Analytics Conference here in Singapore this week and 39 per cent of the 200 participants said in an on-the-spot poll that the shortage of people with business analytics skills is the main obstacle to adapt this new hot technology. It looks like budget, process and politics all are less problem then talent shortage.[1]

Business analytics (BA) is a practice of data driven decision making which enables an organization to derive business insight using an organization’s data. Business Analytics is different than Business Intelligence (BI) by deploying advanced predictive analysis techniques with a strong emphasis on statistical analysis." Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore sees business analytics as a key technology in implementing the Government's eGov2005 IT master plan for the next four years. IDA in its Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap v2.0, identified business analytics as an emerging IT skillset that is critical for Singapore’s IT manpower to remain competitive both globally and within Singapore.[2]

Unfortunately, Business Analytics (BA) requires sets of skills which are not readily obtained by current IT professionals. To fill in the Business Analytics jobs in Singapore with people having the skill set in the near future, universities are collaborating with private sector companies to address the talent shortage. We have previously announced that Singapore Management University (SMU) started to offer Master for Business Analytics in Singapore. Also a few days ago, "Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and IBM have announced the launch of the Business Analytics Innovation Centre (BAIC) – the first on-campus IBM Software Centre of Excellence in the ASEAN region – to help students at NYP develop the business analytics know-how and enterprise skills to meet the growing demand from the industry for such capabilities."[2]

Nanyang Polytechnic is offering Diploma in Business Intelligence & Analytics which would train students to implement business analytics solutions:

"Nanyang Polytechnic’s Diploma in Business Intelligence & Analytics aims to train students to implement solutions that can harness data across platforms, and equip them with a good knowledge of data management concepts and the ability to leverage business analytics techniques and tools to gain insights into different business aspects.

Students enrolling in the new diploma will benefit from the practical learning and knowledge application available at the BAIC. Located in NYP’s School of Information Technology, the BAIC will train students through academic modules, project development, internship and professional certifications. Industry attachment opportunities to local and overseas IBM offices will also be facilitated through this partnership to give the students another dimension to their training. The Centre will further act as a platform for industry partners to engage NYP staff and students in industry project development.

The core curricula of NYP’s IT diploma courses are also augmented by the extension of IBM’s professional certification programmes to NYP students. To date, NYP students and graduates have achieved more than 700 IBM certifications."[2]

[1] - Digital Life, Tackling the talent shortage
[2] - Nanyang Polytechnic and IBM launch Business Analytics Innovation Centre